132 
STATE AGEICULTUEAL SOCIETY. 
Windsor swine, the total annual value of which is often between three and 
four thousand dollars. The dairj-house itself “ caps the climax.” Princely 
indeed. Exceedingly beautiful and attractive on the exterior, it is surpass¬ 
ingly so inside. Length of milk room, 86 feet; width, 24 feet; height 
22 feet; the roof supported by handsome pillars. Ceiling double, with or¬ 
namental opening for better ventilation. Walls double. Entire interior 
surface—walls, floor and ceiling—of porcelain; that of the walls being pure 
white, of the cornice and ornamental portions of the ceiling embossed and 
colored, of the floor in form of tiles in beautiful colored patterns. Broad 
pure white marble table running lengthwise through the center, Avith a shal¬ 
low marble conduit of same width beneath, always full of clear, cold running 
w^ater. Also a broad white marble shelf of the height of the table running 
entirely around the room. Pans and dishes, all of white porcelain or glass. 
But all of these most elegant fittings and furnishings did not .satisfy the cul* 
tivated taste and affectionate heart of the noble Prince. Up n the walls, in 
handsome porcelain pannels, are most exquisite representations, in basso re¬ 
lievo^ of poetic rural scenes illustrative of the four seasons,—such as plowing 
and sowing the seed, reaping the grain at harvest, the gathering of autum¬ 
nal fruits and so on,—while above, at suitable intervals of space, are beauti¬ 
ful porcelain medallion likenessc.'s, in relief, of his numefous children. All in 
all, this royal dairy house is a perfect work of art ; nor is evidence wanting 
that the whole establishment is uniformly managed with that excellent thrift 
aud economv for Avhich the great and good Albert Avas so eminentlv distin¬ 
guished. “^ ***** * 4 * 
FOURTH OF JULY CELEBRATION IN THE CRYSTAL PALACE. 
Of the numbers of Americans in London, some two hundred of us con¬ 
cluded to celebrate the day of our National Independence—not really for 
the sake of “bearding the Lion in his den,” and yet not without some re¬ 
gard to the very sinister dealings of the English government tOAvards our 
own in this time of its peril. And so the great Banquet Hall in the Crystal 
Palace, at Sydenham, was engaged, the Stars and Stripes w'ere proudly un¬ 
furled, and all true Americans and m>^ny English and other foreign friends of 
America invited to come under its folds. Hon. Freeman Morse, An)erican 
Consul at London, presided at the dinner, and the hours from 5 o’clock until 
10 o’clock of one of the most glorious days ever vouchsafed for this always 
favored occasion were patriotically spent in sumptuously dining together and 
making a free declaration of principles. Many of the speeches Avere pub¬ 
lished in the London papers, and there is reason to presume that some light 
on our National aifairs Avas thus shed upon the now strangely beclouded En¬ 
glish mind. ******* ^^ 
LONDON TO OXFORD, BIRMINGHAM AND MANCHESTER. 
It is the 16th of July. I have finished my inspection of the Exhibition, 
distributed my reports to the representatives of all nations, collected some 
two thousand samples of their industry, packed my luggage, said good-bye 
to friends, and have actually smarted home ! 
That I might be as little encumberel as possible, I ordered my trunk and 
boxes of specimens, books, &c., to be forwarded direct to Dublin, and have 
with me but a little bag as large as a lady’s reticule, and my faithful umbrella. 
Thus equipped I am ready lor my homeward tour, via Birmingham, Manches¬ 
ter, Leeds, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Edinburgh, the north of Scotland, and the 
chief cities of Ireland. 
The day is beautiful and not too warm for comfort. The London and 
Northwestern Railway seems to appreciate my desire to get on in my journey 
and carries me at the rate of fifty miles an hour. London recedes; broad 
cultivated fields of half-harvested grass and grain flit by on either side 
with the swiftness of the wind, and ere I had thought of it the white towers 
• of Windsor Castle are in sight. Slough is announced, and the passengers for 
Windsor tumble out. 
Twenty or more villages have been passed, and I stand under the shadoAV 
•of the ancient walls of Oxford, proud seat of the renowned University. i 
