VERMONT STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY, CATTLE SHOW, AND FAIR. 
317 
most luxuriant growth of blackberries, for the 
very reason that he never raised any other crop, 
worth harvesting. He was extremely proud of 
his blackberries, as much so as though he had 
produced them by careful cultivation. One day, 
one of his neighbor’s children came upon his 
premises to gather berries, because she could 
find very few at home ; for her father was one 
of that class who eradicated everything of the 
kind, without thinking of saving a little patch 
for family use. Although the blackberry own¬ 
er had more than he knew what to do with, he 
had no idea of letting his neighbor enjoy his 
fruit. So he told the little girl to go home and 
tell her father to grow his own blackberries— 
that any man of any sort of industry could 
raise just as many blackberries as he could use, 
and not be trespassing upon his neighbors. 
Now I think just so; a little industry will give 
every man his own blackberries; and a very 
excellent, cheap, and healthy fruit they are. 
The directions for making a plantation of them 
in the article under review, are sufficient to en¬ 
able any one to raise his own blackberries. 
Asparagus .— Everybody loves it—about one 
in ten grows it; and about one in ten of those 
grow it to perfection. But this article says, 
every person fond of it should know how to 
produce it every month in the year. That is 
what 1 should like to know. Can the writer 
tell us ? 
Excursion to Lakeland .— There is one sentence 
in this article which must strike many of your 
readers with surprise. It is this : “ Lakeland 
is a new settlement in the midst of the great 
wilderness, 50 miles from the city of New 
York.” A wilderness , they will exclaim, so near 
the city, and upon lands, too, so susceptible of 
cultivation as these lands appear to be ? How is 
it possible that such a tract could have laid idle 
and unoccupied more than a century in the im¬ 
mediate vicinity of such a city as New York— 
such a market for every product of the earth ? 
It certainly is strange, but not more strange 
than it is that much larger tracts have been cul¬ 
tivated in such a way they have barely afforded 
a very meagre living to the occupants, while the 
fertility has deteriorated rather than improved. 
There is much land within 50 miles of New 
York, which, if not in wilderness, certainly is in 
a wilderness of intellect, as unimproved and 
more unimproveable than the tract you have 
spoken of around Lakeland. Reviewer. 
One unruly animal will learn all others in 
their company bad tricks. 
VERMONT STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY, 
CATTLE SHOW, AND FAIR. 
The first annual State Fair of Vermont was 
held at Middlebury, on the 10th and 11th of 
September. Having a pressing invitation from 
some of the originators of this praiseworthy 
enterprise, we went to meet them in their moun¬ 
tain home, and participate in the triumphs of 
their first great annnal gathering. 
A state society had not been fully organised, 
but an invitation was extended to all for the ex¬ 
hibition of their stock, without any of the ac¬ 
companiments of judges or awarding commit¬ 
tees, or the incitement of premiums. In the 
absence of this stimulus and notwithstanding 
the short notice that was given, there was a 
promptness in their response to the call, that 
reflects the highest credit on the farmers of 
Vermont. To say that the exhibition was wor¬ 
thy of the state, or that it represented even to 
the most limited extent, her agricultural, me¬ 
chanical, or industrial interests would be ren¬ 
dering her great injustice. There were but 
three departments of the show that approached 
to a fair representation. These were in the 
sheep, the horses, and the men. 
Such a hardy race of unadulterated farmers, 
we have not seen for many a long day. In fact, 
there is not one of the eastern or middle states 
so purely agricultural as Vermont She has no 
commerce, and few manufactures; and there is 
nowhere within her boundaries, that class of 
idlers, loafers, or chevaliers d’induslrie , that suc¬ 
cessful commerce and sudden or inherited 
wealth beget. Probably no other state in the 
Union presents a more general equality in the 
pecuniary and social condition of its citizens, 
and none where there is practised a more uni¬ 
form industry and economy. The learned, and 
even the literary professions, are most worthily 
represented, but the devotees of these are 
scarcely withdrawn from the agricultural class, 
and appear in no respect to feel elevated above 
them. Her ablest representatives and senators, 
some of whom we met, seemed to be farmers 
and farmers only. They were peers among the 
best of the nation’s counsellors at Washington, 
and they are only peers among their worthy 
constituents at home. 
The Sheep exhibited have never been surpassed; 
indeed, they have never been equalled in some 
of their distinctive families, in any show in the 
United States. The French Merinos, imported 
by Mr. Taintor, and exhibited by the Messrs. 
Bingham, about 100 of which were on the 
ground, exceeded anything America has yet 
