164 
THE CULTIVATOR 
CATTLE SHOW AND FAIR 
OF THE 
N. Y, STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY FOR 1843. 
The three days of the State Agricultural Cattle Show 
and Fair, held the present year at Rochester, have been 
great days for the State of Nevv-York, and Western New- 
York in particular. With scarcely an exception, every 
thing passed off in the ver}^ best manner; great harmony 
of feeling, increased zeal in the great cause of agricul¬ 
ture, and the best spirit among all classes assembled to 
witness the proceedings, characterized the meeting. 
The measures and arrangements adopted by the Execu¬ 
tive Committee, founded on the experience of the past, 
were such as to materially contribute to this result; and 
for the carrying out of these arrangements, too much 
credit cannot be awarded to the able and indefatigable 
Phesident of the Society, under whose personal super¬ 
vision they were mostly conducted. The farmers of 
New-York have done themselves honor by the splendid 
exhibition they have thus created, and the public spirited 
citizens of Rochester have shown even more than their 
Wonted liberalily and zeal in every good work, in the 
promptness and extent with which they respondetl to the 
call which the location of the Fair at that place rendered 
necessary. Filled to overflowing as was the city, by the 
multitudes that poured in from evety point of the com¬ 
pass, and by every means of conveyance, to witness this 
great annual Farmer’s Festival, the public hotels were 
found utterly unable to accommodate all, and private 
mansions were freely opened, and a generous hospitality 
abundantly exhibited. 
The milk and honey of Palestine had, in the earliest 
ages, passed into a proverb, and the wheat and flour of 
the Genesee Valley, promises to become not much less 
celebrated. Of this, the massive structures which, under 
the name of flouring mills, line both sides of the Gene¬ 
see river in its rapid tiansit through the city, and which 
are capable of turning out from five to six thousand bar¬ 
rels of flour daily, as well as the great breadth of wheat 
seeded yearly in the district, and the beautiful specimens 
of grain shown at the Fair, furnish the most ample evi¬ 
dence. 
The grounds occupied by the Society for their exhibi¬ 
tion, were well located on the west side of State street, 
about a mile from the central part of the city, and if not 
in quite as picturesque a situation as those occupied at 
Albany last year were, they were not wanting in interest 
in this respect. The deep chasm through which the 
Genesee rushes, after having made the first great pitch 
of about 100 feet at the city, lay immediately below on 
the left, and the roar of the falls mingled its cadence with 
the neighing of the horses, the bellowing of the cattle, 
and the rattle of the carriages. 
About ten acres were enclosed with a close and sub¬ 
stantial board fence about ten feet in height, with suita¬ 
ble gates for the ingress and egress of carriages, ani¬ 
mals, &c., and from those not members of the Society, 
invited guests or s'trangers of distinction, an enrrance fee 
of 121 cents was demanded at the gate. The experience 
of last year was strongly in favor of this most reasonable 
mode of defraying the necessary expenses of the Society, 
and the result this year would seem to be decisive. It 
affords the flattering prospect that the Society may here¬ 
after enlarge its sphere of operations, or its list of pre¬ 
miums, and safely rely on the liberality and spirit of the 
public for support. 
The rush of the citizen farmers, mechanics and others, 
to attend the Fair, was unprecedented and astonishing; 
and the interest, to the last, appeared scarcely to be aba¬ 
ted. Canal boats and trains of cars poured in their 
thousands daily, and the manner in which the streets of 
Rochester were blockaded, indicated that every wheel 
vehicle within 50 miles of Rochester, had by some ma¬ 
gician’s wand been at once congregated in the place. 
The number of distinguished gentlemen present from all 
parts of the country, was greater than at any former 
meeting of the Society, and the appearance and the ii^ 
terest taken by such men in the cause of agriculture, ai~ 
ded much to the general influence of the meeting. Of 
these gentlemen we have only room to mention ex-Pre- 
sident Van Buren, Gov. Bouck, ex-Gov. Seward, Mr. 
Webster, Mr. Allston from S. Carolina, Mr. Ferguson 
from Canada, Mr. Gowan of Pa., &c. &e. 
The number of animals, and articles of domestic manu¬ 
facture, on the ground for exhibition or competition, 
w'as great, as the reports of the several committees will 
show, much exceeding in that respect, public expecta¬ 
tion generally. 
C.-iTTLE. —The show of Short Horns was not, on the 
whole, equal to that of last year, the owners of the fine 
herds at the east, which are easily centered at Albany, 
not exhibiting at all, thus leaving the premiums open to 
the competition of the west, and nobly did the west sus¬ 
tain its high reputation for fine cattle, as all who had the 
pleasure of looking over the grounds can testify. Few 
were aware that Western New-York could produce so 
many fine specimens of improved Short Horns as were 
on the ground, yet the number present might have been 
greatly increased. The fine stock of Messrs. Sherwood 
of Auburn, Ali.en of Buffalo, Wadsworth, Hatha¬ 
way, Remsen, Newbold, LeRoy, &c., attracted much 
notice, but among this class of animals, few were as 
much admired as the splendid calf of Mr. Crosby, of 
which a figure was given in the number of the Cultiva¬ 
tor for September, 1843. These beautiful animals have 
lost none of the favor with which they were viewed by 
the public, and as long as their superior symmetry and 
other valuable properties are so marked, there is little 
danger to apprehend such a result. 
In the show of Devons, we think we have never had 
any thing in the state to compare with it. We can only 
mention the beautiful animals shown by Messrs. Gar- 
butt, Beck, a,nd L. F. Allen; among those of the lat¬ 
ter being of his purchase from Maryland, two heifers and 
a bull, and finer animals than these we have rarely had 
the good fortune to look upon. With us, the Devons have 
been one of the favorite breeds of cattle, and we think an 
examination of such animals would do away some of the 
prejudices that may have existed against them. If in 
weight, early maturity, and milking properties, essential 
points all admit, the Short Horns exceed them; in adap¬ 
tation to labor, color, and we think in the quality of the 
beef, the advantage is on the side of the Devon. It is the 
general infusion of this bloOd, which enables New Eng¬ 
land to bring forth those thousands of pairs of beautiful 
red working cattle, which constitute one of the most at¬ 
tractive features of their agricultural exhibitions, and of 
which they are, and well may be pardonably proud. 
The beautiful and extensive herd of Hereford^, owned 
by Messrs. Corning & Sotham of this city, which at¬ 
tracted so much attention at the last Fair, were much 
missed, and we hope another such occasion will not be 
allowed to pass without the presence of at least a portion 
of them. 
Some very fine Grade animals were on the ground, par¬ 
ticularly a steer from the herd of L. F. Allen, and a 
bull owned by Mr. Brooks of Avon. This last was a 
cross of the Durham and Devon, and retained many of 
the good qualities of both, as his appearance and hand¬ 
ling plainly indicated. 
It is a matter of regret that so few of our Native Cattle, 
working oxen, and excellent cows, are brought forward 
by farmers for exhibition at our Fairs. We hope the 
fashionable slang of “ scrubs” and “ dunghills,” so libe¬ 
rally applied by a few individuals to all animals of this 
class, has not frightened, and will not dishearten them 
from exhibiting their best specimens, either for compe¬ 
tition or comparison, whenever an opportunity offers. 
There is a fault in this matter that must’ be remedied. 
Comparing animals is one of the surest methods of show¬ 
ing where improvement is needed; and bringing our na¬ 
tive stock with grade cattle into contact with the fine im¬ 
proved, will demonstrate to all the necessity and the be¬ 
nefit of crosses in the breeding of animals. There was 
but one native cow offered for exhibition and premium, 
and she was well worthy of the distinction, her owner, 
G. A. Mason, Esq. of Jordan, Onondaga co., having 
made from her milk in one month, sixty-seven pounds of 
butter. 
If those who deal in Fat Cattle, must of necessity them¬ 
selves be fat, there should be some very fat men in the 
Genesee country. Some ten or twelve head were exhi¬ 
bited in this class, and their mammoth size, beautiful 
symmetry, and fine proportions attracted general admira¬ 
tion. Beef eafers reveled in anticipation of rich sirloins 
and broad steaks, while the Grahamite secretly repudia¬ 
ted Bawdiiet brend and meatless hones. The valley of the 
Connecticut has long carried off the prizes or the palm, 
in the production of fat oxen, but the farmers of that re¬ 
gion must look to it, or their laurels may wither before 
the cattle fed on the far-famed meadows of the Genesee. 
In Working Cattle, the exhibition was very gratifying. 
The challenge of Livingston co. fora sweepstakes of ten 
yoke of cattle to a county, was not responded to by any 
of the neighboring ones; but there were, in addition to 
these from Livingston, a great number of beautiful oxen 
from Monroe and other counties, showing what the farm¬ 
ers in the Genesee country might do, should they see fit 
to forsake the culture of wheat for that of cattle. Many 
of the cattle shown, would have been an honor to any 
exhibition of stock, and we hope that in every succeed¬ 
ing Fair of the State, a similar improvement in the num¬ 
bers and quality of the working oxen may be manifested. 
Among the working oxen there was one pair which 
attracted much notice, but which the committee consi¬ 
dered as excluded from competition, by being too fat. 
They were owned by Mr. Root of York, Livingston co., 
twins, of a fine red color, and truly splendid animals in 
every respect. That they were not too fat to work, the 
owner demonstrated at the plowing match, by doing his 
allotment in as short a time as almost any one, and in the 
best manner. It appeared also that they had performed 
work more or less nearly every day of the season. 
The entries of Cattle for exhibition, were as follows: 
Bulls over 3 years old, 25—Two years old, 9—Yearlings, 
12—Calves, 9—Cows, 23—Two year old Heifers, ]9— 
Yearlings, —Calves, 10—Grade Cattle, 15—Nativ'e, 4 
—Working Oxen, 40-—Steers, 30—Fat Cattle, 8. Total, 
227. 
Horses. —In the display of fine horses, the exhibition 
of the present year far exceeded that of 1842. It was 
good both in numbers and in the general excellence of 
the animals brought forward. The Morgan horse owned 
by Dr. May of Palmyra, attracted no little notice, and 
we think must be considered a great acquisition to the 
farming community of the Genesee. The activity and 
sprightly vigor of the w^ell known horse Bassora, now 
twenty-six years of age, elicited much remark. It may 
well be doubted whether any district in our country can 
produce a better collection of colts intended to form hor¬ 
ses for agricultural purposes, than those exhibited at Ro¬ 
chester. Tlie farmers of the wheat growing districts of 
New-York, may well be proud of many of their horses, 
and should feel the necessity of bringing them all to the 
same elevated standard, for in no region are more or bet¬ 
ter horses required, than in a wheat producing one. The 
matched horses presented for competition, exhibitedno* 
thing remarkable, and could not rank among the best spe¬ 
cimens of this noble animal. 
Number of Horses entered;—Stallions, 47—Mares and 
Colts, 71—Matched Horses, 22. Total, 140. 
Sheep. —In sheep, we do not think the present Show 
has reached that of the last year, at Albany. There 
were some very fine ones on the ground, but the num¬ 
ber was comparatively small; enough, however, to 
show what improvements may be maiie in this animal, 
and the wide difference existing between the close, com¬ 
pact wool of the Merino, the silken texture of the Sax¬ 
on, and the long, open fleece of the Bakewell or Lei¬ 
cestershire. The animals that appeared to attract the 
most attention were some fat ewes owned by Mr. Oaw- 
ARD of Ontario countjh and a yearling buck, with a few 
lambs of the Paular Merino, shown by Mr. Jewett of 
Vermont. The South Downs shown by Messrs. Sher¬ 
wood and Parsons were much admired, and were fine 
specimens of that variety. It was a subject of regret 
that a flock of some 30 or 40 pure blood Merinos bred 
by Mr. Sanford, Vermont, from animals selected from 
the stock of Mr. Jarvis, and known as the Consul stock, 
and intended for the state exhibition, should have been 
so delayed in their transportation as to render it impos¬ 
sible to reach Rochester in season. From the well 
known character and qualities of those sheep, they 
could scarcely have failed of being an acquisition to the 
district, as well as have formed an object of attraction 
to thousands of farmers at the Fair. 
Whole number of sheep entered, 110. 
Swine.— The specimens of swine exhibited were not 
numerous, being less than fifty, but were in general of 
very good quality, and fair representatives of the seve¬ 
ral breeds shown. There were some sows with most 
interesting families of pigs with them, and one or two 
of these, belonging to the white Leicester, attracted 
much notice. Some beautiful Berkshires were on the 
ground, and their fine forms, in connection with their 
well known good qualities, elicited much admiration. 
Domestic Manufactures. —Some very fine speci¬ 
mens of domestic manufactures were exhibited. Blan¬ 
kets, flannels, cloths, carpets, &c. &c. were shown in 
great numbers, and reflected great honor upon the in¬ 
dividuals whose labor had produced them. This is the 
domestic industry that should be encouraged, and we 
cannot but think there are many women who would be 
far better employed in spinning wool and making tow 
cloth, than in spinning street yarn and reading novels. 
The vast variety of minor articles of domestic manu¬ 
facture entered for exhibition, will be best understood 
when we state, that of butter, 9 specimens; cheese, 11; 
maple sugar, (in samples of 50 lbs. or more,) 4; co¬ 
coons, 21; reeled silk, 9; manufactured silk, 25; flan¬ 
nels, 6; linen diaper, 5, were entered on the books for 
premiums, and a countless number of carpets, hearth 
rugs, &,c. &c. There was but one specimen of cornstalk 
syrup and sugar offered for exhibition. This was made 
by Mr. Adams of Ogden. The syrup was of good qua¬ 
lity, and had much the appearance of ordinary cane syrup 
or molasses. The sugar was rather darker colored than 
the Muscovado, owing doubtless to its imperfect drain¬ 
ing. The crystalization was good, and the sample .'uch 
as to afford not only pi'oof that sugar may be made from 
the cornstalk, but encouragement in the manufacture. 
The great dilBcnlties to be encountered, are in the rapi¬ 
dity with which the processes, when begun, must be 
completed, or crystalization will not take place. Expe¬ 
rience and skill will overcome these, and the manufac¬ 
ture of corn sugar will, unless we are much mistaken, 
become an extensive business in many parts of our 
country. 
Agricultural Implements. —Of agricultural im¬ 
plements there was a great number, and in general well 
executed. Of plows, there were some 35 or 40 kinds 
on the ground; among which, we saw some of the fine 
Worcester or Ruggles & Mason’s plows, from that use¬ 
ful establishment, the seed and implement store of B. F. 
Smith, Esq., Syracuse. We w-ere pleased also to see 
that Mr. S. had upon the ground a subsoil plow, as well 
as quite a number of other agricultural implements, 
such as spades, hoes, hay knives. &c., all of the first 
qualify. The portable mill, of which a figure and de¬ 
scription were given in the September number of the 
Cultivator, was also on the ground, and excited much 
notice and admiration for the rapidity and excellence of 
its work. It can scarcely fail of coming into general 
use among farmers who understand the benefit of hav¬ 
ing their grain ground before it is fed to their animals. 
The clover mill of Mr. Burrill of Geneva, was also 
much noticed. A number of horse powers for working 
threshing machines were exhibited, and some machines 
were tested on the ground. The work appeared excel¬ 
lent, and performed the threshing with ease and per¬ 
fectness. A A'ariety of harrows, wood and iron framed, 
were shown; but in our opinion, there are none which 
combine more advantages than the one invented and 
figured b}’ Mr. Geddes, in a former volume of the Cul 
tivator, especially in its present improved form. A new 
implement, called by the maker the “ Gang pfoir,” ex¬ 
cited much attention from its novelty and the neatness 
of its structure. It consists of a square frame work,with 
four light plow shares attached, with a neap to which 
the horses are fixed, and rollers to regulate the depth 
of the implement. It could scarcely fail, in clean soils, 
to be a most capital implement for coA^ering seed wheat, 
as in many cases Avheat does better after the plow than 
the harrow, if the plow could be prevented from cover¬ 
ing too deep, a serious evil in most instances. 
