THE GENESEE FARMER. 



341 



NOTES FOR THE MONTH-BY S. W. 



Ontario County Fair at Oanandaigua. — Here 

 is one of the best fair grounds in the Empire State, 

 if we tiike into account the grand circular show 

 building over two hundred feet in diameter. It is 

 built around an open gravelled centre, in the mid- 

 dle of which is the judges' stand, around which the 

 equines and bovine^ must perambulate when they 

 receive their awards. Seven thousand spectators 

 ■well seated, may then look on from the circumam- 

 bient open terraced seats of the structure. The 

 outside part of the building, above and below, has 

 shelves around the whole GOO feet circle, to contain 

 the articles en exposition. These are so conve- 

 niently placed as to give ample room for perambu- 

 lation and inspection. Eight thousand dollars was 

 expended in completing this large, durable, and 

 convenient structure, but not one cent for orna- 

 ment or paint, as the enterprising projectors had 

 the good taste not to mar the show of nature's fair 

 productions, and man and woman's choicest handi 

 craft, by ornate appliances to a show room of tine 

 things, lest it should detract from them, like putting 

 Jack on the Gentleman. The display at this fair 

 was in every department creditable to the great 

 rural and extra fertile county of Ontario ; and the 

 rare fruits and vegetables, hot-house and cold 

 grapery productions, contributed by the magnates 

 of this modern Elysian Atlantis, Oanandaigua, gave 

 an earnest that even the wealthy ones here well 

 know how to overcome beaiitifully that tedium 

 vitm that wealth so often brings with it. 



Here was a fine show of fat bovines, working 

 oxen, and milch c(.)ws, of every grade; fat Leices- 

 ter and South-Downs for mutton, and iine-wooled 

 Spanish and Merinos, but no Saxons; a tine show 

 of tat porcines and spring pigs, and splended equines 

 of either sex. But as no trial of speed or trotting 

 was allowed, a tigbt-rope performance and a balloon 

 ascension came off as the equivalent, and there is 

 no doubt but tliat this brought a larger house than 

 any equine feats would have done. The receipts 

 were about $2,000, and $1,100 was paid in premi- 

 nms at the close of the fair. 



Tlie show of farm implements, household prod- 

 ucts, mechanical fabrics, paintings, photographs, 

 &c., &c., was extensive, and very creditable to the 

 fair. Some tine specimens of buggies and pleasure 

 carriages made at East Bloomfield, must be hard 

 to beat. 



On the second day, during the balloon ascen- 

 sion, it was computed that the number of men, 

 women, and children present amounted to twenty 

 thousand; every vacant lot and the road sides for a 

 long distance were full of liorses and carriages, while 

 every stable in the viltage was crowded with 

 liorses. During the rope- walking over the enclosed 

 circle, the terrace was crowded with a sitting mul- 

 titude, while the area centre was densely filled with 

 men and women standing, many of them with 

 children, as well as infants in their arms. But it 

 was purely a Yankee gathering — no German, and 

 very little of the Celtic brogue was heard there; 

 yet unlike Yankee pageants generally, much jew- 

 elry and lace was left at home ; here was no attempt 

 at showing off poor humanity, but all was in keep- 

 ing with that quiet good order and good taste which 

 should always grace an agricultural fair. True, 

 there was some grumbling, aa is usual among the 



pren)iumless, when the awards were announced; 

 i)ut good sense, good nature, and, above all, good 

 breeding, pix'doniinated, and the judges, poor fel- 

 lows, were forgiven. 



The first evening of the fair, after the only wet 

 day, an address was delivered at a hall in the village 

 by Mr. Ogden, of Penn Yan, to a thin but respect- 

 able house. The address was a forcible, wall- 

 written appeal to farmers to pay more attention to 

 the education of the schools, and to scieiititic cul- 

 ture generally, as the true and only means by whieh 

 they can ever expect to attain that political position 

 in society to which their high calling entitles them; 

 and until farmers' sons are thus well educated, they 

 must not, as they now do, complain that they ara 

 ruled and governed by lawyers and professional 

 men in the councils of the nation. 



CnADTADQDB OouNTY. — This Very fertile and very 

 superior grazing county has probably sufiered more 

 from frosts and grasshoppers this season, than any 

 other county of the same cultivated area in the 

 Empire State. But from the following diary kept 

 by a brother there, it will be seen that in spite of 

 the Siberian season, the pasturage on the high landi 

 and valleys of Chautauque has at least doubled that 

 of hke extent in many of the fair counties in th» 

 calcarious regions of Western New York, where 

 the temperature has been so mild tliat meadows, 

 orchards, and cornfields have given full increase: 



"At sunrising on the 4th June, the mercury in 

 the town of Gerry stood at 22 deg. above zero, and. 

 as may be supposed, all vegetation, and even the 

 ground, was frozen — not an apple escaped destruc- 

 tion, and the grass of every meadow was killed to 

 the ground. Yet so favorable is this soil and cli- 

 mate to grass -growing, that every meadow that 

 was cut the week after the frost, yielded a large 

 second crop in August; while that which was left 

 uncut, amounted to nothing. In many instances 

 there was not half a ton of hay cut from the acre, 

 and that was only a soft leaf, without stalk or seed. 

 Millet and corn sown for fodder after the frost, also 

 attained a large growth, and if the grasshoppers 

 were not, we should yet "exult in the prospect of 

 winter fodder. 



"July 5th. — On the road to Jamestown, many 

 farmers still continue to cut their frozen meadows 

 to get a second growth. I saw thirteen mowing 

 machines at work, including eight different patterns. 

 The rains are frequent, and pasture never was 

 better. My neighbor now makes 200 lbs. of cheese 

 daily, and sometimes 240 lbs. ; and the quantity of 

 premium butter made here this summer would 

 astonish the grain-growers. 



"A letter from Kansas says, the mercury aver- 

 aged 97 deg. at 2 P. M., from the 26th June to July 

 20th. They make corn there, but no premium 

 butter, and the coarse grass wears out upper leather. 

 "July 31st.— Mercury at Gerry 60 to 88 dog. 

 averaging 15 deg. higher than for the last eight 

 days, and, for the first time here, dry and dusty, 

 with corn leaves rolling at noon. Think of that, 

 Seneca Farmers, who with so many unfrosted bless- 

 ings complain of drouth, unless it is during haying 

 and harvest. 



" August 1st.- One inch of rain, and vegetation 

 rampant. Some King Philip corn silked in grati- 

 tude for the few past days of dry hot weather. 



"August 3d.— More rain, with a high growing 

 temperature. 



