PREPARING FOR THE FAIR. 
A lesson of great importance is every 
year taught to our farmers, as well as to 
the stockholders, directors and officers of 
our own County Agricultural Societies; 
and yet it is a lesson that either goes unheed¬ 
ed and unlearned or is forgotten before the 
next autumn. Were we to judge the busi¬ 
ness abilities of the farming community 
from the manner in which they slight the 
lesson of experience afforded them by the 
almost universal failure of an exhibition 
in farm products at the annual fair, vre 
could be easily persuaded to pardon one 
who should say that they as a class were 
almose entirely destitute of business tact 
and ability. That this is not the case every¬ 
body is willing to admit, but were mech¬ 
anics, merchants and manufacturers as lit¬ 
tle regardful of their interests at the county 
fairs, even, as the farmers are, pr appear to 
be, the fair might appropriately be called 
what some writer has facetiously termed it, 
an Agricultural Horse trot. 
Every year we hear farmers and their 
wives complain of the lack of exhibits of 
farm produce at the fair, and coupled with 
the complaints are expressions something 
like this: “I could have beat it ah to death 
if I had taken my butter, or my cheese, 
there."’ Or, “If I had taken some of our 
chickens I might just as well have had the 
premium as for those Brown boys to have 
it, for our chickens are a good deal better 
than theirs and they are willing to ac¬ 
knowledge it. But that is just my lack. 
They knew I didn’t intend to take mine and 
they just cooped theirs up and took them 
along and next week it will come out in 
the papers and be published all over the 
county. Brown Brothers of Heedless Hol¬ 
low had on exhibition a fine coop of chick¬ 
ens and took First Premium. Next year 
they will have more calls for eggs for set¬ 
ting than they can fill and will have to 
come to me like enough to help them out.’’ 
These complaints occur year after year, 
and what is the reason for it? Does it lie 
with the farmers themselves or is the so¬ 
ciety partly to blame ? We think the fault 
is on both sides to some extent. But as it 
will not do to berate the Agricultural socie¬ 
ties until we have taught the farmers their 
lesson we will try to impress on the mem¬ 
ory of the farmers some of the failures in 
last year’s exhibitions as we saw them at 
the fairs, and then we will go for the socie¬ 
ties. When the Centennial exhibition was 
first talked about, and the buiidings were 
about to be erected the farmers came very 
near being overlooked and left out in the 
cold and even after a suitable building had 
been erected for their accommodation it 
was for a long time doubtful whether they 
would occupy the space provided for them 
or not. The universal lack* of interest in 
exhibiting their products was shown by 
the farmers at the greatest exhibition of 
Industry the world has ever seen, and the 
manufacturers were obliged to come to 
their aid, and a large share of the ten-acre 
building known as Agricultural Hall was 
occupied by manufacturers who seem to 
know and appreciate the value of properly 
exhibiting and .advertising their produc¬ 
tions. Now this does not always arise from 
farmers not having produce that is worthy 
to be- taken to the fair; quite otherwise. 
Almost any farmer can show some one or 
two good articles raised or manufactured 
by himself and if he could be induced to 
take them to the fair ard every other far¬ 
mer would do the same the complaints of 
“nothing to see” would soon be done away 
and the fairs would become better and bet¬ 
ter each year. It is not a necessity that a 
farmers products be the largest ever pro¬ 
duced to be worthy to be exhibited, and 
yet this idea seems to have gained a place 
in the minds of too many of them. It 
would be well if they could be induced to 
divest themselves of this delusion. The 
mechanic who exhibits his own work, a 
wagon or a table, for instance, does not 
make one that is larger than the ordinary 
articles of that kind, for that would be pre¬ 
posterous. Neither should the farmer in 
trying to comply with the requirements of 
the premium list for the “best exhibition” 
of any particular product think that he will 
be required to show larger specimens than 
any one else in order to merit and receive 
the prize. We remember an instance in 
which an exhibitor showed much ill-feeling 
on account of not receiving the premium 
