THE ILLINOIS FA.RM:EK. 



163 



and be trusted with an important secret, 

 to-wit : the names of the owners of the 

 goods submitted to their ripe judgment. 

 To this end several of the Superintend- 

 ents have directed the entrv clerks to 

 place upon the exhibition cards the own- 

 ers' names, that etlitors and others may 

 know at once from whom and whence 

 the goods come. We do not say that 

 this is general, for old fogydom only 

 yields up in broken doses. It is a 

 great pity that plain common sense has 

 to wage such a warfare with the mysti- 

 cal proclivities of the age, but such ap- 

 pears to be the case. We have no time 

 to discuss this absurdity at length, but 

 we may at some future time give it the 

 benefit of an airing. 



NATURAL HISTORY. . 



This department will bo one of the 

 great points of attraction, partly on ac- 

 count of the paucity of display hereto- 

 fore, and partly on account of the fine 

 display at this time. K^o visitor should 

 pass by this department. Mr. M. S. 

 Bebb, of Marion county, exhibits over 

 one thousand species of plants, illustrat- 

 ing the botany of the State, having been 

 collected from Winnebago (the former 

 residence of Mr. Bebb,) to Cairo. The 

 specimens are in excellent condition, and 

 show great taste and knowledge in the 

 botany of our woodlands and prairies. 

 A few more hundred specimens, and 

 the botany of this State will be com- 

 plete. 



BIRDS. 

 R. H. Holder, of Bloomington, has a 

 most magnificent coUectien of our wes- 

 tern birds, embracing over two hundred 

 specimens, among them one hundred and 

 thirty -five belonging to our State; five 

 varieties of grouse, three of which be- 

 long to our prairies and woodland. — 

 Twenty species of warblers prove that 

 were we to foster the growth of timber 

 about our homes, that something more 

 musical than the shrill clarion notes of 

 the rough- throated shanghai, will greet 

 us when the sun first sends his greetings 

 to call us from our morning slumbers. 



FOSSILS. 

 Mr. A. II. Worthen, our industrious 

 StatjB Geologist, has a fine collection of 

 fossils; of these the collection of crinoids 

 is very large. 



FLORAL HALL 



Is a most magnificent building in the 

 shape of a Greek Cross, each wing being 

 one hundred and six feet by forty feet, 

 or equal to a single building forty feet 

 wide and four hundred and twenty-four 

 feet long; an immense amount of ever- 

 green boughs are used in the festoons, 

 all of which were f urnislied by the active 

 President of the State Horticultural So- 

 ciety, S. Edwards, from his grounds at 

 Lamoille, in Bureau county, now so well 

 known as the * 'Evergreens,'' The show 



of fruits will be large ; of flowers we 

 cannot speak confidently. Mr. Doyle, 

 of Springfield, is the only exhibitor who 

 has signified his intention to be present. 

 Preserved fruit will be in abundance, 

 but of native wines we fear the show will 

 fall below that of last year. The nur- 

 serymen are largely represented, and are 

 very busy in decorating the Floral Hall. 



THE STEAM PLOW. 



Fawkes' steam plow has arrived, but 

 we can hear nothing definite in regard 

 to the Detroit steam plow of Mr. Wat- 

 ers. It has been at work at Minooka, 

 and required some little repairing. 

 STOCK. ; 



The stalls are already filled, and 

 workmen are busy in putting up a lar j, 

 number more. All the teams in the v 

 lage are in requisition, and are not ad- 

 equate to the demands upon them. 



SWINE. 



The show of hogs is the best we have 

 seen. Sufi"olks and Berkshires are par- 

 ticularly well represented, though there 

 are fine specimens of the various cross- 

 es. We are glad to see this interest 

 fostered, as during the past two years it 

 has been rather neglected; there is no 

 interest of more importance to our farm- 

 ers than that of growing pork. The 

 superintendent of this department has 

 taken a deep interest in this branch of 

 rural economy, and to his efibrts are due 

 the more liberal premiums that have 

 drawn out such a fine show of porkers. 



6HEEP. 



The show of sheep is large, the 

 Messrs. McOonnel, of Sangamon coun- 

 ty, leading oif. 



Thirteen hundred dollars have been 

 received for tickets, and 1,800 entries 

 made. The 850 stalls are already filled 

 and over a hundred more are are in pro- 

 cess of construction, and these will not 

 suffice. :■ - ^.: ■:::■: - ,:• ■■ , 



A large number of visitors are on the 

 ground this afternoon, and the Fair is 

 fast assuming form and interest. 



caTTie. 

 The show of cattle is not only large 

 but superior to any former State Fair 

 in this State. They are the great point 

 of attraction. We have only time to 

 give a few of the entries : . 



Jas. M. Hill of Cass county, eleven head of Durhams. 



J. 0. Bone, of Sangamon county, fourteen head of Dur- 

 hams. 



John Prunty, of Cass county, one yoke of oxen three years 

 old; one three years old fat bullockjj^ne three year old steer; 

 two 2 year old do; eight head Dni^nns. 



Thomas Simpkle, of Pike county, foui" bead Durhams and 

 two head grade cattle. 



Ralph Anderson, of Pike county, one Durham bull, and one 

 grade heifer. 



S. & J. George, Boone county, one Durham bull. 



W. lies, of Sangamon county, one bull, one heifer. 



W. Cr. Justin, Morgan county, one three year old heifer, 

 one sucking calf. 



Robert Pollock, of Morgan county, (not him of the "Course 

 of Time,") a fine herd of Durhams, numbering twenty-two 

 head. 



E B. Hitt, of Scott county, eighteen bead of Durhams. 



J. H. Henderson, of Morgan connty, six head of Durh.iras. 



J. D. Smitli, of Sangamon cotmty, nineteen head of Dur- 

 hams. 



J. H. Spears, of Menard cnjnty. fourteen head of Durhams. 



James I'urlcapile, o' Menard cunty, four hoad of Ourliaiiis. 



J. N. Brown, of fangamon county, twenty -four head of 

 Durhams. 



Jas. Kerr, of Marlon, one bull . 



Col. li. Oapron, of Peoria county, twenty-eight^head of 

 Devons. 



C. D. Bent, of Iowa City, nine head of Devons. 

 Steiihen Green, of Morgan, two head of native and cross. 

 J. B. Hibleton, of Clay county, one steer. 



"Miles llolliday, one heifer. 

 W. H. OuUardson, of Edgar county, Durham one. 

 Dr. English, of Morgan county, two Durhams. 

 J. W. Goodwin, of Vermillion county, two bulls. 



D. P. Parts, of Brown county, one bull. 



Josiah Williams, of Scott county, two yoke of Durham oxen. 

 Jesse Cloyd, Champaign county, two head of Durhams. 

 W. Marshall, of Morgan county, two head of Durhams. 

 J. Ingalls, of Sangamon county, two bead of natives and 

 cross. 

 Robert Denton, of Morgan, one bull. 



Fawkes' steam plow has just come in- 

 to the ground, by the aid of water 

 wrung from a summer cloud, and the 

 carboniferous deposits dug from the bo- 

 som of the prairie. The crowd greeted 

 the iron monster, as life-like he moved 

 to the music of revolving wheels, under 

 the guidance of the inventor. 



Over six hundred stalls have been put 

 up on the outside of the grounds for the 

 use of visitors and the extra stock that 

 cannot be accommodated in the stalls in- 

 side of the grounds. 



The camping grounds are fast filling 

 up with tents and teams. 



On the entrance side is more than 

 the usual number of shows, to accommo- 

 date rural adolescence. 



The steam plow is to be tried on 

 Thursday. The plowing match will 

 come off on the the same day. On Wed- 

 nesday, the sugar mills and sugar evap- 

 orators are *".o operate. Cook and Mil- 

 ler are the competitors, and they prom- 

 ise to tur^n out the real sugar by the 

 pail full. % . ,. ' V : 



SECOND DAY— SEPT. 11. 

 The morning is cool and pleasant, 

 with wind from the west, just with an 

 autumn tinge that braces up both man 

 and beast, and nerves them for both 

 work and enjoyment. During the past 

 night thirty car loads of stock arrived, 

 and a large train of goods and machinery 

 for the Fair. 



It has always been a wonder to us 

 why railroad men did not hurry up the 

 freight ; if they would give return pas- 

 ses to all exhibitors, the matter would 

 be settled, but these are withheld until 

 the first day of the Fair, the exhibitors 

 .4clay starting, and the result is a per- 

 fectljrowd, when by a little more fore- 

 sight, this would have been avoided. 

 Fair tickets should be sold the whole 

 previous week, and as they are not stamp- 

 ed before the second day, no advantage 

 could be taken of them. It is desira- 

 ble to have everything on the ground if 

 possible before the opening of the Fair 

 to the public. Our experience has led 

 us to these conclusions, and we would 

 call especial attention to them. 



Driving in both rings is already ac- 

 tive, and yet the sun has not reached 

 the top of the trees. In the Floral Hall 

 the ollicers have worked nearly all night, 

 and this morning the canopy of oak 



