300 
NINTH ANNUAL SHOW OF THE N. Y. STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
NINTH ANNUAL SHOW AND FAIR 
OF THE 
% State 3Ujrtcttlt»ral Socictg. 
This was held at Syracuse, on the 11th, 12th, and 
13th days of September. The ground occupied by 
the society was on an elevated point, overlooking the 
city and adjacent country, and about a mile north¬ 
wardly from the central portion of it. The enclo¬ 
sure was ample for everything contained within it, 
but the inequalities of its surface made it some¬ 
what inconvenient for many of the animals, and 
especially such of the horses as were required to 
exhibit their best paces. The same desirable arrang- 
ment of shade for the cattle was secured, as the 
year previous, at Buffalo, and which, we hope, will 
never hereafter be omitted. The necessity for it 
was neveF more urgent, for the whole week was 
one of unmitigated drought and scorching sun, 
almost unparalleled at this season of the year. It 
was from this cause, and the immense clouds of 
dust that enveloped every avenue, the ceaseless 
tide of visitors thronging every part of the place, 
equally without as within the enclosure, and the 
numberless animals and articles exhibited, each 
claiming its share of attention, that exposure,, toil 
and weariness were intimately allied to the gratifi¬ 
cation which any intelligent visitor could not fail 
to receive. The railroads, canals, and principal 
wagon roads leading to the place, were each loaded 
to repletion, and every train and vehicle was seri¬ 
ously incommoded by its fellow. 
The crowd, inconvenience, and bustle necessary 
to these annual gatherings, is greatly augmented 
by the assemblage of every variety of gaudy show, 
or worthless vagabondism that the occasion will 
tolerate. As if it were not enough, that all the 
farmers of the state are solicited to bring their best 
specimens of animals, crops, &c., and examine the 
comparative merits of each, every other conceivable 
object calculated to attract attention, from president 
down to organ grinders were there, to swell the mob 
beyond all reasonable sufferance. We had regi¬ 
ments of tawdry militia, who might have been 
usefully employed in preserving order, instead of 
creating confusion ; companies of holiday firemen, 
who could have made themselves useful, by allay¬ 
ing the dust rather than by exciting it; a circus, 
drawing 10,000 spectators to its fooleries; Fanny 
Kemble, with her Lears and Macbeths; the most 
notorious pugilists, that were opportunely kicked 
out of town by the municipal authorities before 
the rowdies had secured the preponderance; and 
conjurers and mountebanks of every descending 
grade. General Taylor, by a merciful dispensation 
of Providence, and equally for his own as others 
comfort, was not there ; for, instead of the 100,000 
said to have been congregated there on a single day, 
we might have witnessed another 50,000 in addi¬ 
tion. We had other great men there, however, 
and many more who yet hoped to be; and to cap 
the climax, we were .honored with a convention, 
made up of the file leaders and their assistants, 
from the converging wings of a great political 
party. Some future Bunyan can draw a more in- 
iensely-graphic picture of Vanity Fair, from actual 
reality, as here exhibited, than the most excited 
imagination has hitherto done. 
Now, we put it to the good sense of the farmers 
of New York, whether they shall encourage, here¬ 
after, by all reasonable means, or endeavor to 
repress, the tendency to associate pell mell, this 
incongruous mass of utility and nonsense, things 
befitting the occasion, and things utterly subversive 
of it. We care not how large the concourse may 
he, of the sincere admirers of agricultural: objects,, 
nor what may be the inconvenience following from 
it. All this we are willing to accept as a neces¬ 
sary part of the occasion. But we heartily depre¬ 
cate the factitious influences brought into requisi¬ 
tion by the publicans, the porters, and the purveyors 
of every sort, to stifle and suffocate the legitimate 
visitors on these occasions, by these spurious broods 
of auxiliaries, led thither for the purposes of noto¬ 
riety and excitement by one party, and the hope of 
extortion and plunder by the other. These are 
faults of human nature, excessively aggravated by 
the energy of American character; and it is against 
the tendencies of these traits, that we would urge 
every possible precaution for the future. 
The weather, as is common to the season of the 
year, was unclouded and dry. The excessive dust 
excited on these occasions within and near the 
show grounds, ought, hereafter, to be thoroughly 
saturated by watering carts. This should be made 
a binding condition on the part of any town, soli¬ 
citing the presence of future shows, and one, we 
hope, the officers of the society will not fail to in¬ 
sist upon. 
We noticed an economical arrangement for most 
of the necessary halls, offices, &c., for. the accom¬ 
modation of the various objects connected with the 
show. These have heretofore been almost exclu¬ 
sively constructed, at a large cost, of timber and 
boards ; but in the present case, they were amply 
provided for, by immense awnings. These are 
more graceful than any hastily-erected wooden 
structures are likely to be, as they can be closed or 
have free ventilation as required, and the annual 
cost can scarcely be one tenth of the frame build¬ 
ings. 
Horses .—There was a very large show of these* 
embracing quite a variety of different specimens of 
blood, road, and work horses, many of which pos¬ 
sessed great excellence. We did not, however, see 
any of the Normans nor Cleveland Bays, -which 
were in considerable force, at Buffalo, last year. It 
is one of the great advantages in the annually- 
changing position of these shows, that they call out 
new specimens and varieties of animals and crops, 
which any stationary place would fail to exhibit. 
Thus we had a comparatively new exhibit of 
horses, quite unlike an}'- shown last year—in some 
respects superior, and in others decidedly inferior. 
The same is true of 
Cattle .—In this department there was double 
the number of good Devon bulls exhibited, we ever 
recollect to have before seen together. The loca¬ 
tion better suited the exhibition of Devons, than 
any other point in the state, as they have been 
bred in the surrounding counties, particularly in 
Otsego, in considerable numbers, for many years. 
Two cows, shown in this class by A. Stevens, were 
of large size, surpassing beauty, and perfection 
of form. Many others of the Devons were almost 
equally meritorious in appearance. We are glad to 
