228 
NEW HAVEN COUNTY AGRICULTURAL SHOW AND FAIR. 
richness, variety, and elegance of the Horticultural 
Shows at New Haven, but were really not pre¬ 
pared for the tasteful scene that presented itself 
before us. There is, however, a why and where¬ 
fore for all things—the ladies were the managers 
of this department of the exhibition, and hence it 
was like unto themselves—charming indeed. 
Midway in the hall is a circular recess, and this 
we found walled up with a large bank of flowers 
in all the beauty and variety of the season. On 
one side of this was a huge Neptune’s drinking- 
cup, (spongia vasculum ,) sustaining a rich bouquet 
Very tastefully arranged, from the garden of Mrs. 
E. Whitney, and which, we were happy to hear, 
took the first premium; beside this were others 
which we greatly admired, of various shapes 
and forms, from Mrs. Thompson, Mrs. Munson, 
Mrs. Sheffield, Mrs. Nicoll, Mrs. Skinner, Mrs. 
Deveraux, Mrs. Jarman, Mrs. Hillhouse, Mrs. H. 
Whitney, Mrs. Chester, Mrs. Yoorhees, and the 
Misses Beach, Mansfield, Day, and others; then 
there were gentlemen whose names we think it 
would be ungallant to mention as competitors with 
the ladies. Mr. Peck showed a superb Turk’s- 
head Cactus in full flower. It was two feet nine 
inches in circumference, and made a singular and 
showy appearance. 
The fruits we thought quite fine, especially the 
pears, which were pronounced by gentlemen re¬ 
cently from the Boston Horticultural Show, as su¬ 
perior to any they saw there. One of them meas¬ 
ured twelve inches in circumference. We are 
confident that it would be difficult to outshow 
these New Haven specimens. The peaches also 
were superb; several measured over ten inches, 
and weighed nearly nine ounces each. Apples 
we noticed fourteen inches in circumference, and 
weighing sixteen ounces, and as much farther 
north as New Haven is to this city, the grapes 
would do credit to New York. 
The vegetables were an excellent show. We 
were especially pleased with some new seedling 
potatoes, and we found among other superb pro¬ 
ductions, two Royal Mammoth pumpkins from the 
garden of Mrs. Hillhouse, one weighing 112, and 
the other 120 pounds ! 
The show in dairy products, and domestic man¬ 
ufactures in the upper hall was rather meager. 
Some fine cutlery was exhibited, and other manu¬ 
factures, which hardly come within the range of 
an agricultural paper to note. We were highly 
interested by a collection of insects exhibited by 
Judge Darling, the celebrated writer on this sub¬ 
ject. We understand that his daughters made the 
arrangement of them, which certainly does those 
young ladies great credit. Mr. G. F. Read exhib 
ited a handsome centre table and pagoda of shell 
work, which he had made during the past year in 
hours of ill health. The shells were tastefully 
arranged, and these works of art would be hand¬ 
some ornaments to any gentleman’s parlor. Bu f 
what with fruits and flowers, and bright eyes to 
watch over them, we found the interior of the 
statehouse a dangerous place to remain in, and 
upon announcement, therefore, of the trains of 
working-oxen coming up, we closed the door of 
this Paradise behind, and walked on to the green 
to view the cattle. 
The teams marched in long trains of from 60 to 
150 yoke each, drawing large carts festooned with 
evergreens, and filled with farm products, over 
which waved flags with appropriate mottoes, the 
whole line moving along in a seemingly never- 
ending length, to the strains of inspiring music 
from various bands. After all had arrived, they 
were paraded in double lines on the green, and num¬ 
bered over one thousand head. The cattle were 
generally of a deep, rich red color, the favorite 
one of New England, and were otherwise quite 
Devon-like in their appearance, and certainly the 
finest and most numerous herd by far of working- 
oxen that we ever saw assembled together. 
Their performance on this day consisted in taking 
a load of 6,000 pounds along the street some 20 
rods, and then returning to the place whence they 
started. The oxen were of medium size, with 
fine blood-like limbs, and showed astonishing 
muscular power in the performance of their task. 
They would start the load at a full gallop, trot, or 
walk, as called upon by their drivers. Some of 
these oxen attached to the cart were only four 
years old, and yet any one pair of them would 
draw and wheel round with this great weight 
with apparent ease. Their training was admira¬ 
ble, and they moved at the word of command like 
well-drilled soldiers. 
Of other stock there was a meager show, save 
in the fine herds of Durhams of Messrs. Whitney 
and Townsend. These were not entered for pri¬ 
zes, but brought on to the ground that the people 
might be gratified with the sight of a few impro¬ 
ved cattle. Some pretty good native bulls and 
cows of a deep red were exhibited, also a few no¬ 
ble fat cattle. Except a half dozen or so, fine- 
woolled sheep, and an equal number of swine, the 
animals in these classes were pretty poorly repre¬ 
sented. We saw a neat gray stallion, 15| hands 
high, a reasonable fine horse, muscular and active 
