280 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
New-York Wednesday, January 11,1854. 
NATIONAL EXHIBITION OF POULTRY. 
The central position of this city, and the easy 
and convenient inodes of access to it from all 
parts of the country, together with the many 
objects of general interest here congregated, ren¬ 
der it one of the best places for general national 
exhibitions of the various animals and other pro¬ 
ducts of agricultural industry. 
The great number of persons, including resi¬ 
dents in the city, as well as the multitude of 
business men and visitors from" every part of the 
country, always present to support such exhibi¬ 
tions, are the surest guarantee of success. The 
result of the Springfield National Horse Show 
confirms what we long ago said: viz., that in ag¬ 
ricultural exhibitions, it is better to concentrate 
the whole attention, for the time being, upon one 
class of animals or products, than to attempt a 
partial exhibition of a number of classes at the 
same time and place. We shall hereafter look 
for separate National exhibitions, in this city, of 
horses, cattle, sheep, swine, poultry, fruits, 
grains, &c. The series of shows is to be opened, 
during the next month, with a National Exhibi¬ 
tion of Poultry, as the one most appropriate to 
this season of the year. 
A number of prominent gentlemen interested 
in the subject met at the Astor House on Thurs¬ 
day afternoon, the 5th inst., and organized a 
National Poultry Society, for the improvement 
of every description of domestic poultry. 
P. T. Barnum, Esq., of Bridgport, Ct., was ap¬ 
pointed President; Mr. A. B. Allen, Secretary; 
and R. B. Coleman, Esq., of the Astor House, 
Treasurer of the Society. The Managers are: 
P. T. Barnum, Alfred E. Beach, 
A. B. Allen, Wm. Ellsworth, Brook- 
Horace Greeley, lyn, 
Moses S. Beach, T. B. Miner, of Clinville, 
N. J. Becar, N. Y., 
Solon Robinson, T. S. Gold, West Corn- 
J. S. Redfield, wall, Ct., 
Joseph Hough, George Seelye, 
J. S. Oatman, James Van Norden, 
William II. Burroughs, Thos. Trimble, of Balti- 
John N. Genin, more, Md., 
R. L. Colt, of Paterson, David Gibson, of New- 
N. J., Richmond, Ohio, 
J. N. Amerman, Fitzhagh Coyle, Wash- 
Fordyce Hitchcock, ington, D. C., 
Lorillard Spenctr, West¬ 
chester, N. Y., 
Benjamin Hayes, Eliza¬ 
bethtown, N. J., 
S. B. Parsons, Flushing, 
L. I. 
Wm. Delamano, 
G. N. Tuttle, 
W. B. Dinsmore, 
A. B. Miller, 
0. S. Fowler, N. Y., 
Edwin R. Yale, 
Several hundred dollars were subscribed, 
which will be offered in premiums for the best 
specimens of fowls that can be produced from 
any part of the United States. 
The Society resolved to hold a grand National 
Poultry Show in the city of New-York on the 
thirteenth day of February next, continuing sev¬ 
eral days. This will include the exhibition of 
all kinds of fowls, pea-fowls, ducks, geese, swans, 
fancy pigeons, gold and silver pheasants, &c. 
Premiums will also be offered for the best spe¬ 
cimens of rabbits, rat-terrier dogs, and deer. 
This being the first exhibition f this charac¬ 
ter in New-York, its noveltyaloneY ill doubtless 
attract large crowds of visitors, ncluding many 
purchasers, and there is every inducement to 
breeders to send in their specimens, both for ex¬ 
hibition and sale. 
As the chief object of the Society is" to en¬ 
courage the improvement of domestic poultry, 
by bringing together, for comparison and sale, 
as large a variety as possible from every part of 
the Union, the Managers have determined to 
make no charge whatever to competitors for the 
privilege of exhibiting their specimens. 
Exhibitors will be admitted free at all times 
during the exhibition. 
Food and water will be provided by the Society 
for all folds on exhibition, aud proper persons 
will be appointed to regularly feed and provide 
for them , without inconvenience to the owner. 
Fowls intended for the exhibition may be sent 
in advance of the time to the Managers, at Ad¬ 
ams’ Express Office, New-York. 
Every coop is to be marked with the true 
name of the fowls exhibited, and, when they are 
for sale, the price asked is to be legibly marked 
thereon. 
The Managers will undoubtedly succeed in 
rendering this the most brilliant and attractive 
show of the kind ever got up in this country. 
There has never been a similar exhibition held 
in this city; its novelty and usefulness, there¬ 
fore, will not be its least recommendations. 
We are very glad to see Mr. Barnum placed at 
the head of this Society; for a more appropriate 
or efficient man for such things the world does 
not afford. His great administrative and admi¬ 
rable managing talents are admitted by all. To 
these he adds indomitable energy, uncommon 
tact, and a wholesale liberality. We understand 
ho. has taken hold of this Poultry Exhibition 
with great enthusiasm, and will do all in his 
power to make it the finest yet got up in the 
United States. In this he will be well seconded 
by a large number of active managers, chosen 
from different parts of the Union. The officers 
arc not all yet fully appointed. 
The time for holding this Exhibition is placed 
immediately after that of the State Poultry So¬ 
ciety at Albany, so as not to compete with or 
detract from that, but, on the contrary, to make 
it more convenient for those who may wish to 
take their poultry to both exhibitions. 
Error in Credit. —We notice in several of our 
exchanges, an article entitled “Popular Falla¬ 
cies,” which is in some cases without credit, and 
in others is credited to the Journal of Agricul¬ 
ture. The article was originally written for, 
and first appeared in the American Agricul¬ 
turist. 
Dying, &c. —“A Subscriber” asks us to give 
recipes for dying bright red, or scarlet, &c., and 
for making “ Gen. Twigg’s Mixture for the Hair.” 
With the latter we are unacquainted, and with 
regard to the former, it is out of our province 
to give instructions in those arts and manufac¬ 
tures not immediately connected with agricul¬ 
ture. Good recipes for common, plain coloring, 
as practised by farmers’ wives at home, we shall 
be glad to insert as we have opportunity, or as 
they come in our way. 
Union Spings, N. Y.—Mr. James S. Allen, of 
Union Springs, Cayuga Co., sent us, on Decem¬ 
ber 31st, some records of 1853, taken from a 
note-book, which he states he has kept in the 
same town for the last thirty-five years. We 
give extracts. Spring, wet, cold, and very back¬ 
ward. In summer, while other parts of New- 
York were suffering from drought, caterpillars, 
&c., this section had ten days of rain in each of 
the months of June, July, and August, and the 
longest time without rain was eleven days, from 
the tenth to the twenty-first of June. Grass¬ 
hoppers were so scarce, that they brought six¬ 
pence per dozen in the season for bass fishing. 
Drought and heavy hailstones, however, pre¬ 
vailed at short distances from the locality of the 
writer—the hail doing much injury to barley 
and other grain crops, as well as fruit. 
FINE SHOW OF ARTIFICIAL FRUITS. 
Mr. T. Glover, of Fishkill, several of whose 
articles, from time to time enrich the pages of 
of this journal, has for several years been en¬ 
gaged in making fac-simile casts of the various 
fruits, and has accumulated by far the largest 
collection of these to be found in the country. 
His specimens, amounting to some two thousand 
in number, will be exhibited at the rooms of the 
American Institute, 351 Broadway, on Thursday 
and Friday of this week, after which they will 
be taken to Washington, to be exhibited at the 
meeting of the United States Agricultural So¬ 
ciety. They will well repay a visit and careful 
examination, and we advise all who can do so to 
see them while in this city this week. We hope 
gome public association will make an effort to 
permanently secure this invaluable collection, 
if Mr. Glover will part with it. 
For the American Agriculturist. 
IMMIGRATION TO VIRGINIA. 
Mr. Editor :—In a recent number of your jour¬ 
nal, (p. 232,) you request your Virginia friends 
“to write down a plain account of their own 
method of conducting their farms, price of land, 
of labor, crops, &c.” You desire this informa¬ 
tion for gentlemen purposing to come South as 
farmers. 
I have long thought that such a movement 
would be of great benefit to all such parties, and 
to the country. 
Very briefly let me direct attention to the re- 
cion of Virginia lying on the South Side railroad 
from Petersburg to Lynchburg, Va., and on the 
railroad from Richmond to Danville. These 
roads penetrate some 100 to 150 miles, in a 
southern and western direction from Richmond 
and Petersburg, and intersect each other about 
sixty miles from each place. 
Most of this region is within forty-eight’to 
sixty hours of New-York by sea, and less time 
by overland. 
It is mainly the tobacco-growing region of 
Virginia; but farmers are finding less planting, 
and more attention to wheat, &c. &c., more pro¬ 
fitable; and a snug, managing New- York firmer 
would make a fortune by farming here. Wheat, 
oats, corn, peas, and fruits succeed and pay well. 
Lands may be purchased for from five dollars (or 
even lower) to thirty dollars per acre—ten to 
fifteen being about the average. Labor is high 
at present; negroes cannot generally be hired 
for less than $100 to $125 for the year, and 
board, clothing, &c.—this is in consequence of 
the demand for labor on the public improve* 
ments. 
Bring “hired men ” with you, if you like. 
