COUNTY FAIRS. 
17 
on the grass, the water would wet over the shoes. 
I opened a ditch along the east bounds, which 
conducted the surface water to the road. I then 
made a number of ditches, of three and a half to 
four feet deep, and .covered them, after laying a 
drain of stone large enough for a cat to pass 
through. The sides were laid with stone and a 
stone cover, then straw, or turf, the grass-side 
down, before covering with earth. The ditches 
yield a regular and clear stream till June or July. 
The land becomes sufficiently dry for the plow and 
meadow, and produces bountifully. 
A meadow, in a detached piece towards the 
west, I ditched in a similar manner, and it yielded 
a pure stream till midsummer. The former owner 
came to see it mowed, and said, that he never before 
saw the timothy eared out , nor of half so large a 
growth. This was the effect of draining only, I 
had not manured the meadow. This meadow had 
not been plowed before. My crops have been 
as good as those of our best farmers. 1 have 
set some hundreds of plum, pear, peach, quince, 
and apple trees, on the farm, and grafted the old 
orchard, intending to make it a fruit farm. 
An opinion has also prevailed, that the old and 
best pearS have run out, as the saying is, 
and have become worthless. This is also an error. 
If the old trees which produce poor fruit, are well 
manured, they will be restored to their former value, 
and yield good fruit, large and fine. Try it, as I have 
done with my pennyroyal farm. It is a common 
opinion, that after setting trees, the work is finished. 
Trees profit by manure, as other vegetables do. 
Feed bountifully, and you may reap bountifully. 
Everything possessing life, whether animal, bird, 
or vegetable; whether living on land, in the air, or 
in the water, must eat, drink, and breathe, to sus¬ 
tain life. An oyster, or clam, requires very little 
air; deprive them of it, and they perish. Land 
animals and vegetables must not be suffocated with 
water, nor those of the water by air. Agricultural 
papers have done much to improve the system of 
farming of late. Farmers will profit, and be well 
rewarded beyond their cost, by reading them regu¬ 
larly. I gathered quinces to-day, in my garden, in 
town, and found the largest to measure 12| inches 
in circumference, and weighed log ounces. 
David Tomlinson. 
Schenectady , October 22 d, 1846. 
COUNTY FAIRS. 
The best index we can have of the progress 
making in agricultural improvement, will be the 
prosperity of county societies. If these are pros¬ 
perous, and are constantly increasing in the number 
of their members, and in the interest they awaken, 
then we may be sure that the right feeling is 
abroad, and that the great mass of farmers are be : 
coming aroused to the importance of a general orga¬ 
nization. It has so happened that I have attended 
the fairs in three several counties, this season, 
Wyoming, Genesee, and Monroe, and at each I saw 
much to encourage, much to commend, and I pro¬ 
pose to give you a short account of each, with such 
remarks as suggested themselves to me at the time 
I was present. I will take them in the order they 
occurred, and first 
Wyoming .—The annual show and fair for this 
county was held at Warsaw, on the 6th and 7th of 
October. The weather was beautiful, and the 
show of animals very good. There was a very 
large attendance of people on the first day, and a 
very fair one the second. Considering that it is 
purely an agricultural county, having no large 
towns, and but few villages, and those small, I 
think the number present was the largest I have 
seen at any county fair in this section of the state. 
I am the more gratified at this large turn-out, from 
the fact that when we formed our society in this 
Genesee county, Wyoming was a part of our terri¬ 
tory; and at our first fair, which was in 1840,1 
think there could not have been twenty people from 
that whole region. On the present occasion, there 
were not far from 3,000 at the exhibition, and the 
society is not four years old. The farmers are wide 
awake, and this county may be set down as one 
whose course is henceforth onward with rapid 
strides. 
Genesee .—The fair in this county was held at 
Batavia, on the 8th and 9th instant, and in almost 
every particular was equal, if not superior, to any 
we have yet had. The turn-out of people was 
very large, and the show of animals, especially of 
sheep, was unusually good. Our show last year 
was so very poor that it was feared it would be a 
total failure this; but the farmers rallied nobly, 
showing conclusively that there is no fear for the 
cause here. What is peculiarly gratifying, we ob¬ 
tained an abundance of funds this year, without 
any trouble. A resolution was adopted in the 
spring, pledging the next annual exhibition to that 
town which should raise the most funds for this 
year. There was a good deal of competition, and 
the town of Stafford obtained it. Our show will be 
there next year, and I anticipate the greatest show 
we have ever had yet. As an evidence of the spirit 
which is abroad, the wool-growers of this county 
and Wyoming are preparing to form a “ Wool- 
Growing Society,” and to hold two fairs annually, 
one in spring before shearing, and in the fall, as 
late as the season will permit. I am in hopes that 
we may connect with it a wool fair. But of all this, 
I will advise you- in due time. 
Monroe county fair was held at Rochester, the 
loth and 16th inst., and for so fine and rich a 
county was not what I expected to see. The 
arrangements were very good upon the ground, and 
the officers seemed to have done their duty faith¬ 
fully, but the people had not done theirs so well as 
they ought. The show.of animals as a whole was 
very indifferent, though there were a few fine ones. 
Of swine there were several very fine. There was 
a fair share of coarse-woolled sheep, but a very 
poor one of fine-woolled. The cattle were good 
generally, but there were a very few exhibited. 
The show of horses was also tolerable. Decidedly 
the best exhibition was of various agricultural im¬ 
plements, and of fruits. The exhibition of domestic 
goods manufactured in all the counties, was only 
tolerable, the best in Wyoming, the poorest here. 
I But from all this, I argue good results, and that 
next year they will have the best show ever seen in 
j Old Monroe, for a county exhibition. The attend- 
lance of people at this as well as at each of the other 
'county fairs, was unusually large. Upon the 
