50 



NEW ENGLAND FAJIMER. 



Aug. 



For the I\eiu England Farmer. 



AGRICULTUKAL FAIRS. 



It would seem, from what is said by some, that 

 the great end which it was intended that agricultu- 

 ral fairs should subserve, had been forgotten, or at 

 least overlooked. Perhaps it would be well in the 

 moments of cool reflection, to consider vhat the 

 chief design of these is, or ought to be. Now I 

 would submit, if agricultural societies did not orig- 

 inate in a desire to advance whatever pertains to 

 the interests of agriculture, and that agricultural 

 fairs are but the echo of this desire, awarding pre- 

 miums to the best articles of any kind exhibited, 

 for the purpose of exciting competition, and secur- 

 ing in this way the improvement and perfection of 

 such articles, and the spread of valuable information. 



Premiums being an important auxiliary for pro- 

 moting the objects of these societies, as also being 

 of themselves both a healthy incitant as well as 

 check on exhibitors, the awarding of them demands 

 a careful consideration. Without reference in the 

 least to what does, or does not exist as matter of 

 fact, I would suggest that in accordance with strict 

 republican principle, each and all branches of agri- 

 culture equally ought to be entitled to premiums ; 

 and that the amount of premium.s awarded to each 

 class should be proportioned to the relative impor- 

 tance which it holds with others in the estimation 

 of the community ; or its real intrinsic value to so- 

 ciety individually and collectively. Thus one branch 

 may extensively interest the people, absorbing more 

 attention and capital than any other ; this, then, in 

 the aggregate, ought to command a larger propor- 

 tion of awards ; again, another branch may be of 

 even more real value to public interests than the 

 preceding, yet from adventitious circumstances, has 

 not enlisted the attention of the community ; this 

 latter needs the encouragement which a larger pro- 

 portion of premiums would secure. These premi- 

 ums should be given in order to obtain and diffuse 

 that information, which competition under different 

 circumstances, comparison of experiments and re- 

 sults, would make the most reliable, succinct, meth- 

 odical, and of course practical. Other than these 

 two, the premiums should be awarded on the ad 

 valorem principle as applicable to the community. 

 For instance, the premiums on horses, cattle, sheep, 

 swine, &c., should be proportioned to the compara- 

 tive value which each has to any and all ether ag- 

 ricultural productions which are considered worthy 

 of premiums; and each of these classes must be 

 again divided and subdivided on the same princi- 

 ple, as horses for speed, for draft, farm-horses, car- 

 riage-horses, horses for breeding, &c., and then again 

 classified according to age, &c., &c. 



Were the great principle on which agricultural 

 societies and fairs were first instituted, viz., that of 

 securing the greatest good to the greates-t number, 

 and allowing eqiial representation to all depart- 

 ments of agriculture, strictly and fully carried out, 

 we should hear less said respecting the evils of 

 "horse racing," and its immoral tendency in connex- 

 ion with our fairs. An agricultural fair is not a 

 horse show nor a cattle show merely, nor is it an 

 exhil)ition of any one production of art or nature, 

 but it is a combination of all of these, and all ought 

 to have an equal chance, and no one ought to over- 

 top, or in the least detract from another. Although 

 popular attention may be, and often is directed to 

 some jwrticular object of interest, to the neglect of 



others, yet the various agricultural societies, their 

 officers and committees, have it in their power, by a 

 proper grading and distribution of premiums, to se- 

 cure to each article a due consideration and just 

 award. 



Agricultural societies should repudiate the name 

 of "horse shows, cattle shows," &c., as referring to j 

 a general exhibnion of agricultural interests ; and I 

 if the awards show justice meted out to all impar- ' 

 tially, the confidence of the public will be secured, 

 cause of reproach will be taken away, and with the 

 cause will die the name. If an agricultural society 

 owns, hires or has the use of a trotting-course given 

 them for an exhibition of horses, so long as it is 

 under their control, they are free to make and en- 

 force all lawful and needful rules and regulations 

 which they please ; and can, of course, check all 

 racing, drinking, or anything else of immoral ten- 

 dency. If, owning a course, they lease it to be used 

 either before or after an exhibition of their own, 

 they are responsible for the way it is leased and 

 used ; and if hired or otherwise, they are responsi- 

 ble for the use made of it so long as it is under 

 their control, but no longer. Neither are they re- 

 sponsible for the personal character of any person 

 who attends their fairs, any farther than to give 

 just and suitable encouragement to true merit, as it 

 shows itself by advancing the interests of agricul- 

 ture. The fact that where our fairs are held, we 

 meet circuses, liquor, and swindlers of all sorts, fur- 

 nishes no argument against agricultural fairs. These 

 evils are concomitant, not legitimate deductions, 

 and no one holds the society in any case responsible. 



A fast horse is a good thing, and as such is en- 

 titled to a premium ; who his owner is, matters not, 

 provided that while on the grounds of an agricultu- 

 ral society, he conforms to their rules and regula- 

 tions. A bad man may own a fast horse, and it 

 would be a pity if no man of unexceptionable mor- 

 als ever owned one. The ownership is no person's 

 business. If a '-jocky" has a fast horse to which 

 he is willing to give a fair trial on a course of the 

 society, let him be permitted with others ; he can 

 ask no more, and here the society can restrict him, 

 nolens or voleiis. A fast horse is usually a fancy 

 horse for a man of leisure ; he is not the kind for 

 business, for convenience, for family use ; as a gen- 

 eral thing, he is not the horse that nine-tenths of 

 the people would choose to use in ninety-nine cases 

 in a hundred. In awarding premiums, then, fast 

 horses should not have more than their proportion- 

 ate share compared with draft, carriage, or other 

 horses. They are certainly valuable for the farmer 

 to raise, and they bring high prices, and the rais- 

 ing of them should be encouraged. But how are 

 the qualities of a farst horse to be tested ; is it not 

 in a great measure by his speed? Is it not then 

 very unwise, not to say ridiculous, to restrict a 

 horse to a "mile in four minutes" gait, or restrict 

 his Fjjeed at all, if we would give this class an equal 

 chance with draft, carriage, or many other kind of 

 horses ? Is there anything immoral in fast riding 

 or fast travelling ? If so, we Americans must be a 

 very immoral set, for we are a proverbially fast 

 people. Is it any worse for an animal to show his 

 speed than his strength, or any other qualification to 

 which nature or practice has capacitattd him ? The 

 man who objects to speed, must go against public 

 sentiment, against the spirit of the times in which 

 we live, against a feeling with which we are alm.ost 

 all identititd, namely, that of progress in every de- 



