The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1896-11-17
THE NORTH CAROLINA FAIR.


Eds. COunt-y y G9ntlen1Un:-T have
attended the State Fair at Raleigh con
tinuously since 1869 -28 years. In
some respects the one closing this week
is the most successful have seen. De
spite the hard times with our fam zrs
(who this year have had to contend
with both low prices and short crops
the attendance has hardly ever been
larger, and the proportion of the farm
ing claes seemed to me to be unusually
large.
In an account of a former Fair, I
had to deplore that AgricoIa did not
spend little more time among the
stock pens and little less where the
"Coo- chez Coo chee'' girls faunt their
abbreviated apparel to the sky. I
might not upjustly repeat tho same
words IN regard to his action at the
Fair. But Agricola would doubtless
rej0in that he was in Rome and did as
he saw the Romans do.
The display Of poultry was immense.
The aristocracy, if not the royalty of
chicken, duck, goose, turkey. pigeon
and guinea kind were we'll and numer-
ously represented North Carolina
has always been at the front as far as
the chicken was concerned. Formerly
she wore the somewhat dubious honor
of rearing mains OF fighting cocks
against which the proudest champions
of other States contended IN vain. But
the passing of the fighting cock was
wellejdenced atR aleigh this week, where
the once omnipOtent game took very
properly very humble place. I hear
that many good sales were made of
poultry, among them peerless Br8h-
ma pullet was sold to George Wander
bilt, the Asheville millionaire, for $50.
The exhibit Of cattle and swine, while
not the best that I have seen on the
same grounds, was good. Nearly all
leading breeders were we'll represented.
| The racing, they said, was good. But
l have ever held that racing is some
thing with which the farmer in general
has nothing to do; and this is one of
the few things in which I find no diff
Guilty in living fully up to my prin-
cipl8s Like the O:iental who, when
pressed to attend the Derby races, re-
piled that he could not see the use Of
going to so much trouble to prove that
Of which he was perfectly we'll aware
that one horse could run faster than
another-it is to me matter Of su-
preme Indifference which Of q gang of
practically useless nags can tear around
| a circle the qpickest. am told that
racing is necessary step in the develop
meut Of good roadster blood. Owing
to my ignorance, perhaps, I cannot
| lJok at it in that light. Iwould rather
own driving horse the progeny of a
line of substantial, we'll trained road
sters than one whose spider-like sires
and dams, back to the equine Adam
had done nothing but smash records
The exhibit Of agricultural products
was excellent, and effectively shown
Tie exhibit OF Col. Carr's O :oneechee
Farm was unique. Not to mention a
mammoth ear of corn five feet long
made on this farm, the utilation OF a
rotating Ferris wheel, whose glass cars
were filed with samples of the mum
berless produ cts of Oconeechee, lent a
distinct feature to the whole depart
ment Mr.. Carr, industrially speak
ing, was for long time almost entitled
to repeat the famous phrase of Louis
XIV, "L'etat c'est MOI, u am the
State. And he has thrown into agri
culture the same progress and ingenu-
ity that made him king in the smok
ing tobacco world
O W. BLACKNALL