30 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



(Jrliitor's i^ahk. 





The AV'orld's Inoustrial ExHrsiTiON.— So much interest is felt 

 in the Great World's Fair, to take place in London next spring, 

 that we long since determined to give the readers of the Farmer 

 as full and correct an sccouut as possible. To do this, we shall 

 mingle with the immense crowds of all nations that will there 

 assemble, and i-eview the great contest for ourselves. We rejoice 

 that the '-good time" so long " coming" has at length arrived, 

 when the strife between the nations is not for the supremacy of 

 brute force, but the supremacy of intelligence and skill. Chincpe, 

 Turks. French, Engli.«h. and Americans, will there vie with each 

 other for the prize to be awarded superior skill. This assembling 

 of the nations must greatly tend to destroy national pride, igno- 

 rance and prejudice, the great source of war. We hope to see 

 many things at the fair, as well as in our travels through the coun- 

 try, an account of which will be interesting and profitable to our 

 readers. 



Perhaps nothing at the fair will attract more universal attention 

 than the building now erecting for the exhibition. The materials 

 of which it is to be made, and the mode of construction, is some- 

 thing novel in the art of building. We copy the following graphic 

 sketch from a late number of the Leeds Mercury : 



Wc cannot but think that the palace of glass— an unprece- 

 dented fabric, to receive the unprecedented Exhibition of the 

 World's In.Sustry in 1851— the daring conception of Mr. Paxton, 

 will itself form one of the most attractive and wonder-exciting 

 features of the Kxibition : nay, that it will be almost as fasci- 

 nating to men's imaginations before they sec it, and to their eyes 

 when they see it. as the boundless treasures of the Exhibition itself 

 A.ssumiug that the strength of this singular edifice has been deem- 

 ed sufficient by competent architects, as we doubt not it h;is. the 

 Commissioners have judged well to set aside every other architect- 

 ural project in its favor. It will form a magnificent and dazzling 

 spectacle, and of course it will give the utmost advantage of light 

 to every article that may be exhibited within it. The reader may 

 be enabled to form some conception of thi.s palace of glass, when 

 we state that it will be 1848 feet in length, that is, more than one- 

 third of a mile— that it will be 408 feet broad— that it will be open 

 from end to end. and that the great centra aisle, running from east 

 to west of the length we have stated, will be 66 feet in height, 

 whilst there will be a transept running from north to south. 408 

 feet long and lOS feet high, or higher than the nave of the loftiest 

 cathedral in England, and enclosing a row of noble elms now 

 et^inding in the park, and which will remain untouched. Though 

 different portions will be of different heights, the whole will be 

 under one unbroken ceiling of glass. The area of the edifice will 

 be 753.984 square feet (nearly 18 acres.) and its cubic contents .33. 

 000.000 feet. The exhibiting surface, including galleries, will be 21 

 acres. The palace will be supported by 3230 iron columns of beau- 

 tiful design. There will be 000.000 superficial feet of glass, sufii- 

 ciently strong to resist storm or violence, weighing upwards of 400 

 tons. The cost of building and maintaining the structure will be 

 £19 800, and if the material.s were not to be returned to tlie con- 

 tractors, it would be Jt'l.'iOOOO. The .structure will be provided 

 with canvass blinds on the south front and roof, to gaurd agninst 

 excessive li.Oit and heat. Its refreshment rooms will enclose three 

 groves of trees. Ample ventilation will be supplied— there being 

 5000 superficial feet of ventilators in the transept alone, 'i'he 

 architectural form of the palace will be very elegant. It will con- 

 sist of three stories, the upper ones receding behind the lower ; 

 each story to be formed by fluted pillars and arches of iron, with 

 walls of gla.<s. and to be surmounted by an ornamental and frieze 

 archiirave. The design of the endless range of arches is very 

 tasteful. The roofs will be nearly flat, but will consist of a series 

 of ridges and valleys, 8 feet wide, so formed as easily to carry off the 

 rain. The whole structure will be so light (in both senses of the 

 word) and airy, that it will look like a work of enchantment. It 

 will not exactly be raised as quickly as .Aladdin's palace, but al- 

 most, as the shell is to be complete by the 1st of January. If 

 future Arabian Nights' Entertainments should be written, the 

 tale-tellers muiit flog their lazy imaginations ; for the magic of 

 former ages has become the plain matter of fact of the present. 



At the Anniversary Meeting of the .Mechanics' Institution, of 

 Derby, England. Mr. Paiton gave the following singular and inter- 

 esting account of the origin and acceptance of his design. 



Mr. PAtTOf said, he would commence by stating that, gigantic 

 as the buildin; was, it was concivcd and framed by him in a small 

 space of time. He need not. however, remind them that it wa« not 

 done without a great deal of forethought, aided by the experience 

 he had had in constructing other great buildings. When the six 

 Pmiuent architects and engineers were selected as a committee to 

 choose a lb-sign, ho (Mr. Paxton) had no intention of offering one. 

 for he took for granted that Fomcthing worthy of the occision and 

 of the nalion would be selected by tbem. When the time ap- 

 proached for the production of plans, there was a di.scu.ision in the 

 n.'wsp.ipers as to the design best adapted, and he must say that 

 the first skett^h he s.iw in a number of the liuiLdcr did not inspire 

 bim with any very cxhaltcd notions, or raise any very splendid 

 expectations of the r.-nult. It was not until on"' morning when 

 he was present with his friend .Mr. Ei i.rs. at an early. ".itting in the 

 Uouae of Cocimou?. that the idea of sending in a design occurred 



to him. A conversation took place between them with reference 

 to the construction of the new House of Commons, in the course 

 of which he (Mr. Paxto.s) observed that he was afraid tliey would 

 also commit a blunder in the building for the Industrial Kxhibi- 

 tion ; adding, that he had a notion in his head, and th.al if he (Mr. 

 Ellls) would accompany him to the Board of Trade he would as- 

 certain whethi r it was too late to send in a design. He asked the 

 Executive Committee whether they were so far committed to the 

 plans as to be precluded from receiving another ; the reply was, 

 ■' Certainly not ; the specifications will be o\it in a fortnight, but 

 there is no reason why a clause should not be introduced allowing 

 of the reception of another de.-ign." He (.Mr. P.) said, '• Well, if 

 yoxi will introduce such a cl.ause. I will go home, and in nine days 

 hence I will bring you my plans all complete." No doubt the ex- 

 ecutive thought him a conceited fellow, and that what he said was 

 nearer akin to romance than to common sense. Well. thi.s was on 

 Friday, the 11th of June. From London he went to the Menai 

 Straits to .seethe third tube of the Britannia Bridge placed, and 

 on his return to Derby ho had to attend to some business at the 

 Board Room, during which, however, his whole miud was devoted 

 to his project ; and whilst the bu.^iuf SB proceeded he sketched his 

 design on a large sheet of blotting-paper. (Applause.) He was 

 sorry he had not the original with him. but the fact was Mrs. Pax- 

 ton had taken possession of it. and if they were at aU anxious to 

 see it. the only possible way of gratifying their desire was by send- 

 ing for her to the meeting. (Laughter and applause ) Well, 

 having sketched his design on blotting-paper he sat up all night 

 until he had worked it out to his own satisfaction ; and by the aid 

 of his friend Mr. Baklow. on the loth, h" was enabled to complete 

 the whole of the plans by the Saturday following, on which day 

 he left Rowsley for London. On arriving at the Derby station he 

 met Mr. Robk.rt Stkphe.s;son, a member of the Building Commit- 

 tee, who was also on his way to the Metropolis. Mr. Stkphf.nson 

 minutely examined the plans, and became thoroughly engros.-ed 

 with them, until at length he exclaimed that the design was just 

 the thing, and be only wished it had been submitted to the com- 

 mittee in time. Mr. Stkphf.nson, however, laid the plans before 

 the committee, and at first the idea was rather pooh-poohed ; but 

 they gradually grew In favor, and by publishing the de.sign in the 

 Illustrated News., and shewing the advantage of such an erection 

 over one comjiosed of 15 millions of bricks and other materials, 

 which would have to be removed at a great loss, the committee did 

 in the end reject the abortion of a child of their own. and unani- 

 mously recommended his bantling [.Applause ] He was bound 

 to say that he had been treated by the committee with grtat fair- 

 ness. Mr. Brcnkl, the author of the great dome he belived. was 

 at first so wedded to his own plan, that he would hardly look at 

 his. JTr. Brunel, however, was a gentleman, and a man of fair- 

 ness, and listened with every attention to all that could be urged 

 in favor of his [Mr. Paxto's] plans. As .m instance of that gen- 

 tleman's very creditable conduct he [Mr. P.] would mention that 

 a diflieuUy presented itself to the committee as to what was to be 

 done with the large trees, and it was gravely suggested that they 

 should he walled in. He (Mr. P.] remarked that he could cover 

 the trees without any difiiculty ; when .Mr. Brunel asked. " Do 

 you know their height?' He [Mr. Paxton] acknowledged that 

 he did not. On the following morning Mr. Briivei. called at Dev- 

 onshire House, and gave him the measurement of the trees, which 

 he had taken early that morning ; adding. '• Althnugh 1 mean to 

 try t# win with my own plan. I will give you all the information I 

 can." [Applause.] Having given this preliminary explanation 

 of the origin and execution of his design. Mr. P. would jiass over 

 the question of merit, leaving that to be discussed and decided by 

 other.s, when the whole shall have been completed. 



The engraving of this building with which we intend to supply 

 each subscriber, now (Dec. 12th) nearly completed, will cost na 

 about fnc Intndred dollars. &n<i if we are as successful in the re- 

 mainder of the work, as we have been thus far. it will be at least 

 one of the best wood engravings ever got up in this section of 

 country. It was engraved by Miller & Mix. of this city. 



The New York State AcBicuLnrRAL Fair for 1851. — The last 

 State Fair being held at Albany, and the one previous at Syracuse, 

 and it being understood that the next Fair would be located some- 

 where in Western New York, the citizens of Rochester, have been 

 making some exertions to secure the selection of this city as the 

 place for holding the fair for 1851. Our citizens have very liber- 

 ally subscribed Ihe necessary funds for the erection of buildings, 

 &.C.. and intend to present the claims of our city to the consid- 

 eration of the Society. We know of no good reason why the next 

 fair should not he held here. If so, we hope the time set will not 

 be earlier than the third or fourth week of September, as most of 

 the farmers in this section are busy sowing wheat early in Septem- 

 ber. We think, too. we can beat the world in a fhow of fruit, and 

 we are anxious that the fair should be held at a time when we can 

 show the fruits of Western New York in their highest excellenca 

 and greatest abundance. 



WmTER Show of Fruits, fcc— The Horticultural Society of the 

 Valley of the Genesee have a winter show of fruits, in this city, on 

 the 11th of January. The annual meeting of the Monroe Agricul- 

 tural Society will be held on the same day. 



