74 



JVew York State Fair and Jig. Shov^ at Poiighheepsie. Vol. IX. 



Horticultural Department surprised me the 

 most, for there I saw the finest pears, peaches 

 and plums, I ever did see, and roots and 

 ve;j;etabies superior I think in quality, to 

 any I had ever seen exhibited in this quar- 

 ter; but what astonished me more, were the 

 fize and richness of tlic grapes, especially 

 the Isabella and the Catavvba. 



May I say a word as to the ladies who 

 presided in these temples of Pomona and 

 Flora? — no, I dare not, tlir then might I raise 

 an envious or jealous twinkle, even under 

 the shade of those beautiful lashes that fringe 

 the soft and lustrous eyes of the Quaker girls 

 of Pennsylvania ; to say nothing of the dash- 

 ing belles of Philadelphia; but I must say, 

 rash man that I am, that I sliould have no 

 objection to see our Pennsylvania fair, and 

 the ladies of the empire State, exhibited in 

 juxta position, with their fruits and flowers; 

 their clieese and butter; and their hose and 

 C(3verletri, with me for judge. — Phoebus! 

 The scene at Mount Ida would not be a cir- 

 cumstance to such a display; and Pans, but 

 a mere pettifogger to so profound and expe- 

 rienced a functionary, as my honourab!-; 

 self! Well, I must quit this theme, thank- 

 ing my stars that I have gotten so well over 

 it, for beautiful places, generous hearts, and 

 lovely women, were always among tlie go- 

 verning predilections of my fancy, and bu- 

 siness and work but a duty, a drudgery, tor 

 which I never had any very natural inclina- 

 tion, notwithstanding I am reckoned a work- 

 ing man; but in sooth, that habit did not 

 come of itself — it was not natural, but ac- 

 quired. Not so the appreciation of all that 

 is beautiful to the eye and enchantmg to 

 the heart — tliis was innate, intuitive, and I 

 sliall cease to be myselt^ wlien 1 forget 

 I'ouglikeepsie, its social and generous in- 

 hibitants, its splendid hospitality — and, its 

 fair, without which, their splendid Fair 

 would have been to me but a poor afiair 

 indeed. 



The show of horses was not as good as 

 might have been expected, yet it would 

 have been creditable in many places, else- 

 where. The cirriaoe horses were fine; one 

 piir especially struck me as being the be>i 

 matched, best broke, and most respectable 

 span, I had seen for many a day — they were 

 owned by William A. Davis, E.sq., of Pough- 

 keepsie, who with his brother, General Da- 

 vis, and their amiable ladies, contributed 

 larrrely to the elegant and generous liospi- 

 tality that characterised Poughkeepsie dur- 

 ing the exhibition. 



Of cattle there was quite a large display; 

 the fit c ittle were uncommonly fine, an ' the 

 working oxen remarkable for their docihty 

 and training. James S. Wadsworth, e.x-l 



president of the Society, exhibited ten yoke, 

 driven to one wagon, a sight in itself, worth 

 a journey to Poughkeepsie; and yet this 

 was matched by Mr. Fuller, of Hyde Park, 

 who turned out a similar number, drawn to 

 a staging on a wagon, wherein were arranged 

 specimens of all the fruits, flowers, grain, 

 roots, and vegetables, of the garden and the 

 field. Mr. Sotham's Hereford cattle were 

 remarkable, at least in this, — tiiere were no 

 other cattle of the same breed in the field 

 to compete with them; in that respect they 

 had it all to themselves. They are fine 

 cattle for feeding; I should rank them 

 above the Devons. There were some Ayre- 

 shites on the ground, which were creditable 

 specimens of that breed. I was disappointed 

 to find so few Devon cows, where I had ex- 

 pected to find so many; on inquiring the 

 reason, I was informed that the mixed Dur- 

 ham and Devon, and Durham and common 

 cattle, were superseding the Devons fast, as 

 dairy stock. Of these crosses there were 

 several at the exhibition; some of them were 

 highly spoken of. 



The show of cattle would have been in- 

 different indeed, had it not been for the 

 Durhams, which imparted a redeeming cha- 

 racter to the whole exhibition. Of these 

 noble animals there was a fine display, es- 

 pecially of bulls. The Durhams were 

 chiefly owned by Messrs. Prentice, Lenox, 

 SheatF, and Vail ; among these herds were 

 several splendid Dairy cows; one especially 

 was conspicuous — she was the property of 

 Mr. J^enox. 



The sheep were not numerous, but there 

 were some that would have done credit to 

 any flock, particularly the Leicesters, and 

 the Merinoes exhibited by Mr. Randall. 

 The same remark is applicable to the swine; 

 they were comparatively few, but they were 

 principally very good. 



The agricultural implements were varied, 

 and altogether the best collection I ever 

 saw. The ploughing match was conducted 

 witii great propriety, and in excellent spirit, 

 as was every thing else, throughout the 

 whole proceedings of this most creditable 

 exhibition. No one wlio has not witnessed 

 a show and fair by this Society, can form 

 any thing like an adequate idea of their 

 vastness in contributions, expense in ar- 

 rangements, and the crowds that attend 

 them. It was estimated that from twenty 

 to twenty-five thousand spectators passed 

 through the gates in one day, to the exhibi- 

 tion. 



The annual address was delivered by Mr. 

 Bancrolf; it was listened to with marked at- 

 tention — it was of course a highly finished 

 piece of composition. There was but one 



