294 
FOURTH ANNUAL SHOW OF THE NEW YORK STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
furnace bed, and began to send forth his scorching 
tropical rays, than the gates of the show-ground 
were thrown open, and the front entrances imme¬ 
diately thronged with people of both sexes in car¬ 
riages, on horseback, and on foot—met by a con¬ 
tinued cavalcade rushing in at the opposite end—of 
horses wildly prancing and neighing a loud alto; 
cattle pawing up the dust and bellowing forth a 
deep bass ; commingled with the shouting of their 
keepers—the bleating of sheep—the grunting of 
swine—and the cackling of poultry, in strains suf¬ 
ficiently varied to fill up all the harmony that the 
amateurs of such shows could desire, from a united 
biped and quadruped choir. By 10 o’clock, the 
spacious area of the show-ground was well filled, 
and then began the duties of the judges, and now 
we commenced our rounds in earnest. 
Horses. —The show was pretty good, though 
not as large as we had anticipated, considering the 
great number of fine animals in the southern coun¬ 
ties of New York. The entries were 33 stallions, 
6 pairs of match horses, and 9 breeding mares and 
colts, making 54 head. Among the stallions were 
some very fine thorough-breds, which to our great 
regret, by the rules of the Society, were not allowed 
any premiums; but this mistake will be rectified 
another year. Among them we quite admired 
Stafford, from Westchester Co., with his beautiful 
Arabian-like head, and splendid, fiery action; Hen¬ 
ry, exhibited by Mr. Long of Washington Co.; 
Eclipse, by Mr. Ludlow of Claverack ; and a fine 
blood colt of Mr. Verplank, from Fishkill. The 
horses of all work, which were alone eligible for 
premiums, were a reputable lot; and in addition to 
these, were Samson a very large English cart 
horse imported by Messrs. Corning andSotham of 
Albany; another of the same breed shown by Mr. 
Pettit of Onondago; and a cross of the blood horse 
and Norman belonging to Mr. Bement. 
Jacks and Jennies , there were none on the 
ground. If our own state would not or could not 
bring forward some of the long-eared brayers, we 
regret that Dr. Pool, and others from neighboring 
states, had not come out with a show of these use¬ 
ful animals. 
Mules .—We saw only one pair, and fine noble 
ones they were too, belonging to Mr. Colman of 
the Astor house. He keeps them on his farm at 
Poughkeepsie, and finds them kind in harness, and 
most excellent workers—being stout, quick, and 
enduring. 
Cattle. —Of neat stock, there were 30 bulls, 33 
cows, 7 calves, 27 yoke of working oxen, and 22 
fat cattle, making 146 head. Considering that 
many of the larger breeders reside at a distance of 
several hundred miles from Poughkeepsie, and did 
not exhibit a single animal from their herds, the 
show of cattle was much better than we had an¬ 
ticipated. There were some magnificent Dur- 
hams present. Mr. Vail’s Meteor can not be beaten 
in the state; and though Mr. Sheaf’s beautiful 
young cow, Grace, only stood third on the premium 
list, yet we know not her superior in the country. 
Messrs. Coming and Sotham of Albany, exhibited 
a splendid lot of 11 Herefords. The cows were 
really superb, and as their owners claim good 
milking qualities for them, the Short-Horn men 
must take care, or before they are aware of it, they 
will yet meet with powerful rivals from this quar¬ 
ter. Of Devons there were only 3 on the ground, 
at which paucity of numbers of this highly prized 
breed, we were absolutely astonished. We doubt 
whether the cow which took the first prize was a 
thorough-bred, as she had large black spots on her 
muzzle, and other marks which betrayed want of 
purity of blood. The beautiful cow and calf ex¬ 
hibited from Black Rock, and now owned by Ros¬ 
well W. Colt, Esq. of Paterson, New Jersey, were 
models of their kind. Ayrshires we noticed a 
goodly number; some directly imported from Scot¬ 
land by Scotchmen, who spoke highly of their 
merits as dairy beasts. 
Sheep. —We did not count them, but understood 
there were 90 head present; comprising a goodly 
show of Saxons, Merinos, Long-Wools, and South 
Downs. We particularly admired a splendid Me¬ 
rino buck belonging to Mr. Sanford of Vermont, 
and some others present which we have not space 
to mention. 
Swine. —The grunters we suppose might have 
mustered some 40 strong. According to our no¬ 
tion the Berkshires were far superior; next the 
Leicesters and other white hogs; then a pretty 
cross of Mr. Bement’s between the Neapolitans 
and Chinese ; and last, though not least, a very 
large, fat, coarse animal, whose breed if he had 
any we did not learn. 
Poultry. —When we consider the value of poul¬ 
try in the United States, we can not express our 
astonishment that so few birds of any kind were 
exhibited. Mr. Bement of Albany was about the 
only person who showed anything in this line, and 
he confined himself to a few curious hens, and 
some beautiful China geese of a peculiar small 
breed. 
Farm Implements. —Though a good many of 
one kind and another were on the ground, still it 
was a meager display to what New York ought to 
make, more especially in plows. We saw nothing 
especially new, or which has not been spoken of 
previously in this paper. 
Flowers .—After disposing of most of the other 
things we now bent our eager steps to Floral Hall, 
where we found such an immense crowd, especially 
of ladies, continually pouring into the wide prom¬ 
enade of 272 feet length, embracing both sides of 
the stand, that we found it quite impossible to see 
things to any advantage. As we hate crowds, 
except at a distance, we wish hereafter, at least 
for our comfort, that Mr. Walsh would not make 
himself quite so popular in this department; or if 
he will persist in so doing, let him enlarge the 
premises over which he exercises so tasteful a 
display. Under his direction, assisted by the fair 
ladies of Poughkeepsie, up rose pyramids, bouquets, 
altars, and walls of flowers of every imaginable 
hue, tastefully grouped, and wreathed, and fes¬ 
tooned over the centre stand like some fairy scene. 
Fruits —Here we are happy to say was the 
richest and most varied display yet made at any 
of the State Society’s shows. Messrs. C. & A. J. 
Downing exhibited from their Highland gardens, 
170 different kinds of fruit; Mr. Reid of this city 
a superb collection of pears; Messrs. Prince & Co. 
