COLUMBIA.

The executive committee of the Columbia county Agricultural Society met in the city of Hudson on the 11th day of June, 1852, and made out a list of premiums to be awarded at the coming fair, to be held on September 29th and 30th.

The annual meeting of the society was held September 7th, 1852, when the following officers were elected, viz:

Elisha W. Bushnell, of Hillsdale, President; Daniel S. Curtiss, Charles W. Hull, William E. Hermance, John D. Langdon, Vice Presidents; F. A. Gifford, Secretary; Jacob N. Harder, Treasurer, and an executive committee of one from each town.

The annual fair and cattle show of the Columbia county Agricultural Society was held at Chatham Four Corners on the 29th and 30th days of September. Our agricultural friends came in from all parts of the county, and seemed to feel very much interested; and were we to judge of the prosperity of our society by the numbers present on the occasion, we should say it was very flattering.

The plowing match was held on the first day of the fair. There were seven teams and plowmen presented themselves as competitors for the premiums. The plowing came off with a good deal of spirit and good feeling. The plowing was very well done, considertng the dryness of the grounds. The second day was devoted exclusively to the exhibition and examination of animals and articles offered for premiums, which was very extensive. The exhibition was one of the best ever held in this county. There was a large display of animals, and many were of superior excellence. The show of farm implements and other articles in the mechanical department was very extensive and attracted much attention.

The annual address was delivered by Mr. Solon Robinson, of New-York, to a vast assemblage of the citizens of Columbia county.

In the ladies' department there was a very rich display, and such as to have secured the admiration of the multitude in atten

dance. The show of fruit, flowers and vegetables was extensive, and very fine indeed. The fair was one of which old Columbia may well be proud. It was in truth a jubilee to the farmers of the county. The premiums were awarded to the successful competitors on the first day of October, the third day of the fair.

It is evident from the immense number of people at our fair, as well as from the great variety of articles on exhibition, that an increased interest is felt in the prosperity of the society, and its prospects of usefulness were never more flattering than at present.

Columbia county has done nobly. Taking into consideration the backwardness of the season, and the almost unprecedented drouth of the whole summer, it is surprising to see to what size and perfection fruits and vegetables have been brought in this vicinity. The show of grapes, apples, pears, peaches, plums, vegetables and flowers, has never been equalled in this county.

We talked with several gentlemen at Chatham Four Corners, who were present at the State Fair, lately held at Utica, and they all said that only in quantity, not in quality, did it excel our county fair. In fact, the speaker, Mr. R., paid us the compliment, in saying that he had attended a great many fairs in his time, but he had never beheld as nice a string of 10 yoke of oxen as he saw at this fair. There was one yoke of three year old steers on the ground entered by Mr. Pratt, which he said were the best he ever saw in his life; they were, in fact, the admiration of all.

The volumes of Transactions of the State Society and American Institute, furnished the society, have also been distributed as, premiums, and are very much sought after by the farming part of the community.

The financial condition of the society is as follows:

Received from members of the society,...

Received balance on hand at last report,....

Carried forward,

$236 00

92 00

328 00

The fourteenth annual fair of the society was held at Cortland Village on the 15th and 16th September. Never since the organization of the society has there been so deep an interest shown as upon this occasion. The out-door arrangements were in fine order, and the display of animals good. Extensive sheds had been erected, and were filled to overflowing with mechanical products of various kinds. The Messrs. Freers had a large and commodious one of their own, where the housewife or the agriculturist might have procured any article their necessity or fancy should have prompted, while Mr. Sanders, and others, also made fine displays of their manufactured articles.

Floral hall was more neatly fitted up than on any former occasion, and far more attractive, as shown by the amount received, (being double that of last year). The floral exhibition was unusually fine, and did much credit to the exhibitors. The display of fruits and vegetables was unusually great and very fine, and the potato, which for some years past has been so poor in quality and short in product, is this year very fine, and a good crop.

On the second day the plowing match was contested with much spirit by numerous competitors, and the work performed by them "hard be to beat." Immediately after the plowing match the society partook of a dinner prepared for them at the "Eagle Tavern," after which they repaired to the Presbyterian church, where an address was delivered.

The receipts of the society during the past year have been as

Officers for 1853. At the annual meeting held December 23, the following officers were elected: President, Paris Barber; Vice Presidents, Moses Kinne, Josiah W. Rood, Lyman Hubbard, Manley Hobart; Treasurer, M. L. Webb; Secretary, Erasmus Bowen ; Corresponding Secretary, Amos Hobart; Marshals, Oliver Glover, Ira Bowen, A. L. Chamberlain; Superintendent Floral hall, Wm. L. Sherman; Executive committee, Israel Boies, Geo. J. J. Barber, Amos Rice, Noah Hitchcock, Jr., Hiram Hopkins, Anthony Freer, Joshua Ballard, 2d, Hamilton Putnam, Peter Walrad, Francis H. Hibbard, Hammel Thompson.

ANTHONY FREER, President.

DELAWARE.

The annual fair and cattle show of the Society was held in, Delhi on the 6th and 7th days of October, and was more numerously attended than any previous festival of the association. The fair of the society for the past three years has been held in the town or village paying the largest sum int. the treasury, and so far as our own experience is a guide, is a very satisfactory and proper arrangement. The officers of the Society, by this plan of locating the annual fair, are relieved from an embarassing responsibility, while the members and patrons of the society are en

abled to express their preference for a favorite locality, at the same time that they entitle themselves to the privileges attendant upon membership. Since the society has adopted this manner of settling the location of its fair, it has been enabled to extend its premium list, to increase the value and variety of its premiums, to provide increased conveniences for the comfort of exhibitors and the public, and thereby to make the occasion one of real interest and importance. The number of persons in attendance upon our last fair is believed to be greater than was ever called out before, on any occasion, in this county. The enclosure of our exhibition grounds, and the collection of an admission fee from persons not members of the society, is another new, and we believe satisfactory feature of the present policy of the society. We find very few persons unwilling to pay a shilling into our treasury for their admission into our grounds, while we are enabled to shut out the few persons whose intemperance and kindred vices make them unpleasant companions on public occasions Our enclosures are also safe deposits for animals or articles on exhibition.

Delaware county, as a grazing region, is in no particular behind the most favored locality, and its butter competes successfully in our markets with the renowned "Goshen ;" and yet we are mortified to record that the show of our staple product was meager indeed. Very many of our dairies, delivered at tide water, have brought 30 cents per lb. this season, and yet a stranger in attendance upon our fair would hardly have guessed, from any thing he saw there, that we deserved, or were proud of the reputation of our dairy products. The exhibition of cattle was good. Henry Dowie, Esq., of Andes, exhibited a superior Durham bull, out of "Marius." S. A. & J. A. Law, of Meredith, exhibited their Devon bull "Cogniac," and the show of pure bred and grade cattle was admitted to be the best ever made in the county. Some good pairs of working oxen were on exhibition, but as a whole this feature of the exhibition was not what it might and should have been in a county where good ox teams are so numerous as in this. The exhibition of horses was numerous, and the animals such as are suited to our wants, rather than to the fancy of sporting men. Many of them were really beautiful animals. Sheep