THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE FAIR. 
[Rural Special Report.] 
Pittsburgh, Sept. 12 . 
The 28th annual fair of the Pennsylvania 
State Agricultural Society opened here on 
September 5, to continue two weeks. It is 
held in connection with the Pittsburgh Exhi¬ 
bition, a circumstance that detracts very 
much from its value; for the agricultural part 
of the show is very much too widely scat¬ 
tered for the convenience of visitors, the proper 
display of the exhibits, and reasonable welfare 
of the exhibitors. Here as in other eases hi 
which agricultural fairs are held in large cities 
iu conjunction with other exhibitions, the in¬ 
terests of the country are sacrificed to those of 
the city and all the best efforts of the mana¬ 
gers are concentrated upon attracting large 
crowds of city folks. 
The live stock show is outside the exhibition 
building. In the cattle department are 142 en¬ 
tries of the various pure breeds, including 48 
of Short-horns; 27 of Jerseys; 2(3 of Ayrshires; 
22 of Devons, and 10 of Holsteins. While the 
number of animals on exhibition is not very 
large, they make up in quality what is lacking 
in quantity. Herd premiums have been car¬ 
ried off as follows; Short-horns.—1st, Jas. 
R. Anderson, Ohio; 2nd, David Solser, Ohio. 
Devons—1st, J. M. Miller, Washington Co., 
Pa.; 2nd, J. B. Longnecker, Dauphin Co., 
Pa. Holsteins—1st, D. D. Tracy, Erie Co., 
Pa.; 2nd, J. L. Henderson, Washington 
Co., Pa. Ayrshires—1st, Wrn. Fairweather, 
Jerseys—1st, C. P. Marele & Son, Pa. 
Of sheep, 224 are exhibited, principally 
Cotswolds, Black Top and Spanish Merinos, 
South Downs and Oxford Downs. The largest 
exhibitors are the following—all Pennsylva¬ 
nians: Edward Hicks, Goshenvilie; J. It. 
Anderson and Berry & Son, Houstonville; 
John M. Miller, Hickory; G. J. Haggerty & 
Son and T. P. Dickson, Mercer Co. J. M, Mil¬ 
ler has carried off the sweepstake premium on 
Merinos; G. J. Haggerty & Son that on South 
Downs. The Cotswolds had not been judged 
when I left. 
The swine show is small, the white breeds 
making the largest display. E. B. Ashbridge 
carried off the herd prize on Chester Whites, 
and A. E. Slaughter on Poland-Chinas. IV. 
H. Cole, of Chilton, N. J., exhibited a fine 
herd of Small Yorkshires. There are only a 
few Berkshires and Jersey Reds and no 
Essex. 
The horse show is about an average, 153 
being on exhibition. Of these 38 are Clydes¬ 
dales. Messrs. Powell Bros, were expected 
to send down some fine specimens of this 
breed, but un to the time of my leaving they 
had not arrived. Presumably they were not 
ent on account of the heat, for stock here, as 
Cleveland, have suffered severely from the 
tense warmth. 
The Dairy show, liko that of fruits and 
vegetables, I found, after many inquiries, 
stowed away in a corner of the second story 
of the building, where not more than one in 
ten who wanted to see it could find it. There 
is, however, a very creditable display—a fine 
lot of home and factory made cheese and dairy 
and creamery butter. 
The agricultural implements, if they were 
grouped together, would have made a very 
handsome display, but some of them are with 
the live stock outside the building, and the oth¬ 
ers are scattered all through the show. This 
makes exhibitors complain, as they much pre¬ 
fer to have their exhibits grouped together, 
especially at a fair where they give premiums 
on so many different varieties of agricultural 
implements. 
The attendance of farmers and their families 
up to the present time, Sept. 12, has been very 
meager, plainly showing that the holding of 
an agricultural fair during two weeks does not 
meet with favor either from the exhibitors or 
visitors. Farmers do not know when to attend, 
and their visit is put off from day to day, 90 
that they generally fail to come at all. Then 
again, exhibitors have to stay with their goods 
for two weeks at a heavy expense for help and 
hotel bills, and when for a whole week the 
entire attendance of farmers would not fill 
one car, they begin to get disgusted with 
the management, It isall well enough for the 
societies to get into the large cities and make 
money out of the city patronage, but this does 
not pay the stock, implement and other ex¬ 
hibitors who go to a great expense to attend 
these fairs and make fine shows especially for 
the examination of the agricultural commu¬ 
nity, who fail to come. Farmers, too, do not 
like to find the agricultural part of the fair, 
which they have come a great distance to see, 
so scattered that they do not have the time to 
hunt up the points of interest. The weather 
has been intensely warm, which may have 
had something to do with the attendance, the 
thermometer having gone over ‘Jo ° every day 
since the fair was opened. 
The machines that could get into Power Hall 
are shown in full operation, self-binders as 
usual attracting the most attention. There is 
a full exhibition of grain drills and mowers 
and reapers; but very few plows. Thrashers 
and portable engines are shown outside on the 
grounds, as are portable saw-mills, sulky cul¬ 
tivators, two-hoJ'se corn-planters, etc. A large 
number of Western manufacturers had their 
machines on exhibition, but up to Saturday, 
the 10th, exhibitors had either got disgusted 
With the weather or the lack of attendance, 
and this part of the exhibition presented a 
very dead appearance. 
A new stdky harrow, exhibited by the Reiner 
Harrow Co., Line Lexington, Montgomery 
Co., Pa., attracted a great deal of attention. 
It is a combination machine, and in addition 
to a sulky harrow, it can, with its attachments, 
bo used as a cultivator, corn marker and 
broadcast seeder. The harrow is adjustable, 
■ and has a reversibly tooth that, makes it either 
a scratching or a smoothing harrow at will; 
or, by attaching a cultivator tooth, it makes 
a complete cultivator. It folds up for trans¬ 
portation and lias un automatic lift to chain 
it without the driver leaving his seat. I can¬ 
not here give as full a description of this new 
implement as it deserves, but it will be illus¬ 
trated iu the Rural, during the coming Win¬ 
ter, when its points will be enumerated. 
Farmers should look into its merits, as it will 
prove a great labor-saving implement. It is 
compact, simple, and its construction insures 
durability and freedom from outlay for re¬ 
pairs. 
Messrs. Nash Bros.. Harrisburg, Pa., and 
22 College Place, New York, exhibit a full 
line of their Acme Harrrows, including pony, 
two, three and four-horse harrows. The 
four-horse harrow cuts 12 foot and is two com¬ 
plete (»-foot harrows, that can be taken apart 
and used separately. Implements of this sort 
are made to meet the demand for these liar- 
rows on the large Wastern farms. It is well 
known that thorou h pulverization pays, and 
without doubt the Acme will pay for itself on 
any ten-acre field. There is one in use on the 
Rural, farm and the Rural can highly rec¬ 
ommend it. w. H. K. 
THE NEW YORK STATE FAIR. 
ELMIRA, N. Y., SEPT. 16-17-1881. 
[Rural Special Report,] 
The 42nd annual meeting of the New York 
State Agricultural Society was held upon the 
grounds of the Society at Elmira, N. Y., com¬ 
mencing Sept. 13. 
The attendance throughout was unusually 
large, and the receipts far in excess of those 
of former years. Wednesday and Thursday 
were the days of largest attendance ; the re¬ 
ceipts for admission on the former were up¬ 
wards of $5,000, and on the latter day the 
gate receipts ran up to over $7,000. It was 
estimated that at least 20,000 people were on 
the grounds on Thursday. The efficient 
officera of the Society, however, with their 
many years of experience, were fully equal to 
the work imposed upon them, and every¬ 
thing moved off as smoothly as it would if 
the crowd had not been over half as large. 
The grounds of the Society are situated 
about 2L, miles from Elmira, and are accessi¬ 
ble by steam and street cars. They are wel 
laid out with ample and commodious build¬ 
ings, well adapted to the wants of the Society. 
Entering them by the south entrance, 
the tent of the Rural New-Yorker 
is situated immediately in front of the officers' 
headquarters, iu " Newspaper Row,” and be¬ 
yond this is the beginning of one of the largest 
anti most varied displays of agricultural im¬ 
plements ever seen at a N. Y, State Fail - , oc¬ 
cupying, as they do, fully six acres. 
Dairy Hull, situated to the right of the 
south entrance, is well tilled with dairy im¬ 
plements, cereals and vegetables. We noticed 
a barrel of Mold's Ennobled Oats and also the 
Washington Oats, both of which wore first pop¬ 
ularized by the Rural New-Yorker, and 
each weighed 40 pounds to the bushel ; both 
received first premiums. Here, too, was a 
new variety of wheat originated by Mr. Heiges 
of York, Pa., and mentioned more than once 
in the Rural Wheat Special. Fifty-eight 
quarts of this wheat drilled Sept. 3, 188(1, up¬ 
on 1,0 acre of ground, yielded 711 bushels of 
grain, or at the rate of 41.53 bushels per acre. 
Machinery Hall, just north of Dairy Hall, 
is uot perhaps so full ns in former years ; but 
altogether it presents a fine display of imple¬ 
ments. The Husbandman of Elmira has its 
headquarters in this hall, and the managers of 
this right-worthy journal, with their accus¬ 
tomed enterprise, are issuing a daily during 
the fail - , and making a free distribution of it 
upon the grounds. 
Passing on to the Stove Department, a 
building set apart for this purpose solely, one 
is almost bewildered by the variety ami mag¬ 
nificence of the display. It would seem that 
the stove manufacturers had sent their entire 
stock for exhibition. 
A largo tent is set apart for the Floral dis¬ 
play and here the lovers of floriculture are 
treated to a fine and varied exhibition of cut 
flowers. Noticeable among the exhibitors was 
James Vick, of Rochester. N. Y.. to whom 
was awarded first premium on all his exhib¬ 
its. His collection of gladioli, dahlias, verbe¬ 
nas, asters, phloxes, etc., was fine and was at¬ 
tractively displayed. The exhibits of Mr. 
Rawson and Mrs. Wells, of Elmira, wore also 
excellent, and each has shown much interest 
in making the Floral Hail a success. 
The display of fruit was not equal to that 
of former years, either in quality or quantity, 
owing, of course, to the scarcity of fruit 
throughout the State. The most, prominent 
display was made by Ellwanger ft Barry, of 
Rochester, N, Y. Their collections of 100 
varieties of pears, 30 of plums, 30 of peaches 
and .3(5 of grapes was extra-fine for this sea¬ 
son's growth. John Van Doran of Ithiea, 
N. Y., was given first premium for the best 
collection of apples, Some very fine speci¬ 
mens of foreign grapes grown under glass, 
were shown by Gen, Di veil of Elmira, N. Y. 
The Poultry Department, as usual, was 
well filled, with birds of pure ami well-bred 
varieties. Light and Dark Brahmas; Buff, 
Lemon, or Cinnamon Cochins; Partridge or 
Grouse Cochins; Dorkings. Dominiques, Ply¬ 
mouth Rocks, Hamburghs, Leghorns, Houdans, 
Bantams, Toulouse Geese, Rouen, Cayuga, 
Muscovy and Pekin Ducks, were among the 
most noticeable breeds. This department also 
had in full open rat ion an incubator made by 
the Perfect Hatcher Go., of EQmira. W© shall 
in a few weeks speak more definitely of this 
and illustrate the hatcher in full. 
The cattle show was particularly fine and 
largo, containing :>43 entries. For the Sbort- 
hi ims Benjamin Felt >ws carried off the herd 
prize with his bull Benjamin F, and cows 
Lily of the Valley, Niobe 1st, Niobe 2d, Niobe 
3d, and heifer Una. The show of this 
breed was not as large as usual, Wm. S. 
Moore, G. H. Bell and B. Fellows being the 
principal exhibitors. The show of Devons 
was very fine. Wm. H. Jones carried off th e 
herd prize with his bull Prince of Wales, and 
cows Pet, Pride- 3d, Rose of May, Pauline, and 
heifer Leva. Several very fine Devon herds 
were shown, and the exhibit in this class was 
specially noticeable. For Herefords, Erastns 
Coming carried off the herd premium with his 
bull Cornus and cows Marchioness 2d, Victoria 
6th, and heifers Edna and Echo. John Merry- 
man, of Maryland, made a very fine exhibit iu 
this class. For Ayrshires, Anniston Bros., of 
Cuba, N. Y., carried off the first premium 
with bull Joe Mara, and cows Bowment Maid, 
Duchess of Vineland, and heifers Clara B. 
Mars, Lady Bruce, and Princess 6th. There 
was a very fine exhibit in this class. In Hol¬ 
steins Messrs. Smiths and Powell got the herd 
premium with their fine herd, consisting of 
the bull Uncle Tom and the cows Neilson, 
-Egis, Nethcrland Queen, Dutchess of Fries¬ 
land and Topaz. We have illustrated several 
of this herd. Of Jerseys the show was partic¬ 
ularly fine and large, and after quite a fight 
the herd prize was awarded to William Simp¬ 
son. The question of “ finishing up ” cattle 
for the fairs was pretty thoroughly handled 
hi this- class and a number of protests filed 
against this award. In Guernseys, L. W. 
Ledyurd, Cazenovia, N. Y., was awarded the 
herd premium for his fine herd consisting of 
the bull Femwood and the cows Old Comfort¬ 
able, Clementina, Elegante, Fermvood Fancy 
and Mauleu Hair. Wo will illustrate some of 
this herd later in the season. G. F. Falsa - , 
Patterson, N. Y., exhibited part of his fine 
Polled Norfolk herd, and carried olf all the 
premiums in that class. 
The horse show was immense, and the draft 
and agricultural horses made a fine display, 
The Clydesdale, Brown Glaneer, whose por¬ 
trait appeared in our Fair Number, was exhib¬ 
ited by Messrs. Smiths and Powell, Syracuse, 
N. V.. and took the first stallion premium and 
also the grand stallion sweepstakes prize. 
This firm got over 20 first premiums. 
Of all the attractions at the fair none was 
more eagerly and inquisitively examined into 
than were the ensilage cutters. The agitation 
that has heen created and the articles that 
have appeared iu this and other agricultural 
journals have aroused such an iuterest among 
farmers that any information or knowledge 
to lie gained in the best and most useful appli¬ 
ances for filling silos, cutting ensilage etc., is 
largely sought for. and while a good ensilage 
cutter must, of necessity, be also a good fod¬ 
der cutter, of course nearly every one ismoreor 
Icss interested iu this class of machinery The 
crowd that was constantly gathered in front 
of the Belle City feed cutter, manufactured by 
David Lawton, of Racine, Wis., and exhibited 
by A. M. Forrester, convinced the most skep¬ 
tical that this machine possessed merits. This 
cutter is made with a earlier which elevates 
the ensilage or fodder to any desired bight 
and the workings of the cutter were both per¬ 
fect and practical. 
Messrs Daniels & Co., Odessa, N. Y. 
exhibited for the first time at this fair Daniels’s 
plow sulky, and met with great success, tak¬ 
ing the first premium in the plow trial that 
took place on the grounds Thursday. For 
T.l years Mr. Daniels has made a specialty of 
plow sulkies, and this, his latest invention, 
promises to give entire satisfaction. 
Johnson, Gere & Truman, Oswego, N. 
Y., exhibited their Champion Grain Drill 
with fertilizer, grass-seeder, hoe shifter, land 
measure and corn-planting attachments. The 
exhibit attracted a great deal of attention and 
many sales were made on the grounds. This 
drill has a special corn-planting wheel by 
which corn can be drilled, single kernels be¬ 
ing dropped at equal distances, and fertilizers 
applied in the row. 
The Kemp & Burpee Manufacturing Co., 
Syracuse, N. Y„ made a large exhibit ot their 
Kemp Manure Spreaders, as improved for 
this season. We saw a. large exhibit of this 
company at Cleveland, and there, as here, they 
showed their machine in full operation spread¬ 
ing manure on the grounds. The effect of 
making a practical exhibit in tins way was 
shown in the sales made at the fairs, they 
having sold 22 on the grounds at Columbus, 
and 12 at Cleveland, and the prospects are 
that their sales will amount to more than that 
on these grounds. When a farmer can bo 
shown just what a machine will do, and is al¬ 
lowed to work it himself in his own way, it 
does not take much talk to convince him, if 
the implement really has the merits the man¬ 
ufacturers claim for it, and the Kemp & Bur¬ 
pee Co., have taken advantage of this plan. 
One of the principal improvements made in 
the spreader this year is a changeable gear, 
changing the amount, to be spread by simply 
unscrewing one' nut, which can lie done in a 
minute. 
Messrs. Reynolds & Lang, of Ithaca, N. 
Y., exhibited in working order one of then- 
steam engines, which received the highest 
award of merit. The engine was of the most 
approved pattern, the wearing surfaces of 
which are made extra large ; the main box 
is lined with the best Babbitt-metal ; the cross¬ 
head boxes, crank pin boxes, and cross-head 
gibs arc made of the best gun-metal and fur¬ 
nished with ready means of adjustment in 
case of wear. There is little waste of power 
by friction, etc., iu running, and therefore it 
furnishes u large per cent, of available power. 
These engines have been upon the market for 
many years, and have invariably given very 
i—re lent satisfaction both to the purchasers 
R--1 their customers. The reliability of the 
. u and their reputation for turning out first- 
cla-i work, backed by thousands of testi- 
mczxLLof merit, are evidences that the award 
wacr.-A undeserved, [or that the committee 
had not faithfully performed their duties. 
A cheap, practical and durable potato- 
digger is something nearly every farmer in 
the country has been looking for for many 
years. Judging from the work done at the 
field trial on Thursday, it seems almost cer¬ 
tain that the problem]has been successfully 
solved by W. D, Robinson of Kanona. N. Y. 
His digger is the result of nine years of 
experiment and study by one of the most 
practical farmers in Steuben Co., and one 
of the largest growers of potatoes in the 
State. It has dug 150 bushels per hour. It 
was patented in August last, and the inventor 
expects to be able to supply the trade with 
diggers in any quantity desired, next year. 
The hay press exhibited by D. W. Seeley of 
Albany. N. Y., was shown in operation, and 
met with universal approval. For durability, 
efficient working qualities and construction, 
this press bids fair to take a first rank. It is 
made in sizes for one horse or more according 
to size aud solidity of bale required, and it 
will bale everything -- balablc.” The horse 
traversing a half circle in either direction, 
once, forces the piston to its extent of pres¬ 
sure and also withdraws it again, leaving the 
press open, so that the feeding is done while 
the horse is being turned, and thus no time is 
lost. The bales are tied while being forced 
through the press and this can be done with¬ 
out stopping, and either with or without 
slats. The machine throughout is a model of 
workmanship, and received in 1880 a certifi¬ 
cate of highest merit. At the fair it received 
a like certificate of merit, and, in addition, a 
silver medal. 
Messrs. Fowler & Woodworth, of 
Taughunnock Falls, N. Y., exhibited Fowler’s 
Pitching Apparatus. This apparatus consists 
of a carrier, fork mal pulleys so admirably 
arranged that it can lie changed from one di¬ 
rection to auot.her without climbing or remov¬ 
ing holts or keys. The working parts are 
positive in their operation; the stops are ad¬ 
justable, and it is secured to rails without the 
use of bolt or a. rows. It has been in use for 
a number of \v v and thoroughly tested, and 
has never failed to give satisfaction. In fact, 
the proprietors, sufficiently confident of its 
merits, guarantee satisfaction to every pur¬ 
chaser. 
J. Westing house & Co., Schenectady, 
N. Y., displayed a fine selection of thrashers 
(Continued on page 660.) 
