The republic. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1849-1853, 1849-10-25
[REPoRTED FOR THE REPUBLIc.l
The Agricultural Fair az Fairfax Coun

REPORTED hEFubLlCI
The Agricultural Fair az Fairfax County, Va.
The recent heavy rains seemed To have exhausted
the clouds of their superfuous moisture, and on
Tuesday the sun looked out, for the first time in
two days, to gladden. nature with its bright and
cheering beams.
A more delightful day could not have been de-
sired for the Fair Of the Agricultural Society of
Fairfax nor the route to any other court house af
iorded a better opportunity To autumnal
forest
-' The fading, many -colored woods,
Whose shade, deepening over shade, the country
round,
Imbrown a crowded umbrage, dusk and dun,
OF every hue, from war-declining green 10 sooty
dark"
We arrived at the court house at eleven o'clock
distance of thirteen, sixteen, and twenty two
miles from Washington, variously computed by
persons the road The first man looked for
Smith, who sells and strops, but he had
not honored the vicinity with visit
The lady contributors made use of the building
for the exhibition of their manufacturer Mary o.
Throc kmorton's appended to three
quilts, Mrs. Murray Mason's to fourth, and Mrs.
Sarah Dulanys to fifth Several other quilts, not
labeled, adorned the ROOM and nobody knew
whose handiwork they were. white counterpart
the material grown, spun and wove by Marian
Ayrc; two hearth-rugs, made by Mrs. Mary j..
Ball; worstcd ottoman-cover, lamp-cover, and
child's embroidered dress, by Mrs. Francis; white
cotton window curtains, (open work,) blue and
cherry worsted shawls, and tidy, by Miss Mary
Stuart the figures Of parrots, worked with worsed
on two pieces of haircloth, by Mrs. Dan w. Lewis;
a white cotton tidy, by Mrs. c. II. Upton; and a
pair of clocked stockings, knit by child seven
years old-were the most prominent articles exhib-
tied, and much admired, especially by the
gentlemen. There was one single bottle of grape
wine, made by Mrs. NJ F. Fitzhugb, on the table
occupied in court time by the lawyers, one of whom
removed the cork and pronounced it excellent.
Mrs John II. Zimmerman displayed several boxes
of artificial flowers, and c. c. Berry, painted win
dows at ten dollars pair case Of French soap,
in the form of different fruits, object of
rosty, and looked good enough to eat.
The ladies had not forgotten to display some OF
their choice butter, and honey in the comb, and as
an accompaniment, S. B. Stuart exhibited TO good
advantage Hne sheep with this inscription on the
label, namely, Chantilly, cross OF Soutbdown and
well-yearling, grass fed; gross weight las
lbs, nett weight 80 lbs' 1t in fine cooking
condition, but did not, at that time, undergo the
culinary process.
Outside of the courthouse, the ladies connected
with Zion church were holding fair in pavilion,
and not far Off the various kinds OF vegetables
and live stock, and domestic carpet, made by
VIM. E. Newcombe. Among the contributors were
Messrs. w. II. Chew, of Ravensworth; J. c. Gun
nell, Il. NJ Brush, r. Nice. Throckmorton, and
j. L. Page. Francis Fish had ''some pumpkins
very large, and the enormous sugar beets OF Mr.
Chew were appropriately in their company. White
turkeys, and black Poland chickens, with black
and white falling plumes, were objects OF peculiar
admiration.
Within the enclosure were, among others, twelve
fine head OF cattle, and sheep, owned by Jacob
Haight; bull cattle, COWS, horses, hogs, COW and
calf, Slightly crossed breed,) r. Nice Ihroc kmor,
ton; buck and three ewes, OF improved breed, and
three lambs, l.. H. Machin; bull, half Durham, two
years old, Nj. T. Dulany; Berkshire hogs, Lewis
Bailey; Durham bull, raised near Georgetown ferry
by Mr.. West; sheep, S. t. Stuart. These were la
beled; the remainder of the stock seemed to have
no owners, information could not be obtained re-
speeding it. There nothing particularly won
derful in this department, and nothing discredlt-
able
AT half past twelve O'Clock the bell was rung.
This was the signal for the address. In the course
of very few seconds, the gallery of the court
room and every seat below were filled by portion
of the ladies and gentlemen, few from Alexandra
and Washington } and one crying child Col. Burke
the presideutof the society," wasn the chair support
ed by Messrs. Grigsby, Washington, and Bailey, the
vice presidents. F. ID. Richardson occupied his desl
as the secretary. Preliminary business having beer
transacted, the president introduced To the audi
CHI. UpToN, ESQ.,, the orator of the day, who com
kind, there 10 room for progress in improvement
The scriptural Injunction, that man should strive io
perfection, applies to all the relations of ife anc
this precept is beautiful exemplihcation of crea
tive wisdom; for, while the goal is fixed where II
furnishes unending exercise for ambition, th'
consciousness that never attain II serves t
temper this ambition with humility, and thu
places US in the best possible condition to learn
the condition, il were, of little children, looking
up TO ture. and nquiring of her after truth. IL
no class Of men is this inquiry of moro Importance
than those engaged in the culture OF the earth
for with are the consequences of misdirectsC
labor more sorely felt or more slowly remedicd Ii
most other occupations the of one day, ont
month, may be corrected on the following day, o
the ensuing month; but the farmer counts his ex
pericnce by the seasons, and the mistakes OF ont
year generally require the efforts of another yea
for their correction. Hence agriculturists are
and ever have been, most cautious OF innovation
and slow Ia adopt improvement. But new err
has dawned upon their labors; and chemistry, tn
handmade of all the other sciences, has been CHIEFLY
instrumental in the Advancement of modern agri
culture. Notwithstanding the proverbiality o
Yankee ingenuity, il was reasonable TO expec
that the OLD World should lead the way IN the ad
ynncement of agriculture. Men crowded togethc
upon a small area of land compelled, by steri
necessity to make the most OF their limited means
and where hunger is the schoomaster, the lesson
taught are not apt 20 be soon forgotten. With us
said the orator, condition Of things precisely th
revcrso--the possession Of too much land-has hith
srto induced "A careless and slovenly system of hus
bnndTy from tue cucCls OF winch, III nlhny paTNs
our country, and particularly here in Fairfax, W
are now but be ginning to recover. There is per
haps no farm in Fairfax, of one hundred acres ex
tent which would not be materially improved
and many a one doubled or trebled in value, by
jdicious system Of draining the ioto grounds; and
proceeded to show the astonishing results achieve
in England by its means Plants produced IN
wet soil unpalatabe, innutritiOus, and unsut
stantial; animals fed upon them always lose condi
ton, and the manure of animals so fed is almos
worthless. The extreme wctness of soil render
il difficult To be worked, impcdes the sowing q
planting, often destroys the seed and the crop, oc
casons IL to become poached or inaccessible 20 AM
mails, and in every other way may be said 10 max
the cultivation of such soils helpless.
In the of opposite remarks in relate
To the improvement of soils, the orator said tina
the next essential was to diminish the quality
grain sowcd and planted, and TO increase the cui
turc of roots and grasses. This change may b
made gradually, but IL must be made, and, stu
ated as we are, the change commends itself
our interest for the benefit OF both land and purs'
We ought TO keep more stock, and 10 do tins "
must grow more grass. Almost every farm in th
county 10 provided with portion Of forest land