The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1905-09-29
FAIR BIG TA|NG
FOR R0ANOKE. CITY

2ff t4ftFaAHu - StbSV 49, . II
Continued from First PACED
bosor1,s Of the men from the hills and
valleys OF the fatr$ Southwest Il. III
IIIf have digressed II Is hard to resist
an opportunity to express my admiration
for vlrginians. AS the Scotch past lsVt.
hath II: 81 NJ, 81 4
Very Fine Exhibit.
| 5F1 should ray it would be difficult to
got toKether In Virginia an exhibit which
more nearly completely illustrated .tthe.
agricultural wealth and prosperity OF the
state. There would DO ut Richmond 9
fair, for Instance, mote TOBACCO u shown Y
the exhibit Hero IL small. a Richmond
| fair, also, would show cotton from tho,
|thlrteer, cotton producing courtles Of the
| state and the peanut exhibit would be
| q most important feature. The Southwest
| does not raise peanuts nor cotton, 80
neither is represented In the exhibits:
nut what would you have2 With pea.
nuts and cotton excepted practically
every product known to the farms and and
|%gardens and orchards h OF America are
here, not In such great abundance In
/ scme ms tances as might be found at
4 fairs laid out on more expansive lines,
| but. enough ito show the capabilities OF
| the farms and farmers OF the Southwest.
IL Tho fruit exhibit could scarcely be}
surpassed In this country. ELLIS Wright
whose orchards are near here. has g col
Ilectionf Of apples and peaches on exhlDl-s
ton that old hortioulturists pronounce
the finest u they have ever seen. The
weight OF some Of the apples Is meas
ured BY poundg M We're 1 ito say how
many my reputation for truth and We: ac-3
ity, though so we'll Established might (.
suffer. Mr.. Wright raised 1900 bushels
1 OF pea ches last year. While 1 was look
ling at5the fruit exhibit yesterday q farm;
er told me- an orchard near Daleyille
In Botetourt county, ten miles from
Roanoke, the fruit Of which sold this
| year for upwards OF SO, 900, and the owner
did not even have to pay the cost Of
| picking the apples. An orchardist in the
Same localit y sold his crop OF apples two
years ago for about SIS, 900.
Farm Products.
The exhibits of farm products poured
in at such lively rate that the man
agement, Of the fair, purely In self-de-3,
tense, had to give notice that no moro
! could be received. Space could not be had.
4 And $Eln this I saw an explanation OF Z
much OF the success OF the farmers OF
tho Southwest. They are enthusiastic
Every man believes he has as good, II
not better products Of his labor than
his nelghbor has. IIe works to achieve
i that. He wanted the Judges at the fair
4 to decide, n IN I5 Il ,5i a III 55
s.. 81 stephens, whose farm. located
near Cambria, In Montgomery county, Ia
|3reputed to II grow wheat the equal #ot
any over threshed u has a wheat exhibit
at the fair that always attracts tho at
IStention Of the visitor I never sec a
Valley farmer that he does not tell me I
his section produces the finest wheat that
isF grown In Virginia. I am not dsputing
his word, but should like to see the
| prize wheat grown on q Rockingham
i farm shown by the side OF that grown
on this Montgomery farm. And 7 am not
expressing an opinion as to w men S7You 1lh
take tho ribbon, n 4s.5 ,..54 81
! The corn exhibit ii Is very attractive.
The length OF some OF the ears is plle--ft
! nomcnal But I observed that the farm.
i ers paid more attention to the depth Of
4 the grains. Oats. amillet and grass seeds
1 are shown In abundance. The pumpkin
exhibit Z grown entirely by 4 a. Botetourt
farm arr attracted q about as 4 much "a at
i tentions as any In the hall. One Of these
i pumpkins Would make en- ough pies ITO
last New England family whole
i year, And here again I am afraid to go
i into type as to weight. .3 a4.ls
Bread and Butter.
Two milling firms each offered q prize
4 OF bread baked from their product. The.
i result Is bread enough to feed q regiment
4 and next to 1t is exhibited enough butter
\ to mako the bread slide down easily.
i Competi tionE among tho bread and butter
\ exhibitors Is MS hot as in any other. de-
4 partment. Preserves, pickles, jellies,
i canned fruits and vegetables. formed a
4 very attractive exhibit. FL!
4 q The art department., located IN the
4 rooms beneath the grnndstand, WAS gem
4 orally crowded Needless to say, the
7 crowd was Invariably composed almost
4 entirely OF women. 1unhesta tingly say
the oil and water colors and crayons
shown were. with very few executions
i bad. And there We're lots OF pictures
The needlewore, to my eye, and i heard
i many women say the game thing, was
l very fine. 1t seems to me the beauty
o. some OF the centre-pieces. on which
I were embroidered crimson or purple blos-.
SONS, could scarcely have been excelled,
/ TAPESTRY and bead-wnrk also took~&up
| considerable space and was much adj
There was n large exhibit OF agrlcul-
tural machinery threshers and engines,
balers, manure spreaders, feed mills,
! feet,-ol,tters, reapers. grain drills and
!, other farm machinery Cook stoves and
hca ters took up much space.
Cattle Of Every Breed.
Cattle OF every breed 7 ever heard Of
were shown. Most conspicuous was q
Polled Angus bull, three years old, and
Weighing 1900 pounds. The Shorthorn
Durham, the favorite OF the cattle-
growers Of the Southwest, was not as
conspicuous as ] had expected
Among the horses, the Percneron had
| the call over the others 1t seemed,
Tho poultry exhibit contained more
breads than co,l)il count, ma ran from
struttng bantam to the big Langshaws
and Plymouth Rocks, White Leghorns.
shown by 8, 8. stansbury, whose yards
are near Richmond, attracted a great
deal OF attention,
hope I have not played tho bull in
a china shop In trying to give my Inn
presslons OF the Roanoke fair. have
not devoted time to the multitudlous side
shows Including the two-headed woman,
| the man who "eats ON alive" meaning
snakes fortune tellers and the ''naen only"