366 
Annual Report of the 
the fact that the society offers near $150, in premiums for garden flowers, boquets, 
&c., and over $100 in premiums on poultry, while not a farthing is offered to that 
large, meritorious class who devote their lives and their fortunes to the creation and 
production of labor-saving machinery. 
A man spends from $100 to $10,000 and the best years of his life in the produc¬ 
tion of labor-saving machinery, and the only recognition the society greets him with, 
is the privilege of exhibition and a committee of judges to look over his invention, 
and if found worthy, to honor him with favorable mention in the almost secret arch- 
ives of the society; while to him who feeds a peck of corn to some brahma or shang¬ 
hai chickens, or to her who sows the seeds and culls the flowers that nature produces 
“ready-made” in her garden—requiring no genius, little expense and very little care 
—the society lavishes its cash premiums. 
Now, while we offer not the least objection to this encouragement to poultry-rais¬ 
ing, flower-picking, &c.,—believing it proper to encourage any laudable enterprise 
that serves to cheapen the cost of subsistence or ennoble the human faculties, we nev¬ 
ertheless submit that in the line of merit, regard should be had to the true value of 
results and the relative cost of their production. 
Take away the machinery-feature of our fairs and they would soon dwarf into 
horse-races, and we cannot too highly appreciate the valuable assistance that are ren¬ 
dered to our annual fairs by inventors and artisans. 
It may be said, as is not unfrequently claimed, that the exhibition of machinery, as 
an advertising medium, is worth the cost and trouble of exhibition. This is $rue to a 
certain extent as to machines already in the market. It is equally true of stock and 
poultry raising, and why not give the same practical encouragement to the one as 
the other? We are aware that the financial part of the argument is in some cases for¬ 
midable against too liberal offer of premiums, but as an encouragement to those from 
whose brains spring labor-saving machinery, as Jove sprang from the brain of Miner¬ 
va, the judges would suggest that moderate premiums be offered for all novel and 
meritorious improvements on machines already in use, or the production of service¬ 
able new machines, our main object being to so distribute our tokens of appreciation, 
that the mechanic, inventor and artisan, shall not be overlooked and thereby dis- 
couraged. 
This display of machinery, though good, was by no means what it ought to have 
been to keep pace with our general per cent, of improvement, and we cannot but 
charge the fact, in part, at least, to a general want of interest as a too natural result 
from the seeming want of appreciation by the society. 
The grounds and the general arrangement of machinery seems to have been all 
that could be desired, and the superintendent, Major Rufus Cheney, deserves just 
credit for his faithful and indefatigable exertions to render his department a suc¬ 
cess. 
The division of labor suggested in our last annual report, has been partly consum¬ 
mated with very beneficial results, making it possible for the committees to end their 
labors in tolerable season, and yet another subdivision would be still better, and 
would be more beneficial to the judges as well as exhibitors, since more time could 
relatively be devoted to the various meritorious articles on exhibition. 
The following shows the exhibitors and the number and kind of articles exhibited: 
