290 
ORANGE COUNTY SHOW, 
proved by the fine fat cattle raised in this country 
on that alone. What might we not expect, then, 
when a little attention has been paid to the im¬ 
provement of the stock consuming it? 
ORANGE COUNTY SHOW. 
The annual show of the Orange County Agri¬ 
cultural Society, took place at the pleasant village 
of Goshen, on Wednesday the 4th of October. We 
arrived there for the purpose of witnessing it on 
Tuesday evening, and found the committees in 
session at their head-quarters, busy in arrange¬ 
ments for the next day. Wednesday came in 
somewhat blustering and cold for the season; but 
this did not seem to cool the ardor of the people 
at all, and early in the morning they began to pour 
into the quiet village on horseback, and in all sorts 
of vehicles, in considerable numbers. 
The pens for the stock were arranged on the 
ample green in front of the churches, and were 
soon filled up with their destined inmates. 
By 10 o’clock, about all that was to be shown 
had arrived on the ground, and the viewing com¬ 
mittees entered upon their duties. There were a 
few good Durham bulls present, especially one be¬ 
longing to Mr. John A. Smith, which demonstra¬ 
ted the superiority of this breed in his early matu¬ 
rity, easiness of keep, fine points, and good quality 
of flesh in an eminent degree. There was a pretty 
good number of excellent dairy cows present, es¬ 
pecially those in full milk ; the best of which, in 
our judgment, were the crosses of the Short-Horns. 
Of working cattle there were few, and horses the 
same. The show of South-Down, and Leicester 
sheep was quite respectable; of the Merinos we 
noticed not over a dozen, although there are many 
large flocks of fine wool sheep in ihis county. 
The pigs were in moderate numbers, some of 
which were quite choice. The Berkshire sow be¬ 
longing to Mr. Hulse, and which took the first 
premium, was one of the finest animals we ever 
saw. 
Among the agricultural implements present, we 
observed a stone-boat of a new construction ; it 
having a trough-shaped top, suspended 18 inches 
or so above the usually-constructed bottom. Into 
this, stones were piled as fast as picked up, and 
when the boat came to the place where it was de¬ 
sired to unload, by touching a spring the top could 
be tipped up on either side, and the boat instantly 
discharged by slipping the stones to the ground. 
The Courthouse was devoted to the show of 
grain, vegetables, fruits, flowers, the dairy products, 
and domestic manufactures. The butter, as a 
matter of course in old Orange, was very superior, 
and in numerous lots. Of cheese there is not 
much made in this county, and of course little was 
exhibited. 
Taking the show in the aggregate, we did not 
find that full display of stock and some other things 
which we had expected to see ; not that they do not 
exist in Orange county, but simply, we believe, 
because the people do not feel the importance yet 
of making a numerous and spirited show, or they 
have not that confidence or desire to bring out 
their animals and products which we think they 
should endeavor to attain. However, if the show 
was rather lacking in these things, it was not at 
all so in spectators. It was calculated that up¬ 
ward of 6,000 persons were present, which was a 
large number when we consider the population of 
the county, and that the weather was somewhat 
inauspicious most of the day, it being raw and 
threatening. 
At 2 o’clock, a large auditory collected in the 
Courthouse, and were addressed by the President 
of the Society, Frederick J. Betts, Esq., of New- 
burg. His address was listened to with great in¬ 
terest, and we regret that want of space forbids 
our copying it entire. In one thing we liked it 
much; and that is, instead of dealing wholly in 
generals, it went into practical particulars, an ex¬ 
tract or two of which we give, as an excellent ex¬ 
ample for those who may hereafter be called upon 
to address future assemblies of this kind. We 
shall look with interest for the result of his at¬ 
tempt with muck to destroy the toad-flax, and we 
can only add, that the details of one such experi¬ 
ment, no matter whether it fully succeeds or not, 
is worth all the generalities which we have listen¬ 
ed to in agricultural addresses for the past ten 
years. 
I would beg leave to suggest that each member 
of our society should take upon himself to endea¬ 
vor, in some respect, to improve the present sys¬ 
tem of cultivation, as to at least some one product 
of the soil, and that he be prepared, either verbal¬ 
ly or in writing, to give the result of his operations 
to the society, at these, its annual meetings. With 
an ardent desire to perform my duties as your 
President, in a way to produce the greatest good 
to our Society, and to its members, and believing 
that public addresses to practical men must, to be 
effective, not only be practical , but must also be 
somewhat circumstantial in their details, I shall 
venture, even at the risk of tediousness, respect¬ 
fully, but earnestly, to call your attention to some 
particulars which I deem important. And I would 
especially call the attention of every farmer whom 
I have the honor now to address, to the subject of 
the destruction of noxious weeds. 
The legislature has made it the especial busi- 
