The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1879-10-24
THE ILLINOIS STATE FAIR,

The following from the Illinois cor
respondent Of the Country Gentleman
has so many things,of general Interest
that it will be Sinteresting to our read
ers. u
Having beer present at the first Hi
nois STATE Fair, held in Springfield in
1858, IL was not without good deal of
interest that made a brief visit on
Tuesday last, the last day of the 9th
Illinois Annual State Fair, and it was
not without good deal of Instruction,
material for rcfleedon and matter for
satisfad9o9F that Icape away. AlI.or
most Of 1t grew out of the advance
which has been made and the revolu-
lions brought about in the 26 years.
That my peeders, and especially the.
young reader, SlnGy understand better
what SO much interested me, let me re-
mind them that in 1858 Short-Horns
and Devons nearly monopolized the.
shows; but there were few, if any.
breeds Of horses but the racing thor
oughbred and his half or quarter.bred
progeny; that the Berkshire and Essex
breedsef Ninaw were ONLY occasionally!
to ~ met WITH; th& the long-wooleh
sheep were comparatively unknown:
that agricultural machinery manufac-
ture was in itsi infancy; that mowers
and reapers were in an early stage of
development; that the self-binder and
the wheel breaking Or riding pIows
were u1itatabf4 aed tho a kost ,of
useful fhaciiiiies without Which the .aa-
rlculture of to day would be impossi-
bic, were nnthought of. Further, it
was still debatable question whether
thei black soil prairie would ever be
able to grow its own supply of fruit,
especially apples, >. and whether the same
soils w9uld mot hhxs always to depend
on the yehdw cIatsfor wheat bread. y
The Short-Horn and the Devon cat
tic have now gone to the wall; &c years
having seen the rise and fall of the en-
pire of the Durhams, at least SO far as
agricultural shows are concerned. The
show Of the Jerseys, the Ayrshires. The
Holsteins, the milk breeds, and even
the sighted Herefords, each outnum-
bered them, and in two cases were
nearly tEo 70 one in the fair of 1879. |
VI hDrses there Were lupwAfdslof .3OOJ
entries, but the race horse or his kin
dred, though being good share oil
them, were fairly outshone, If moi, out
numbered, by the magnificent beasts
belonging TO the French and, English |
dfaught breeds, while In The matter Of
hogs hog The The ,i ssrkshirss and TIE Essex,
lized the pens. In the case of sheep, |
the Large breeds and the long woods |
were avery srestS advance over the |
half-bred Merinos apd natiye sheep of
1858, while the acfes upon aeres OF ag-
ricultural machinery OF almost every
kind, demonstrated that the business
which 26'years ago required small capr |
ital and engaged little more than aver |
age interest, now employs more than
500, 100000 capitals aud monepolEes |
the mechanical genius of the Country;
and as for the yellow clays having
monopoly of wheat and the fruits, the |
indications Of tho last three years are
thata replptioH 20 less radical thkA
In other respects hay soon be brought
about In that line.
OF the unusual features of the State |
Fair Of 1879, there was none more inn
pr Z. vi S ~ tEg tAaa tIs i4phg
less 1t was in the wonderful increase inl
the number and quslity1qf ti,e iIarsey0t
there being two exhibits Of the former, 7
with herds of about 20 each, and nu-
merous exhibits Of the latter, making
.'s $ .sss;:;;s;'a1G7:li;; ;;sa!:.a.3 :.:,':
torious and as popular, they should
suddenly disappear from the showings
OF State and county fairs, ia not quite
easy to account for-unleax ia bolhat1
they have so increased that they have I
now become really the common cattle
o Sss sss o sossSIy spd thorstss