Domestic Notices. 383 



in the west, and the blue ranges of the distant Highlands, gave a varied 

 outline and interest scarcely to be surpassed. A large field of ten acres 

 was enclosed by a high fence, within which all the objects of the fair 

 were collected. The number of people admitted to the grounds on the 

 two days of the exhibition, is supposed to be not less than from twenty- 

 five to thirty thousand. 



" A line of large buildings, erected for the purpose, extended for sev- 

 eral hundred feet through the centre of the grounds, and formed a leading 

 feature of attraction. The first, which was 36 feet wide and more than 

 100 feet long, was inscribed over the entrance, 'Floral Hall,' in rich 

 letters of evergreen on a wiiite ground. The whole interior of the build- 

 ing, as well as the entrances, was richly ornamented overhead with beau- 

 tiful and massive wreaths and festoons of evergreen. In the centre of the 

 building was a splendid outline Temple, 'Dedicated to Agriculture and 

 the Arts,' consisting of a high evergreen arch in the middle, interwoven 

 with ilowers, flanked with square wings, equally tasteful, on the sides. 

 In the centre, and surmounting the whole, was the inscription, 'Agricul- 

 ture,' and the numerous articles arranged within this arch, Avere the 

 appropriate details of the great leading subject, among which were the 

 tall lance-like stalks of corn crossing the middle, the suspended heads of 

 wheat and other grain, the paintings of domestic animals, and a large as- 

 semblage of other articles, beneath the whole of m hich was' a beautifully 

 ornamented miniature plough, the origin and foundation of the whole. 

 Under the chaplet inscribed 'Horticdltcrk,' was a most interesting ex- 

 hibition of rich fruits and brilliant flowers. Numerous tasteful emblems 

 and inscriptions were interspersed through the whole, and with some fine 

 ornamental figures, decorated the base. 



" A double line of tables extended through the centre of this building, 

 densely loaded Avith a magnificent display of fruits on either side, and a 

 long range of flowers arranged in wreaths, temples and pyramids in the 

 centre. Among some of the best collections of fruits, were handsomely 

 arranged specimens of a hundred fine varieties of apples, eighty of pears, 

 and many of other fine fruits, from A. .J. Downing & Co. of Newburgh, 

 extending compactly for forty feet along one side of the table ; also exten- 

 sive collections of apples from R. L. Pell of Ulster, J. R. Comstock of 

 Dutchess, J. F. Osborn of Cayuga, Alex. Walsh of Lansingburg, from 

 his Hoosick farms, and large and fine collections of pears from James G. 

 King, Highwood, N. J., J. R. Comstock, and Wm* Reid of Murray Hill, 

 N. Y., and also excellent specimens of grapes, from R. Donaldson, J. 

 Merritt, S. Van Rensselaer, and many others. The whole display of 

 fruits, though defective in a few particulars, exceeded in variety and ex- 

 tent that of any previous exhibition of the State Society. 



" The vegetables, suspended from the sides of the tables and beneath, 

 presented a very fine array ; among which was a superb lot from the gar- 

 den of R. L. Pell, of Pelham, Ulster county, consisting of very large man- 

 gold wurtzels, true blood beets, carrots, parsnips, sugar beets, Patagonian 

 gourds, 5 feet 8 inches long, squashes weighing 152 and 200 lbs., tuonkey 

 bread, very curious, ten varieties of table squashes, cabbages weighing 30 

 lbs. Mr. P. also presented forty varieties of seedling and twenty-seven 

 of grafted apples, Catawba and Isabella grapes grown under glass, very 

 large gooseberries, three kinds of currants, a floral ornament seventeen 

 feet high, &c. 



