A VISIT TO GEEY COUNTY 



IT was a long ride from Hamilton via, 

 Harrisburg away up to Walkerton, 

 the county town of Grey County, but 

 there was a model fair in that place on the 

 23rd and 24th of September, and it seemed 

 an opportune time to visit that section and 

 take notes of progress. At Guelph we 

 were joined by Dr. Mills and Prof. Hutt, 



Fig. 2659. Mr. A. E. Sherrington. 



and although the train was late, and we did 

 not reach Walkerton until after 9 o'clock, 

 and the public meeting in the town hall had 

 already been going an hour, yet all three 

 were called upon for addresses. Follow- 

 ing a fine address on " The Home," by Miss 

 Maddock, Dr. Mills gave a most vigorous 

 and rousing address calculated to arouse the 



young men to prepare themselves to become 

 intelligent, educated and successful farmers. 



the; pair at walke;rton. 



The directors and officers were most ac- 

 tive in their efforts to make this fair a grand 

 success. The children from all the neigh- 

 boring schools marched to the grounds to 

 the music of the bands, and in spite of the 

 usual rain accompanying a fair, there was a 

 large attendance of visitors. One great 

 lack at Walkerton, and at nearly every coun- 

 ty town, is suitable and attractive fair build- 

 ings and their surroundings. The grounds 

 are barren and uninviting, and the buildings 

 most cheerless and often too large. No 

 paint is ever put on them, inside or outside, 

 and so ugly are they that no fair manager, 

 backed up by however active and indus- 

 trious a directorate, and however much aided 

 by a patronising government, can ever work 

 out a model fair to his own satisfaction or 

 to that of the public. The buildings should 

 be painted inside and out to begin with, and 

 then the grounds about them should be 

 planted with groups of shade trees and 

 shrubbery as to be inviting as a park. Such 

 a place would invite both people and ex- 

 hibits and make the work of the officers 

 much more easy because of the greater pub- 

 lic enthusiasm. 



THE FRUIT EXHIBIT. 



The prize list for fruit was a limited one, 

 including only about a dozen, and a half 

 varieties of apples, five varieties of plums, 

 one of grapes, and no named varieties of 

 pears, peaches or quinces. Perhaps the num- 

 ber of varieties of apples was large enough 

 if it really included the most delicate ones 

 for the district. They were Spy, Baldwin, 

 King, Golden Russet, Greening, Alexander, 



