312 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
IMtmcan 
New-York. Wednesday, January 25,1854. 
The importance of the coming National Poul¬ 
try Exhibition justifies us in devoting consider¬ 
able space to the official programme, to the ex¬ 
clusion of a variety of other agricultural and 
miscellaneous matter which we had prepared 
for this number. 
Rise in Guano. —The Peruvian Government 
have directed their agents in this country to ad¬ 
vance the price of guano four dollars per ton. 
This is done in consequence of the high price 
of freight. 
NATIONAL POULTRY SHOW. 
In another column will be found the official 
announcement of the rules, premiums, &c., of the 
coming National Poultry Show, which promises 
fair to eclipse all similar exhibitions yet held in 
this country. It will be seen that liberal pro¬ 
visions have been made for exhibitors, both in 
regard to premiums, care of fowls, &c. Nearly 
$500 are offered as regular premiums, and the 
discretionary premiums will swell the amount 
to considerably more than that sum. 
A meeting of the managers was held at the 
Astor House on Thursday evening last, to per¬ 
fect arrangements for holding the exhibition. 
Some embarrasment was at first felt by those 
who had taken the matter in hand, owing to the 
late destruction of Metropolitan Hall, and the 
report that suitable central rooms could not be 
obtained at this season of exhibitions and lec¬ 
tures, without incurring nearly a thousand dol¬ 
lars expense. This difficulty was, however, very 
happily overcome by the generous response of 
the President of the Society to a resolution, re¬ 
questing him to open the spacious halls of the 
American Museum for the exhibition. It will 
be seen that these buildings are to be opened 
during an entire week, commencing with Mon¬ 
day, February 13th, and that Mr. Barnu.m has 
assumed the whole expense of the exhibition, 
including the premiums; agreeing at the same 
time, that whatever is left from the sale of tickets 
to visitors, after deducting expenses, shall be 
given to the Society as a fund for future opera¬ 
tions. We think this very generous on the part 
of Mr. Barnum ; for, let it be recollected, if there 
be any loss, he alone undertakes to bear it, if a 
gain, the Society has the benefit of it. 
Exhibitors will be admitted free, and visitors 
will be charged only twenty-five cents, which 
will give them an opportunity not only of ex¬ 
amining the finest specimens of the poultry of 
the United States, but also of seeing the usual 
curiosities of the Museum and Lecture-room. 
Aside from the visitors drawn together by the 
Poultry Exhibition, the fowls will be seen by 
the usual visitors of the Museum, amounting to 
some eighteen or twenty thousand a week we 
believe. 
We are quite pleased with the arrangement 
made, which frees the officers of the Society 
from all pecuniary responsibility, and a portion 
of the labor and detail always required in such 
matters. If Mr. Barnum does not get com¬ 
pletely “ crowed out” before he gets through 
with this show, we .suggest to other societies, 
including the New-York Horticultural, to follow 
suit with the National Poultry Society, and make 
a draft upon his experience, and especially upon 
his well-filled coffers, for the necessary aid to 
carry on these valuable exhibitions. 
Although membership to this Society—ad¬ 
mitting a man and his family during the whole 
exhibition—is fixed at Three Dollars, no exhibi¬ 
tor, or officer is required or even asked to pay 
this amount. The managers wish it to be un¬ 
derstood that it is perfectly free to all exhibitors 
and officers. 
Annual Meeting of the New-York State Agricultural 
Society. 
This is to take place in Albany, on Tuesday, 
the 7th of February, and continue three days. 
Officers for the ensuing year will then be chosen, 
and a complete account be rendered by the 
President and other officers of the Society, of 
its proceedings the past year. Various commit¬ 
tees will report, and action be taken for the com¬ 
ing year. There will also be an exhibition of 
Fat Cattle, Sheep, Poultry, Grain, Winter Fruit, 
and various discussions be held upon different 
subjects of agriculture. This is usually an in¬ 
teresting social meeting, and we hope it will be 
well attended. At the same time an unusual 
effort will be made to get up a large Poultry 
Show by the State Poultry Society. 
SEVENTH ANNUAL EXHIBIHION 
OF THE NEW-YORK CANARV BIRD ASSOCIATION. 
About one hundred gentlemen are united in 
an association under the above title, and hold 
an annual exhibition of their little musicians. 
They seem to be very quiet about their show, 
which must certainly be one of considerable in¬ 
terest. We learn that they do admit outsiders 
for a consideration, and we suggest that our 
readers will get twenty-five cents worth of bird 
music—to say nothing of what they will see 
there—by visiting the Exhibition at 292 Bow¬ 
ery, any time this week before Saturday noon. 
Speaking of Canary Birds, we have never 
been more strikingly reminded of the fact that 
this is a wholesale city , than we were a day or 
two since, when we had occasion to call at the 
stores of two Bird Merchants , where we saw in 
two rooms twelve or fifteen hundred or more 
cages with a canary in each, and such a “singing 
of birds” we have never before listened to, even 
in the most secluded woody glen. 
•— • «•- 
Patent-Office Report for 1852-3— Agricul¬ 
tural. —We are indebted to the politeness of the 
Hon. Edward Everett for a copy of this report, 
which contains many practical suggestions from 
leading agriculturists in every State in the 
Union. We shall carefully examine and sift 
this report hereafter, and from time to time pub¬ 
lish such extracts as we deem most instructive 
to our readers. 
Short-Horn Bulls and Suffolk Pigs. —We 
desire to call attention to Col. Sherwood’s adver¬ 
tisement in our present number of the above 
animqjs. His stock is very choice of its kind 
and most of it imported. 
Eggs. —It is estimated that 1,500,000,000 of 
eggs are annually consumed in the United King¬ 
dom of Great Britain. These, at twelve cents 
a dozen, amount to fifteen millions of dollars ! 
There are, doubtless, quite as many consumed 
in the United States. 
Transactions of the New-York State Agricultural 
Society for 1852. 
By the politeness of the Secretary, Mr. John¬ 
son, we are at last favored with a copy of this 
long-expected work. The present volume con¬ 
tains about nine hundred pages — several hun¬ 
dred less than most of its predecessors—but 
from the little time we have yet been able to 
devote to looking it over, we should judge that 
the loss in quantity , is more than made up by 
the gain in quality. The transactions of all 
Societies with which we are acquainted, require 
thorough pruning and condensation before pub¬ 
lication. To lop off the irrelevant and superflu¬ 
ous, and condense the remainder, requires no 
little tact and intelligence, and much time and 
patience on the part of the person preparing 
matter of this kind for the press. 
The engravings are well done of their kind. 
We hope all coarse, imperfect things will con¬ 
tinue to be rejected in future volumes. 
We regret that the State printer should mix 
up so much poor paper with the good through 
out the work; it mars the volume sadly, and 
looks almost like a cheat. Why cannot State 
publications equal in appearance those which are 
issued by private houses? Why should they be 
made up on the principle that a jocky does a 
pair of horses — match a good one to sell the 
poor one? 
We have marked several of the briefer arti¬ 
cles of the Transactions, which we shall copy 
into this paper as soon as we can find room. 
-- 
[OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT.] 
GRAND NATIONAL POULTRY SHOW. 
FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS CASH PREMIUMS. 
The National Poultry Society, for the improve¬ 
ment of Domestic Poultry, will hold its First 
Annual Fair at the American Museum, in the 
City of New-York, on Monday, Tuesday, Wed¬ 
nesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, Feb¬ 
ruary 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th, I7th,and 18th, 1854. 
This will include the exhibition of all kinds 
of fowls, pea-fowls, ducks, geese, swans, fancy 
pigeons, gold and silver pheasants, &c. Premi¬ 
ums will also be offered for the best specimens 
of rabbits, rat terrier dogs and deer. 
This being the first exhibition of this charac¬ 
ter in New-York, its novelty alone will doubtless 
attract a large crowd of visitors, including many 
purchasers, and there is every inducement to 
breeders to send in their specimens, both for 
exhibition and sale. 
As the chief object of the Society is to encour¬ 
age the improvement of domestic poultry, b.y 
bringing together, for comparison and sale, as 
large a variety as possible from every part of the 
Union, the managers have determined to maJce 
no charge whatever to competitors for the privi¬ 
lege of exhibiting their specimens. 
Exhibitors will be admitted free at all times 
during the Exhibition. 
Food and water will be provided by the Socie¬ 
ty for all fowls on exhibition , and proper per¬ 
sons will be appointed to regularly feed and 
provide for them , without expense or inconveni¬ 
ence to the owner. 
Fowls intended for exhibition may be sent 
any time after the 8th February, and ■ they will 
be taken care of by the Managers, free of ex¬ 
pense to the owners. They should be directed 
to the “Poultry Committee, at the American 
Museum, New-York.” All specimens should 
arrive on or before the 11th February. 
Premium List. —Premiums will be awarded 
for excellence in the several departments, accord¬ 
ing to the following scale: 
