1854. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



443 



VERMONT STATE AGRICULTURAL 

 SOCIETY. 



FOURTH ANNUAL FAIR. 



We had the pleasure of attending this Exhibi- 

 tion at Brattleboro', on Tuesday and Wednesday 

 of hist week. The weather was all that could be 

 desired — if it had been " made to order," or cast 

 in a mould of exquisite pattern, it could not have 

 been better. The mornings were cool, with an 

 elastic and invigorating atmosphere ; health and 

 buoyancy were in every limb and countenance ; 

 the hills and valleys poured forth tides of living 

 beings, full of joyous anticipations of the events 

 of the coming day. 



The Society had made the most convenient and 

 liberal preparations for the occasion. The grounds 

 contained nearly forty acres, and were enclosed 

 by a board fence ten feet high. Convenient oflBces 

 were erected for any branch of business to be 

 conducted in and out of the grounds. In a 

 spacious tent the roll of committees was called, 

 where they were introduced to each other, and 

 then proceeded to their duties. A building was 

 erected for the Floral Department, and dedicated 

 as ^^ Flora Hall.'' This was filled with things 

 " beautiful to behold," and with those who added 

 a new grace and beauty to every thing around 

 them. 



Then there was another appropriated to the 

 Department of Mechanics. We have not space to 

 enumerate the fine works of mechanical skill 

 which were here exhibited. Among them were 

 fine specimens of the handy work of our friend 

 Partridge, in steel forks, rakes, &c., and of the 

 famous plows, horse hoes, and other implements 

 of Ruggles & Co. 



The left centre of the grounds was occupied by 

 a mammoth gallery, furnished with seats suflB- 

 cient for at least 2000 persons, and built with 

 special regard to substantiality. To this gallery 

 a charge of twelve-and-a-half cents was asked for 

 admission, and was paid by thousands. 



This stand commanded a view of the trotting 

 course, which lay to the extreme left of the arena. 

 The course was of an oval form, and carefully 

 prepared for the use for which it was designed, by 

 grading, watering, and rolling its surface. It 

 was half a mile in circumference, and the whole 

 drcuit could be taken in at a single glance. 



Water was plentiful on the grounds, both for 

 man and beast, brought in -pipes IGO rods, forced 

 up by pumps, acted on by an ingenious contrivance 

 of an over-shot wheel. Ilalliday's Patent Wind 

 Engine, of which we have spoken heretofore, was 

 erected in the centre of the field, and was an at- 

 tractive feature. 



Among the stock we particularly noticed the 

 imported Devon bull. Comet, owned by Isaac 

 Stickney, of Grafton. He is 6 years old, and a 

 very fine animal — one worthy to be recommended 



to the breeders of that stock. Messrs. W. R. 

 Sanford, of Orville, Daniel Davis, of Spring- 

 field, and S. D. Walbridge, of Bennington, and 

 some others, presented stock of this blood. 



Of Durhams, or Short Horns, the bull Ajax, 

 exhibited by Sylvester Smith, of Wilmington, 

 was decidedly the finest animal of that breed on 

 the grounds. He is 4 years old, weighs 2,290 

 pounds, and is made up so as to please the critical 

 eye. Messrs. A. L. Bingiiau, of West Cornwall, 

 E. D. Hubbell, of Bennington, J. C. Laavrence, 

 of Brattleboro', E. J. Barrington, of Whiting- 

 ham, and others, also had stock of this breed. 



There were few Aldtrnrys. Mr. J. Bird, of 

 Greenfield, Mass., had a fine hull, 2 years old, and 

 2 cows, a heifer, and a calf. The cows were 

 small and thin, but were undoubtedly pure. 



Of Herefords, the only representations were a 

 cow and calf, shown by A. L. Bingham, of West 

 Cornwall. 



Working Cattle. The exhibition of this class 

 was imposing. The number of entries exceeded 

 200 yoke. The Brattleboro' team, 48 yoke, passed 

 in review as a single team. Among them could 

 be seen tinges of the blood of the Durhams and 

 Devons with our mixed breeds. 



Of Fat Cattle, a pair driven in by Mr. Fair- 

 banks, of Springfield, Mass., weighed six thousand 

 pounds, and were much admired. 



Of Swine there were a few fine specimens. A 

 Suffolk boar and sow, presented by Isaac Stick- 

 ney, of Boston, were models of their kind. The 

 boar was made up as near the pattern of perfec-# 

 tion as we shall seldom be likely to see. We have 

 seen a finer shaped sow, but not often. A pair 

 of the improved Essex swine, the only ones on the 

 field, wei-e presented by Solomon W. Jewett, of 

 Weybridge. They were black, and possessed fine 

 proportions. 



The Sheep included several varieties, — Spanish, 

 French, Silesian, Saxon, with all manner of 

 crosses. Spanish merinos were exhibited by 

 Messrs. A. L. Bingham, N. A. Saxton, of Ver- 

 gennes, Victor Wright, of Cornwall, Jesse Hinds, 

 of Brandon, S. Stickney, D. & G. Cutting, and 

 J. T. & V. Rich, of Shoreham, C. D. Sweat, of 

 Bennington, and Mark Crawford and Samuel 

 Wheat, of Putney. A few Leicesters were ex- 

 hibited by A. V. Stockwell and George Winter- 

 bottom. Smyrna and Native, by H. S. AVal- 

 BRiDGE ; and Silesian, French, and Spanish and 

 French, by George Campbell, of Westminster. 



FruitsAnd Vegetables wi;rKi not numerous, though 

 some fine sam pies in each department were ex- 

 hibited. We noticed a fine basket of Sweet Pota-^ 

 toes, and a variety of grapes, by A- Dutton, of 

 Dummerston. There was a squagh, weighing 180 

 pounds, and a cousin about as large. Apples, 

 pears, peaches and plums, were not largely rep- 

 resented. 



