55 



Mechanic Arts figured in forty-eight entries, and most of them 

 were around the hall outside. Messrs. J. Adams &. Sons of Hadley 

 had on exhibition several specimens of their Avagon manufacture, 

 which is well known in this section for its excellence. Mowing 

 machines of several varieties, horse-rakes, a tobacco ridger and a 

 tobacco setter were placed all in a row next the hall, each guarded 

 by a vociferous agent, and if the truth in their account stood in any 

 fair proportion to their volubihty, their machines ought to have an 

 enormous sale. 



Inside the hall, the display on the tables W'as remarkably fine, 

 and the women of Amherst and contributors outside, made a good 

 show of their handiwork. The only pity was that the bad weather 

 kept away the crowd who ought to have seen it, and darkened the 

 hall so much that the effect which a good light would have pro- 

 duced was lost. The vegetable side of the room was well filled 

 with the traditional squash, pumpkin, potato, beet, and all the little 

 et ceteras, curiosities and monstrosities which Dame Nature turns 

 out in her whimsical moments. Specimens of the sugar beet, which 

 the scientific men are trying to persuade our Massachusetts farmers 

 to raise, were setup in a prominent position where aforesaid farmers 

 could see them with their percentage of sugar pinned on. The 

 varieties, and they reaUy looked excellent, if looks go for anj'thing 

 in the character of a beet, were the French Imperial and Ger- 

 man Electoral. The pumpkin weighed forty pounds, and in fa- 

 vorable circumstances is said to grow to 200, which is more of a 

 stunner than the delectable fruit itself. However, the^e stoi'ies are 

 all on the safe side, and the only wonder is that the possible dimen- 

 sions of the prodigy are not doubled. Sweet potatoes which were 

 raised in town were as large- and fresh as any that are imported. Am- 

 bitious housekeepers had essayed fame with forty-one entries of 

 honey, wines and jellies, thirty-four of bread, and nineteen of butter 

 and cheese, all of which seemed to have been made with sonic other 

 end in view than passing the contributor free to the grounds. 

 Several factory cheeses from the Prescott factory lay composedly 

 among the more modest home-made stock. 



The fruit exhibit was good, especially the apples. No one 

 would suspect fx-om • the heavily loaded plates and crowded tables 

 that there was a scarcity of the most common fruit of the State." — 

 Springfield Eepublican, Sept. 27, 1871. 



The attention of the Secretary of the Agricultural Society, being 

 necessarily confined to the entries to be made on the day of the fair, 



