SECRETARY'S REPORT. 107 



above, on the outside, stood, in beautifullj colored letters, the 

 inscription designed to inform the uninitiated tliat all this was 

 the " Liter tiationale LandwirthschafUiche Ausstellung-,''^ or 

 International Agricultural Exhibition. 



Entering through the archway to the inside, tlie impression 

 matie upon the mind was in the highest degree pleasing and 

 agreeable. In front is a pretty pond, tastefully arranged with 

 a fountain, beds and parterres of flowers, and on either side a 

 magnificent show of flowers and greenhouse plants designed as 

 an ornamental appendage to the main features of the show. 

 Here also is tlie pavilion for the music, in the form of a pagoda 

 surmounted with statuary, and still beyond, a highly important 

 feature, a great establishment for refreshments in the shape of 

 beer, bread and butter and coffee. 



The long ranges of tents for the stock, the implements and 

 the infinite variety of products, were hung with the flags of 

 different nations all flung to the breeze, but unfortunately they 

 have no significance, other than as ornaments and of the gen- 

 eral gatliering of the nations. Here waves the Turkish Cres- 

 cent over a shed full of English steam-engines and other 

 implements, and there again the Elephant of Siam over 

 another British collection, while the English flag flaunted 

 exultantly over the shed of American implements, and the 

 United States flag over other departments filled by other 

 nations. It takes a large part of a day to become familiar 

 with the topography of the place so as to be able to find the 

 various parts without delay and loss of time. 



The grounds were oblong in shape, embracing over eighty 

 acres, surrounded by a high board fence, while the sheds ran 

 lengthwise on either side of the main avenue, at the end of 

 which were ample rooms and offices for the use of the com- 

 mittees and commissioners from-tlie various countries. 



It was a unique and highly interesting international gather- 

 ing. The variety of costumes and languages, the character- 

 istics of the various breeds of stock, so different from what we 

 are usually accustomed to, had its effect upon all present. 

 The number of distinguished visitors was by no means small, 

 nor the list of their names short. Dukes and barons figured 

 largely. Among them the Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, the 

 Duke and the Princes of Holstein, Prince Frederic of Hesse- 



