AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
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AGRICULTURE IS TIIE MOST HEALTHY . THE MOST USEFUL , AND THE MOST NOBLE EMPLOYMENT OF MAN. - Washington. 
PUBLISHED WEEKLY BY ALLEN & CO.,' 189 WATER ST. 
VOL. XI.] NEW-YORK, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 25, 1354. [NUMBER 20. 
m-' FOR PROSPECTUS, TERMS, #c., 
SEE LAST PAGE. 
NEW=YORK STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
The Annual Meeting of this Institution is to 
be held at Albany, on Wednesday, the 8th day 
of February next, and from the important ques¬ 
tions that are to come before it for decision, will 
be looked forward to by our farmers with pecu¬ 
liar interest. Not among the least of those 
questions is that of the permanent location of its 
Annual Cattle Shows and Fairs at one, two, or 
three different points, instead of perambulating 
the State as heretofore, and holding them at 
such towns only as offer to pay the local ex¬ 
penses of the exhibition. The question is an 
important one, having several bearings, and we 
trust it will be discussed and decided in a spirit 
having no other object in view than the welfare 
of the Society and the public good. There have 
now been thirteen Annual Exhibitions, at Syra¬ 
cuse, Albany, Rochester, Poughkeepsie, Utica, 
Auburn, Saratoga, and Bulfalo, and with the 
exception of Buffalo, Auburn, and Poughkeepsie, 
each of these localities has had them twice. 
So largely have these festivals increased of 
late, that no small town can properly accommo¬ 
date the concourse of people which they bring 
together; and so onerous has become the ex¬ 
pense of fitting up the grounds for the use of the 
Society, that we see an evident reluctance in 
the citizens of the most desirable places to re¬ 
peat the invitation. The funds necessary to 
defray the local expenses of the Society have in¬ 
creased in amount largely beyond its first neces¬ 
sities ; and being, in all cases, made up from 
voluntary subscriptions, but comparatively few 
persons among the contributors have derived any 
pecuniary advantage from their donations, being 
chiefly attached to occupations not agricultural. 
Railroad companies, tavern keepers, livery sta¬ 
ble owners, and hack, omnibus, and waggon 
drivers are the chief recipients of profit derived 
from them, and they, in most cases, pay in an 
inverse ratio to the benefits they receive; while 
the hospitality of the citizens at large is greatly 
taxed in dispensing their civilities to the public 
and their immediate friends, who make the Ex¬ 
hibition an occasion for visits that would be al¬ 
together omitted or indulged at some more con¬ 
venient season. A few years ago it was usual 
to see delegations from several different towns, 
wending their way to attend the Annual Meeting 
at Albany, for the purpose of securing the next 
Show of the Society; while for a year or two past, 
but a single earnest invitation of the kind has 
been- offered. Saratoga was the last place at 
which an exhibition was held, and we hope, for 
the welfare of the Institution, and the conveni¬ 
ence of the public, it may remain the very last 
time that the Society will be drawn, for such a 
purpose to a town presenting no inducements 
but that of being a public watering-place of some 
celebrity. The experiment of adopting Sara¬ 
toga, or any like out-of-the-way place, with small 
population, and in a thin agricultural district, 
has been sufficiently tried we think, to put a 
veto on any repetition of the kind. A large town, 
a great thoroughfare, with numerous and am¬ 
ple railroad accommodation — and if on the Erie 
Canal or Hudson River all the better—is now 
indispensable for the due accommodation of the 
Society, and the convenience of the public. El¬ 
mira and Binghamton lying on the Erie railroad, 
have been talked of, but we consider them both 
out of the question for that purpose; although 
thriving and pleasant towns, they have not the 
advantages of a rich agricultural neighborhood 
to furnish any considerable amount of material for 
exhibition; nor is the access to them such as will 
accommodate the vast throng who want to get 
their various articles forwarded to and away from 
the grounds. Any town in the northern part of 
the State is alike objectionable, with the addition 
of less convenient access to them. For the use¬ 
ful objects which the Society desires to accom¬ 
plish, we consider the cities of New-York, Albany, 
Utica, Syracuse, Rochester, and Buffalo, the 
only suitable localities in the State For its great 
Annual Exhibitions. Newburgh, Poughkeepsie, 
and Hudson, are all too small to be considered; 
and from the indisposition of late manifested on 
the part of citizens of the several places named 
as favorable, with the exception of New-York, 
which has not yet been tried, we see little pros¬ 
pect of a voluntary offer on their part, on past 
terms, for the Society to pay either of them its 
usual annual visit. Of New-York, indeed, we 
have some doubts as to its fitness. It might an¬ 
swer well for a great National Exhibition, but for 
a State Cattle Show, many think this great city 
would not be sufficiently interested in it to rouse 
its citizens to make the proper efforts to carry 
it out successfully; and beside the American In¬ 
stitute with its annual Fair and Cattle'Show, 
absorbs the chief interest of its immediate 
neighborhood in any effort of like character. 
For practical purposes, therefore, we consider 
the large towns we have named, extending from 
Albany to Buffalo, inclusive, as the best places 
to be thought of for the future autumnal shows 
of the Society—at least for some years to come. 
If our estimate of the disposition of their people 
be correct, no voluntary contributions, to a suf¬ 
ficient amount, will be tendered by either one of 
them for the next exhibition, and the result will 
probably he the establishment of the great An¬ 
nual Show and Fair of the Society at one, two, 
or three of the places named, where permanent 
buildings can be erected on grounds of suffi¬ 
cient extent and accessibility. The accommo¬ 
dations required by the Society, either one, two, 
or three of these towns can richly afford to pro¬ 
vide, and be well repaid in the advantages which 
they will derive from its presence, annually, bien¬ 
nially, or triennially, as the case may be. Nor need 
the investment, aside from the occupation of the 
premises by the Society, be an idle one. In most 
of the counties surrounding these cities, exists 
a flourishing Agricultural Society which can be 
accommodated on their ground for their annual 
shows, and under the charge of proper local 
authorities, they can be used for profitable pur¬ 
poses not detrimental to the State Society. Of 
this, however, the people interested will proba¬ 
bly consider themselves the best judges, and 
whether they will concur with us in opinion, is 
to be decided. It is certainly an important 
question for the Society itself, and on its decision 
much of its future welfare will depend. A 
financial question is also connected with the lo¬ 
cality of the annual shows. None but large 
towns, of easy access to the public, yield a re¬ 
venue sufficient for the current expenses of the 
Society, and to pay its premiums. The amount 
received at Saratoga last September, although 
the ordinary admission tickets were raised in 
price to twenty-five cents, instead of twelve and 
a half as heretofore, was but six thousand 
dollars against ten thousand at Utica the year 
previous! and with tickets at only half the 
price they were at Saratoga. This subject of 
finance is a most important one, as upon a full 
and a gradually increasing treasury depend 
much of the usefulness, popularity, and influ¬ 
ence of the Society ; and it should, in a degree, 
govern its action for the future. Past experience, 
we think, has settled the question, that the large 
towns on the great thoroughfares are the only 
places to which the Society can resort; and we 
also think that two permanent localities should be 
selected, one say at Albany, as the most central 
and easily accessible point to the northern, east¬ 
ern, and extreme southern parts of the State, 
and the other, equally convenient and accessi¬ 
ble to the southern counties, at Rochester; 
and the ways and means to provide for the due 
accommodation of the Society will, without 
doubt, be forth coming with the proper measures 
to effect it. 
Large Pear. —At a late exhibition of the 
Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, a Duchess 
d’Angonleme pear weighing twenty-five and a 
quarter ounces, was presented by a gentleman 
of Norristown. The tree on which it grew 
was taken from the nursery in the spring of 
1852. 
