THE STATE FAIR. 



18' 



THE STATE FAIR. 



The necessity of sending the sheets of this work to the stereotyper to be cast, 

 if possible, before the 20th of the preceding month, offers an explanation which 

 may serve us with correspondents generally, and will account for the crudeness 

 of the little we can say in this number as to the late State Fair at Auburn. 



If superb weather, and an immense concourse of people, with a beautiful 

 site and ample arrangements for the exhibition, could confer on it the character 

 of usefulness, and indicate progressive improvement in the various branches of 

 agricultural industry which those exhibitions are designed to benefit and exem- 

 plify, then may the friends of the cause congratulate themselves that the great 

 object of these State expenditures, and of the pains taken by the officers of the 

 State Society, is in a fair way of being realized. Not so sure, however, are we 

 of that result, when we come to analyze the motives of the immense crowds 

 that attend, and the materials of which these exhibitions are generally made up. 

 We had hoped to receive, through some channel, an official statement of the 

 list of prizes, such as might have been with confidence recorded and referred to ; 

 but on examination of the account which, of all we have received, seemed to 

 wear the strongest aspect of authenticity, we find it so full of errors that we 

 have determined to postpone, for the present, what it may be desirable to pre- 

 serve as a record of proceedings sanctioned by official authority. 



The account to which we have referred, in an Albany paper, states, for exam- 

 ple, that Messrs. Corning and Sotham obtained premiums for their Durham cat- 

 tle—whereas they had no Durham cattle on the ground ; and, farther, that Mr. 

 Vail, of Troy, and Mr. Hyatt, of Rochester, got premiums for their " imported " 

 cattle. Now, Mr. Vail got the first premium for his imported improved Short- 

 Horn cow, the beautiful Lady Barrington— of whom we have a perfect likeness ; 

 but Mr. Hyatt's premium was for a heifer of the Hereford breed, from Mr. Com- 

 ing's fine herd of that race of cattle. Of Mr. Coming's Hereford prize cow 

 we have also a portrait, taken at our instance— having selected her for that pur- 

 pose, as a fair specimen of Herefords, before the exhibition. Portraits have also 

 been'secured of Champion, the superb prize colt, property of Mr. Grinnell, which 

 trotted his mile at 2 years old in 3ra. 5s. ; also of the fine Morgan horse from 

 Vermont, as well as of other animals, Mr. Grinnell has secured the appearance 

 of Champion in an early number of the Monthly Journal of Agriculture ; so 

 has Mr. Corning of his prize cow ; but what other animals will be so distinguish- 

 ed will depend on the pleasure of their owners, and other circumstances. It 

 may be well at once to state that, for no consideration, can inferior animals, or 

 coarse and bad representations of the best, get admission to this work. The 

 terms of subscription, though low in proportion to its costliness, are too high to 

 adrtiit of that; and, besides, the publishers have some pride in their design to 

 illustrate the various arts employed in the publication of the work. 



But as to this exhibition, and all of its kind— it is not numbers of people, nor 

 costly arrangements, nor excellence of a few things or animals, imported or oth- 

 erwise, that can impart to them the character of public usefulness, or give prom- 

 ise of regular, general and permanent improvement. We must look more at the 



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