THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



55 



THE GREAT CENTENNIAL EXPOSI- 

 TION OF 1876. 



By the time tliis number of The Farmer 

 gets into tlie hands of onr rcadciH, it will hn 

 only one. short year before the ijreiU L\r}x>sition 

 of the nhte- 

 tie)tthceutti- 

 rtj will be 

 opened to 

 the publie, 

 if the origi- 

 nal inten- 

 tion of the 

 proj ectors 

 of the en- 

 terprise is 

 realized. 



\Vc say 

 only one 

 shirrl year; 

 for, com- 

 l)arinj;w7i((£ 

 /( as be e n 

 done dur- 

 ing; tliepast 

 fice years, 



with what is to be done in the one coming 

 year, the time seems very short indeed. 

 Another event of the kind, in all its sijinili- 

 cance, caiuiot oecur at;ainnntil the year lii7(), 

 a jieriod whi<-h, there perliaps is not a single 

 being now on earth tliat eoiild in human i)roba- 

 bility witness it. The (luestiou naturally arises, 

 Have onr peojjle anything like a realizing sense 

 of this great event in our national history ? 

 Are they making any preparations to jiartiei- 

 pate in itV Do they even ihiuh-nli it with that 

 method whieli usually preeedes the outward 

 manifestation of living aelion? Have they 

 .systematieally reflected at all upon what en) 

 be, and what oiiijht to lie, done in the matter '? 

 Lancaster county is a part of the three origi- 

 nal counties that in the early history of our 

 country constituted the entire province of 

 Pennsylvania. She is within seventy miles of 

 the historically venerated spot wliere tirst was 

 liromulgated on this continent the declaration 

 that '''these loiitcil i-nhmks are, and of riijhl 

 oiujht to he, free and iiidejiendint .S'/o('.s. " She 

 has justly won the distinguished title of the 

 " Garden of the Keystone State," and there- 

 fore she occu]iies a moral, physical, political 

 and geographical position that will not permit 

 her to be a mere spectator of the "coming 

 event." Her sister counties and states are 

 looking towards Iier for a demonstration wor- 

 thy of the prominent position she occupies in 

 relation to our gi'eat State and its material pro- 

 gress. Not to participate fully and freely in 

 the Centennial P^xposition, would be equiva- 

 ■lent to her voluntary exiiatriation. To consent 

 to be a mere spectator of the scene, would be 

 a palpable stultification of the attitude which 

 history and circumstances have assigned her; 

 and she conl<l no more Ijc a part of Pennsylva- 

 nia or the Union, without a iiarticipation in 

 Pennsylvania's distinguished glory, than a 



ments, in it exclusively her own, and to carry 

 such an idea into effect there ought to be an 

 organized effort of her citizens, and a pro- 

 grannne clearly setting forth what ouglit to be 

 done; for, without some sncli organization, 



very little can be accomplished without involv- 

 ing much labor, iirocrastination or delay — and, 

 " delays are dangerous." 



We cannot resist the apin-ehension that, 

 like the sessions of Congress, or the State 

 Legislature, procrastination may steal a march 

 on time, and push too much of the work that 

 ought to be done earlier, into the last days of 



the working session, and thus create hurry and 

 confusion at the opening of the Expositi<in. 

 The past histories of these industrial exhibi- 

 tions have suthciently demonstrated the dan- 

 ger of this, and we ought to profit by tlie ex- 

 periences of the past. Another point we desire 

 to illustrate is this: In all onr experiences of 

 local exhibitions, during their continuance or 



man could be a i>art of heaven without parti- 

 ciiiating in its beatitudes. 



Lancaster county is sufficiently large, 

 wealthy, pojmlons and accessilile to the gieat 

 Exposition, to have a department, or depart- 



after they were over, we have been met with 

 the remark from many speefators. tliat if they 

 "had only known what woidd have been on 

 exhibition, they could have produced articles 

 much superior to those they had seen at the 



fair," and these remarks would often lie aeconi- 

 panieil by regrets, that tliey had not been ex- 

 liibit(u-st!iemselves. Ili-re is just where "the 

 trouble comes in." Too many iieople indulge 

 the idea of being benefited, entirtained or 

 amused, without contributing to thi' benefit, 

 the entertaiununt or amusement of others, or 

 to tlie general credit of the occasion. This is 

 a mutual, human work, to be conducted on a 

 human plane, by liuman beings, and for the 

 instruction of humanilij, in the commeiuora- 

 tion of a liuman event. 



Of course, it is not expected that crfri/ one 

 can, or slioidd, Ix'come an exhibitor, butinany 

 more than usually jiarticipate in these afliiirs, 

 can assist, in one way or another, in helping 

 to forward the work to its consummation; Ix'- 

 sides, it is as nmch a matter of course tlial 

 if no one pra(aieally participates in it, there 

 cannot possibly ln' an exposition at all. Under 

 any circumstances, we should feel humiliated 

 if it should transpire that the native county 



of liouKitr Fui.Toxand Linhlkv Mfnu.w 



the lionie of the "Sage of Wheatland," and 

 the "Old Commoner"— with its immense 

 agricultural, mineral and manufacturing re- 

 sources, should have a meagre representation 

 in tlie tiUK.VT Ck.ntenmai.,. 



Any one desiring to forward tlie work, 

 should immediately jiut himself or herself in 

 communication, and co-oiierate, with Mn. C. 

 M. 1I(JSTKTTK1!, of Lancaster city, who hits 

 been aiipoilited the general agent" of htncas- 

 ter county, and has his headquarters at the 



Stevens 

 " House. 



^Ve un- 

 derstand 

 Mr. II. 

 inten «is 

 to pu b- 

 lislia de- 

 scriptive 

 <iut line 

 of vhat 

 ought to 

 be done 

 by our 

 coun t y , 

 and luno 

 i t ought 

 to be 

 done. 

 We liope 

 the peo- 

 ple will 

 re spond 

 iheerful- 

 ly. We 



have, in lonner issues of The FAliifEi;, 

 given illustrations of the Agricultural Hall ami 

 Hortieiiltunil Hall. In this we illustrate the 

 JIain building, tlie Art (iallery or Slemorial 

 Hall, and the Centennial Medals, the latter of 

 which will be valued by future generations as 

 keejisakcs of tlie first Centennial of the great 

 republic of tlie world. The following arc the 

 dimensions of these magnilieent buildings: 



MaixExhuutiox Uiir.DiNO: Lengtii(East 

 and West,)!. SSI) feet; width, 41)4 feet; heiglith 

 of central towers. 120 feet. Main iiitranceon 

 Elm avenue. Area covereil. '.KiCi.OOS s<|Uare 

 feet, this divided into ]iarallel zones, length- 

 wise of tlie building: countries and states will 

 occuiiy parallel sect ions crosswise of the build- 

 ing. This arrangement will bring the products 

 of each cla.ss from the whole world into the 

 same line. 



Art (rALi.ETiY: I><Migth, 30.") feet: width, 

 210 feet; heighth, ."jO feet; heightli of dome 

 above the ground, 150. Materials; Granite, 

 gla.ss and stone. Site: Lansdowne Plateau, in 

 Fairmount Park. 



The following, furnished to theGermantown 

 Teleiinijih, by Walter Elder, theejninent Phila- 

 deljihia landscape gardener, if it does not act 

 as a stiinulanl to owr local florists, to partici- 

 pate in fhe "Great Exposition " them.selves, 

 will at least excite a desire to witness the dis- 

 play made by others: 



THE <iUF..\T KXPOSITIOM COSPERVATORT. 



Tlic (rranil Conservatory, witli its ihoire collections 

 of tender exotic plants and ornamental garden sur- 



