The Portland daily press., 1873-10-03
Cumberland County Fair.
The Farmers i'm Council.
FIRST DAY.



The Cumberland County Agricultural Show
and Fair met this year for the third time in
succession at Bridgton. To say that the fair
was greater success than ever before is ''put- !
ting it light" Were the facilities for reaching
Bridgton improved, the audience would pro-
porUonately increase. As the boats are not
running the only way to reach the place is to
go to Brownfeld by rail and then ''stage it,
fourteen miles. Nevertheless the absence of
outsiders was amply atoned for by the pres
ence of the inhabitants of the adjoining towns.
The morning of the opening of the fair
dawned clear aud cool. The new town house
was prepared for the hall display, and the
grounds adjoining for the exhibition of stock.
Before nine o'clock of Wednesday the stock |
began to arrive, Soon the town teams of Har-
rison and Bridgton appeared followed by the
town team of Baldwin. The former towns are
rivals, each having twenty yokes of working
| oxen and any amount of steers yoked in to
| make the string as large as possible. At ten
O'CLOCK the grounds began to look lively The
ladies were fast arriving and fllngs the hall
with butter, cheese, fruits and flowers. Mean
time the exhibitors of stock were busy in get
| ting their animals where they would show to
ting the finishing touch to their horses, and
every one was busy doing something. The
committees could not commence on their labors
as the entries We're not all made. The secretary
was still busy at work, and at eleven o'clock it
looked as though he was likely to be for some
time to come, as the stock and articles for the
hall exhibition poured in without cessation.
The committees did not get to work until after
noon.
On looking over the grounds it is very evident
that it is not exclusively horse show" al
though there were fair number of good horses
on exhibition. Prominent among them is the
matched pair of family horses exhibited by
Hon. Frederick Robbie of Gorham; they are five
years old, of jet black color, and very stylish
in action. They called forth much well deserv-
ed praise as being the best m atched team in the
county. Geo. S. Farnsworth of Bridgton ex-
hibitel a young stallion four years old, that
showed off well. A. P. Kilborn and w A.
Morrison of Brdgton each exhibited a fine
family horse. There were ten entries of this |
class. There were thirty entries of mares and
colts, making fine show. The trottlng horses |
were not there, as the officers of the fair aim
to help the farmers, and not the professional |
turf men of the country.
NEAT STOCK.
The exhibition under this head is the largest |
ever sean in the county. A good judge who
| was at the State Fair at Bangor, said that it
exceeded the exhibition there both in quantity
and quality 1t is encouraging to competitors
as well as to the friends of the society, to know
| that they can in single county get up an ex
L f~.s..s
arranged las it should be at all fairs) to make
| this an opportun nifty to sell any articles that
| they wished to dispose of. This convenience
| called together large number of purchasers,
so that many cattle were disposed of at good
| prices.
| Col. Perley of Bridgton exhibited fine
drove of Jersey cattle of all kinds and sizes.
The cows were particularly noticeable. Mr..
| Wiggin of Baldwin had good herd of Devons.
which attracted much attention by their good
color and fine sleek appearance. These two
lots were all the grade stock noticed.
| The working oxen attracted the most no.
tice, owing to the large number on the grounds.
| The mich cows looked well, as did the young
stock.
| The show of
SHEEP, SWINE AND POULTRY
was not so large as at previous years, but the
committee were of the opinion the quality |
would make up for the lack in quantity.
THE HALL
was tastefully decorated by the Ladies' Com
mittee of Arrangements, and when the arti-
Giles were all in place, it was worth while to
look in.
On the fruit tables Geo. W. Woodman of |
hoo two, ;atio Of
of cantelopes, and sample of the wine that he
makes from his grapes. j. P. Perey of Bridg- |
| ton had twenty five varieties of plums and APP
PIES e. x. Whitney of Harrison, had grapes.
| honey, cramberries, sc. S. f. Perley of Ma
| pies Lad large numbers of varieties of apples
and pears g. o. Kilborn of Bridgton exhibit
ed large lot of fruit of all kinds
Butter and cheese came next in order and
| took up large space as there were many en-
tries. Making an excellent appearance
On the opposite side of the hall were display
ed fancy goods, wax flowers, several large rolls
Of cloth from the Forest Wooden Mills of |
| Brdston, powder horn belonging to Moses
Sticsney, made in 1855, and two patent clocks,
| novelties iii themselves A large number of
farming utensils were in the rear of the hall
| while fine display of musical instruments
| occupied the centre Of the floor. AT the en-
| trance of the hall in the open air were the
| larger farming implements.
THE FLOWING MATCH
was to come off at three but did not take place
until nearly four.
Three teams were entered, viz: ]. Peabody's
of So. Brdgton, C. Johnsons of Harrison and
| w. A. Morrison's of Bridaton. They each
took an eighth of an acre and plowed it in
quick Order Mr. Johnson's team finishing
first. After tho land was plowed, it was har-
rowed by two patent revolving harrows, which
were on exhibition. This closed the first days
| show.
ATT o'clock the people began to gather at
| Gibbs Hall. where the Brdgton Brass Band
| were discoursiDg music at a fearful rale At
| half past seven the principal members of the
| society entered the hall aud took seats upon
the platform. Among the number were Hon.
| Geo w. Woodman. speaker of the evening,
4 Coz. Frederick Robe aud Humphrey Couseps
| of Gotham; ex-Sherlff Perry of Portland: Col
j. I. Perley, w. w Cross, Luther Billings and
Rotus Gibbs OF Bridgton; L. ID. Wordsworth of
| Hiram; L. G. Nelson of Portland; Hon. S. f.
| Perley Of Naples, and John c. Warren of
| Westbrook.
Mr.. Dmgley arose and introduced Hon. Geo.
w. Woodman, who delivered an able and
practical address. He remarked that he did
| not expect to give scientific lecture, but only
a few practical hints from his own experiences
| You farmers are the main feeders to the pro-
ducers, and you should study the sol until you
| know what 1t is adapted for Some land may
be good for fruit trees while for other purposes
| it is not worth straw. Study your soil so as
to know what KINDS of fertilizers to use to pro-
| duce The greatest results Improve ard heauti-
| fly your homes to make them attractive to
| all. If your home is attractive you can always
| dispose of it, The cost is nothing,as you might
| say, for the work on our houses can be done at
| odd jobs and need not require any outlay. Keep
| everything 10 order Look after the little
things What is more attractive around a
! bone than shade trees? Maine has attained
reputation as fruit growing State, and should
see to it that she is not robbed of her laurtls by
L M L. lol.r L