[341] - The Agricultural building is among the most sightly of the Exposition palaces, its chaste and serious design, its wealth of decorations, and richness and variety of detail, making it one of the most refined and luxurious homes of industry that welcome this gathering of the nations. Fronting on the main court 800 feet, with a depth of 500, and with its eastern facade almost touching the waters of the lake, this structure occupies, apart from its annexes, a space of some nine and a half acres. Built with a careful regard to its effect on adjacent edifices, it was planned in such fashion as to secure the best disposition of its contents, together with the lighting needed for a comparison of the agricultural products of our own and foreign lands, between many of which their delicate shades of distinction cannot be readily detected.

After considering their plan, the New York firm of architects by whom was designed this temple of Ceres, decided to erect their main building around a hollow square, divided in the centre by two open naves intersecting at right angles, and on their sides two-storied aisles, with longitudinal passage-ways through the four courts into which the floor is divided. Passing between the Corinthian pillars at the principal entrance, more than 60 feet wide, the visitor enters a vestibule profusely adorned with statuary emblematical of agriculture and agricultural pursuits, the vestibule leading into a rotunda, 100 feet in diameter, and surmounted by a glass dome 130 feet in height. At the top of the building and around it is an arcade, and at the corner are pavilions, also with domical treatment. The edifice if fashioned after the style of the classic renaissance; portions of its walls are painted with allegorical figures, and on the outer sides, as well as in the interior is a luxury of pictorial, sculptural, and other artistic ornaments, relieving the stateliness of the design.

While none but the most captious among the pilgrims of the Fair will be disposed to find fault with this structure, in itself a well-nigh perfect work of art, it has been objected, and not without reason, that nearly one half of the space was devoted to aisles and other passage-ways. To the distribution of that space exception has also been taken; but by the artificers and managers these apparent defects are explained through considerations that need not here be mentioned. To Great Britain were allotted more than 13,000 feet, and to France, a greater agricultural country, only 7,000 feet. Australia has 8,60 feet, while to such agricultural states as Kansas and California, both with a much larger volume and variety of agricultural production, only some 2,000 feet were awarded. Russia has 9,500 feet, and Italy and Spain but 3,000 or 3,500 feet for each; but in all cases the allotment of space has been regulated rather by the character and extent of the display than by the agricultural output of the territorial divisions here represented.

Adjoining the Agricultural building is a large annex, near one of the stations of the elevated railway, and of which a portion is used as an assembly hall, and as a common meeting ground for persons engaged or interested in agricultural and stock-raising industries. On the ground floor is a bureau of information, where [343] are attendants whose duty it is to give to visitors such knowledge as they may desire, not only concerning the hall and its purposes, but as to the main building and its contents, with other portions of the Exposition. Here and on the second floor are waiting-rooms and apartments suitable for committees and associations, whose secretaries are always at hand.

In none of the homes of the Fair has sculptural and pictorial embellishment been more happily blended with architectural design. Above the gilded dome is poised St. Gauden�s gilded statue of Diana, appearing to better advantage as thus transferred to its lofty pedestal from the Madison Square garden in New York. Over the corner pavilions are Martiny�s figures of the races, in four groups of colossal female forms, supporting mammoth globes. All are identical in pose, and it is said, produced from a single mould, a different head being placed on each of the models. On the pediments of these pavilions are groups by the same artist, representing a shepherdess with her flock, and a shepherd with his dogs, all in his happiest style. Other of his contributions are those which portray, in classic symbolism, the signs of the zodiac and the emblems of abundance, the fluted drapery of the latter concealing their opulence of form, some holding under their wings the horns of plenty, and others with tablets on which are inscribed the names of products emblematic of the seasons. Still another of his groups is typical of agriculture, the tall impersonation of that industry rising above the branching horns of oxen, yet in perfect symmetry and poise. Over the principal entrance is a statue of Ceres, by the Florentine artist Larkin J. Mead, who parted with his treasure somewhat reluctantly, and only because, as he remarked, it would reveal to our American artists what sculpture really is. Let us hope that his brethren of the craft have laid the lesson to heart.

The decorations in graphic art are by George W. Maynard, of New York. At one side of the main entrance Cybele is seated in her chariot, drawn by lions, and on the opposite side, in a car to which winged dragons are yoked, is King Triptolemus, sent forth by the mother of the gods to instruct all the nations of the earth in the science of agriculture. Between them are allegorical figures set in a framework of grain and fruit. At the corner pavilions are figures emblematic of the seasons, and on the friezes above, those of domesticated animals.

In the department of agriculture are included not only the fruits of the soil in the shape of food and forage plants, but all the articles manufactured from those products, whether in solid or liquid form. Thus in one group we find bread and biscuits, starches and pastes; in another, sugars and syrups; in a third, malt and [344] alcoholic liquors, wines being represented in the Horticultural division. Here also are meats, smoked, salted, canned or as extracts, and in a separate structure, the products of the dairy. Agricultural machinery, implements, and processes are fully represented, with fertilizing substances, both animal and mineral. There are farm buildings, models, methods, plans, and statistics, and classed in this division, though housed elsewhere are exhibits of Forestry, and all that the forest supplies.

To the residents of the several states of which Chicago is the main centre of distribution, and supply, the Exposition has no more attractive features than its Agricultural and Live-stock departments, the latter presently to be described. Of the entire grain receipts of that city, valued for 1892 at about $150,000,000, from eighty to ninety percent is shipped to domestic and foreign markets, where also is forwarded either on hoof or as meats and lard, as hides and wool, the bulk of its live-stock consignments, representing for the same year a valuation of more than $250,000,000. The region tributary to Chicago, including, as it does, a wide section of the western and middle states, is largely devoted to agricultural and stock raising, furnishing indeed a very considerable proportion of the food supply of the world.

In all the United States there are probably not less than 10,000,000 persons engaged in various branches of agriculture, while each one so engaged supports on an average at least two other persons. Thus it will be seen that nearly one half the population of the republic is directly dependent on agriculture for a livelihood, the [345] number actually employed far exceeding those engaged in all other fields of labor. Add to this the part that agriculture plays in our commerce, our manufacturing, shipping, railroad, and other interests, and it probably surpasses in economic, if not in money value, all other productive industries combined. While in some directions, and especially in cereals, over-production has been followed by a heavy decline in prices, leaving but the smallest margin of profit, and in unfavorable years a positive loss, the more intelligent farmers have fully held their own, many of them raising a variety of products, and with special regard to present and prospective demand.

In no country in the world are there so many farms of considerable size held and worked by individual owners. If in France, Belgium, and a few other countries, there is, in proportion to population, a larger number of proprietary farmers, the average of their holdings is by comparison almost infinitesimal. Of the 600,000 or 700,000 Belgian farm, for instance, nearly one-half do not exceed ten acres; many have less than five acres, and instances are not rare where a family is supported on a single acre. Of the 5,000,000 farms under cultivation in the United States, at least 3,500,000 are worked by their owners in holdings of from 50 to 500 acres, and of farmers there are about 500,000 who pay a money rental, and perhaps twice that number whose rent consists of a certain portion of their crops.

Of the entire area of the United States, less than one-half is included in its farms, and less than one-third is under actual cultivation, the remaining half still containing fertile tracts, though most of its consists of grazing lands, of water surfaces, of mountain ranges, and of the desert lands west of the Rocky mountains. Meanwhile the more valuable portions of these lands are being absorbed under the provisions of the homestead and timber acts, located with scrip and warrants, or selected by railroads, at the rate of 15,000,00 to 20,000,000 acres a year. In other words, a territory almost as large as that of New England, excluding the single state of Massachusetts, is being segregated every twelve-month from that which is left of the national domain.

During the five years ending with 1892, the United States produced an average crop of more than 3,000,000,000 bushels of cereals, maize ranking first as to volume and value of production, and next, in the order named, oats, wheat, barley, rye, and buckwheat. In 1892 the acreage under cultivation was somewhat smaller than in 1888, and with a more considerable [346] reduction in yield. The best of the intervening seasons was in 1891, when from 142,000,000 acres were produced 3,400,000,000 bushes, worth $1,600,000,000, or an average of 24 bushels, and the average to 20 bushels, with a slight reduction in acreage, and proportionate returns. Of wheat there were produced in that year 516,000,000 bushes; of maize, 1,628,000,000, and of oats, 661,000,000 bushels, with acreages of 13, 23, and 24 bushels respectively. Considering the low prices then prevailing, and the still lower rates current during the following harvest season, it will be seen that except on a large scale, and with the most improved of labor saving appliances, the production of cereals is no longer a profitable industry.

Of hay there were produced, in 1890, some 40,000,000 tons from about as many acres; of cotton, 7,400,000 bales from 20,000,000 acres; of flax, 10,250,000 pounds of seed, and 240,000 of fibre from 1,300,000 acres. Of tobacco the average production may be stated at 500,000,000 pounds; of rice, one-fourth of that quantity, and of cane, beet, sorghum, and maple sugar, 400,000,000 pounds, or little more than ten percent of the consumption; for the United States is a great sugar consuming country, using at least 60 pounds a year per capita of its population. Such are in brief the recent annals and the present condition of leading agricultural interests as [347] represented at the Fair, and nowhere can be compared to better advantage the products of the great food-producing sections of the republic, and these again with the products of foreign lands.

Between the annex and the central transverse nave of the main hall are the exhibits of the various states, of the American agricultural colleges, and experimental stations, and several minor foreign countries. Fronting on this nave are the pavilions of the leading agricultural states, including Iowa, Illinois, Ohio, Indiana, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Nebraska, New York, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, and North Carolina. Iowa occupies a central position among the sisterhood, and one in perfect keeping with her geographical position. In her palace of corn, built in the Pompeiian style of architecture, are contained more than 130 varieties of grain. In front is a railing formed of long glass tubes, filled with samples of her soil, the caps above them composed of grains and other products. Red, white, and blue corn decorate the arches and pillars of the interior, in imitation of mosaic work, and at the base of each column are wisps and sheaves of grain. The pyramids within the palace, and the domes which surmount it, are artistically fashioned of corn cobs, kernels, and husks, while the less attractive exhibits, but those which better illustrate the cereal wealth of the state, are classified as grain in and out of the ear. The pavilion covers an area of more than 2,000 square feet, and aptly represents a form of industry in which at least two thirds of the exhibitors are engaged.

The pillars which support Nebraska�s spacious pavilion are filled with her corn, wheat, and other grains, the first of these products being most extensively used in the decorations. One of the most important of her industries is the raising of corn for the manufacture of brooms, and these household articles are fashioned into several unique designs. In the centre of the Michigan section is a Corinthian temple, surmounted by a shield bearing her coat of arms. Above the main entrance is represented a family group, fashioned in corn and wheat, its four members on their way to the harvest field. The exhibits come [348] from all portions of a state whose surface and soil are greatly diversified, and hence are of a miscellaneous character, including wheat, corn, oats, rye, peas, beans, buckwheat, timothy, and clover, with many varieties of seeds, nuts, vegetables, and a small display of melons.

Wisconsin�s oaken pavilion, whose sides are formed of glass compartments for the display of cereal products, is typical of that substantial and prosperous state, while in the grouping of different grains in beautiful designs, and the decoration of the pillars and roof with the fruits of her soil are expressed the artistic tastes of one of the most cultured of western communities. There are also photographs of model farm buildings, and of rural scenes, with a series of colored maps contributed by the chief of the weather service, representing climatic changes and conditions. The exhibit includes, in nearly 1,000 classes, all grades of wheat, corn, oats, barley, rye, buckwheat, peas and beans, with seeds of many varieties, as flax, timothy, red top, blue grass, millet, carroway, and clover, with hops, German vetches, and sorghum, and with grasses and forage plants of more than sixty kinds.

Heads of grain and native grasses form the appropriate materials of which largely consists the decorative scheme of the Minnesota pavilion, planned in a series of arches, and with pillars festooned in cereal and floral designs. Its chief ornament is the octagonal tower upon whose panels are pictorial effects in wheat and grasses, emblematic of the history and resources of the state. Among the grains, which are displayed in jars barley is a prominent variety, for in Minnesota a strong effort is being made to encourage the raising of this cereal for consumption by Canadian maltsters.

Facing the southeastern section of the rotunda is Pennsylvania�s exhibit, housed in a structure whose base is of many colored corns arranged in geometric figures, with wreaths and borders of feather-like grasses. The roof and entrance are also decorated with designs in wheat and corn, while above all its rich display is a bust of William Penn, calmly surveying the agricultural evolution of by-gone ages. On one of the panels are reproduced the arms of the state - two sturdy farm-horses, one of them in its harness, with a shield surmounted by an eagle, and the well-known Pennsylvania motto, Virtue, Liberty, and Independence. On either side are panels covered with green moss, and serving as a [349] background for a group of agricultural implements adorned with ribbons, and wreaths of grass. Above the coat of arms is a keystone, fashioned of kernels of white and yellow corn. The keystone in truth is omnipresent, and in every conceivable design, so that never for a moment is the visitor allowed to forget that this, the so-called keystone state, is the one which held together the sections of the union in their hour of sorest trial.

With its quaint and yet tasteful embellishment, its old-fashioned fireplace, where the chimney-piece, the chimney ornaments, and even the andirons are made of corn, the pavilion, with its wealth of decoration forms of itself a more interesting display that its contents can possibly be. Among the latter are grains, grasses, and seeds in many varieties, with specimens of hops, and a case filled with tobacco in the leaf. An interesting exhibit is that of the Woman�s Silk Culture association, whose headquarters are in Philadelphia. In the form of an illustration is the silk-worm feeding on the mulberry leaf, and near by are glass jars filled with cocoons, and bundles of raw silk, and spools of sewing silk, the latter in every shade of dye. Adjacent to this group are rich silken fabrics and festoons of flags draped around a goodly array of diplomas from prominent agricultural societies.

In a choice collection of photographs are represented Pennsylvania farm-houses of ideal type, embowered in orchards, and overlooking fertile fields. Tasteful and homelike are these habitations, some of them, though almost coeval with the declaration of independence, showing no signs of decay. Worthy of note also are the charts and handsomely bound agricultural reports, in which is a statement of the agricultural and mining products, and the commerce of Pennsylvania as compared with the sisterhood of states.

Next to the Pennsylvania collection is the pavilion of Illinois, one of the most ornate in the American section, though sharing the honors with other structures, and especially with that of Iowa. A commendable [351] feature, and one that is lacking in many portions of Agricultural hall, is its plentiful supply of comfortable seats, thus making it a favorite resort for tired visitors. There are four entrances to this pavilion, and in its centre is a corn pagoda, its base composed of jars of grain, and aptly representing one of the leading industries of a state whose crop of maize has averaged for a score of years more than 200,000,000 bushels. In glass cases set into the walls are numerous specimens of cereal and other produce, the several groups including many kinds of grain, grasses, and forage plants. Two of the groups consist entirely of vegetables and broom corn; a third of sorghum, and sugar-cane; a fourth of tobacco, hops, and peppers, and a fifth of hemp, flax, and cotton. Worthy of note is the variety of articles displayed by single exhibitors, many of whom show, side by side, their samples of wheat, corn, oats, barley, rye, buckwheat, grasses, and forage plants, thus illustrating their diversity of products, for the Illinois farmer, like the Illinois merchant and manufacturer, is fully abreast of the times.

In structural design the Ohio pavilion resembles somewhat a Roman temple. The glass columns which surround it are filled with cereals so arranged as to present a pleasing color effect; the cornice is also composed of glass compartments, through which the grains of Ohio are exhibited in all their variety and richness, and on the walls in various receptacles, or in the form of interior decorations, are 130 varieties of wheat, 128 of corn, 37 of oats, and 102 of grasses, with a creditable display of beans and tobacco. In the centre is an office with reception room, in which is a collection of standard works on agriculture.

In Kentucky�s pavilion leaf tobacco, corn, wheat, hemp, grasses, and blue-grass seed form the bulk of the exhibits, all of which are [352] worked into structural forms or otherwise skillfully arranged. Of the three groups under which the collection is classified the largest consists of tobacco, of which there are more than a hundred exhibitors, the description known as Burley leaf being repeated in several score of specimens. Indiana, whose section lies east of the Kentuckian group, is liberally represented, as befits a state which ranks among the foremost in volume and quality of cereal products, displaying also many varieties of grasses, hay, and seeds.

Indiana�s exhibits are installed in a pavilion of white, the section fronting the facade being decorated with corn in the ear, and grain in the straw. Within there are three large structures, covered with jars filled with the cereals of the state, a shaft of corn, not unlike an Egyptian needle, rising above them all. In cases are other specimens of wheat and oats in the stalk, collected by the head of the agricultural experiment station, of Purdue University. An artistic [353] feature is a large wreath of artificial flowers on one of the cases, made by a woman from many varieties of grain and nuts, and containing also a grass hopper, bee, beetle, guinea egg, pinching bug, and the tusk of a hog. To the Indiana exhibit the weather bureau contributes several maps, showing the precipitation, temperature, and rainfall within the state for a period of twenty-two years, and elsewhere are maps presenting data as to altitudes, drainage, live-stock, and agricultural products.

The home of the empire state, somewhat out of place, as it would seem, among the western and southern exhibits, is a plain, unpretentious structure, almost severe of aspect; but in the several groups and several hundred classes contained therein is one of the best and largest collections in Agricultural hall, arranged with skill and method, and displaying to excellent advantage her manifold products and resources. As in other sections, grain forms the bulk of the display; but of beans there are nearly 100 specimens, with grasses, leaf tobacco, hops, flax, and syrup made from the cane. The picking and preparation of hops, one of the most picturesque of outdoor industries, are fully illustrated, and flax in its various forms, from the time it is harvested until made ready for the manufacturer, is also a feature in the New York collection.

North Carolina completes the group of states that fill the place of honor fronting on the central nave, which is thus divided among the middle, western, and southern sections of the country. In her glass pavilion, divided into convenient partitions, the first group consists of cereals, grasses, and grass seeds, in more than 350 classes. Then come sorghum, and sorghum and sugar-cane syrup and seed, of which there are some fifty exhibitors. A third group consists entirely of peanuts, and a fourth almost entirely of beans. In another [354] group cotton lint, seed, and bolls are repeated in two-score specimens, and among them is a little flax and flax-seed. Of hops and tea there are single exhibits, and of interest to scientific agriculturists are the samples of the soils best adapted to staple products.

Near the eastern portal Missouri occupies one of the largest sections allotted to a state exhibit. An ornamental railing encloses the pavilion, which is in four compartments, and in the centre a pyramid, on whose sides are worked in grains and grasses the Missourian coat of arms, the seal of the United States, and a Columbian medallion. From this pyramid rises a shaft of grain, surmounted by a terrestrial globe of silk, with the state of Missouri in exaggerated scale. On either side of the arched doorway at the principal entrance is a case containing the choicer varieties of Missourian grasses, and grains, tobacco, flax, hemp, sorghum, and castor beans are elsewhere displayed in nearly 200 classes.

Around the stairway leading to the gallery which divides this section is a palace of corn, which serves as an office and reception room. Here is illustrated in the form of statistics and maps the growth of a leading branch of Missouri�s industry, her corn crop reaching, and at times exceeding 200,000,000 bushels a year. All classes of cereals are also displayed in the shape of a terraced embankment, composed of jars of grain, and surmounted by an equestrian figure of Washington. A model of the great St. Louis bridge, fashioned of sugar-cane and ornamented with grain, occupies another portion of the pavilion, in the construction and decoration of which there are samples enough to load a sea-going ship.

Except for Louisiana, the remaining exhibits of the southern states are grouped to the east of Missouri�s pavilion. Here the two Virginias and Florida display their modest assortments in neat and tasteful pavilions, the Old Dominions giving the place of honor to tobacco with her wheat, corn, and oats in the background, while her western namesake reverses this arrangement. The state commission, the Louisiana Sugar exchange, and the New Orleans board of trade and Cotton exchange were mainly instrumental in organizing a series of exhibits which illustrate the methods of cultivating, harvesting, and milling rice; of producing sugar, molasses, and syrups, of raising cotton, and manufacturing cotton seed oil. They have also a large display of tobacco and cereals, together with specimens of soils which experiment and chemical analysis have shown to be best adapted to staple products.

In the exhibit of the Louisiana Sugar exchange are photographs representing plantation laborers, warehouses and other buildings for handling manufactured products, and scenes with the exchange itself. The state exhibit [355] is divided into two main sections, designed to illustrate the development of the rice and the sugar industries. The so-called rice pavilion is thatched with the straw of that grain, resembling somewhat one of the Javanese houses on the Plaisance. It is surmounted by a marine monster in upright posture, with large eyes of bright colored glass. The pillars and walls of the sugar pavilion are of cane, both structures displaying the most artistic workmanship, and so arranged that they appear as one.

A portion of the Florida section is occupied by a Grecian pavilion, which serves as the official headquarters, tastefully furnished with exterior decorations of tropical plants, jute, sugar-cane, and other native products. Among the exhibits are samples of soil reclaimed from the coast lands and everglades, those of the produce of the soil consisting of specimens of sugar, rice, cider, wines, honey, preserved fruits, and early berries, the last including a jar of strawberries gathered in the month of February. The small but tasteful and well ordered collection of Maryland completes the southern display, except for an assortment of Texan wools contained in the gallery. North and east of the Maryland pavilion are those of New Jersey and Delaware, the contents of which are to be commended for quality rather than quantity. Especially neat and homelike is the display of New Jersey products, above which is inscribed the following legend: "The battle ground of the Revolution, on whose fields many of these exhibits were grown."

The New England participants are Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire, and Maine. Tobacco is a feature in the exhibits of the first two states, notwithstanding that in the former its cultivation has been strongly opposed by certain classes. The exhibit of Massachusetts is skillfully arranged, and included photographic illustrations of many of her crops, with literature bearing upon agricultural topics. As an exposition of New England husbandry, which differs widely from western methods, a considerable space is devoted to what is termed intensive farming. Here, also, is shown how to check the ravages of the gypsy moths, and other insect plagues. Within a glass case is a tree covered, and partially destroyed by the worms, with birds perched on the trunk, and barnyard fowls at the base in the act of devouring them. New Hampshire has an attractive display, in a small red building enclosed with a rustic fence, and representing the typical New England granary, near which are tables covered with jars of grain. In the yard are benches and easy chairs, an old-fashioned flax-wheel, plough, and other agricultural implements of colonial times. On either side of the door are compartments [356] in which are specimens of the sugars and syrups for which the state is noted.

Across the passageway from the New Hampshire building is a pavilion bedecked with the brightest of the primary colors, that of Oklahoma, recently re-christened by its territorial legislature, the Mistletoe state, for this plant is found there in great abundance. As shown by the exhibits, its soil yields wheat, cotton, clover, maize, sorghum, timothy, oats, rye, barley, flax, and kaffir and broom corn. Considering that this territory is little more than four years old, her display is most creditable, and one that augurs well for her future.

Surrounded by the main entrance of which is in the form of South Dakota, the main entrance of which is in the form of a large triumphal arch, with a doorway on either side. The pillars, arch, doorways, and the supports of the section walls consist of the trunks of trees which were cut in March, 1893, many of them bearing twigs in full leaf. Wheat and grasses comprise the bulk of the exhibit, among the latter being specimens of the switch variety more than thirty feet long. Separated from this section by the California pavilion are those of North Dakota and Kansas, the former containing a profuse display of cereals, both in decorative and exhibitory forms. Above her pavilion is a woman of heroic stature, her right hand resting on a shield, and holding in her left a banner, the entire composition fashioned in grain, as are other elaborate designs. In the Kansas structure, rich in its golden hues, is proclaimed her rank as among the foremost of corn producing states, the figures above the principal entrance indicating the year of her admission to statehood, and that in which was dedicated the World�s Columbian Exposition.

Of the Pacific states, grouped almost in the centre of the American division, some are well represented in the Agricultural department, while others have but a slender display. First may be mentioned that of California, as the largest grain producing state in the group, one that in 1850 imported [357] almost her entire supply of cereals, and now ranks among the leading sections of the republic in yield and export of wheat. In occasional years California has led all the rest in volume of production, and is among the few whose crop for a single season has exceeded 60,000,000 bushels. Of maize, a few million bushels a year are raised, and of barley, mainly for horse feed and brewing purposes, from 15,000,000 to 20,000,000 bushels, with a moderate export demand.

But cereal farming, and especially wheat farming, is no longer a profitable industry in California, unless conducted on a large scale, and with improved appliances. For this the reasons are not far to seek, with wheat selling, as in recent years, at from 70 to 80 cents a bushel, with labor at $2 a day in the harvest season, and often not to be had at that. Then there are excessive freight charges, with delay and difficulty in moving crops, large quantities of wheat remaining unhoused by the side of railroad tracks, where at times it becomes spoiled while awaiting transportation. No wonder that the smaller class of grain-growers cannot compete with those of Russia and Hindostan, where freights are almost nominal, and wages from a fourth to a tenth of California rates. But on the larger farms, some of them with many thousand acres planted in wheat, the use of steam power in ploughing, planting, and harvesting has so diminished the cost of production, that in favorable locations wheat can be raised and placed at tide-water for less than thirty cents a bushel.

Of hay the California crop is from 1,500,000 to 2,000,000 tons, largely of alfalfa, as there is named the lucerne of the eastern states. With the aid of labor-saving appliances this can be raised at a cost of $1 a ton, inclusive of cutting, curing, and stacking, while on irrigated lands three or four crops a year, each of as many tons to the acre, are no uncommon yield. Vegetables are largely raised, and especially beans and potatoes, the average yield of the former exceeding 50,000 tons, mainly of the Lima variety, while of the latter and of winter vegetables many thousands of tons are shipped to eastern markets. Of sugar-beets the product is from 10,000 to 15,000 tons a year, with three beet-sugar mills in operation, one of them the largest in the United States. All these and other industries are represented in the Agricultural department, and what has been said in this connection applies in a measure to other sections of the Pacific slope.

In comparison with the display in her state pavilion, the one contained in the Agricultural building is almost insignificant. And yet there are in the collection more than 70 exhibits of cereal crops, with 50 or more of beans, potatoes, and other vegetables, and several each of hay, grasses, and grain in the straw, and of olive oils, while of silk cocoons, and cotton on the stalk there are also single exhibits. Though not an imposing display, all the leading agricultural districts of the state, and nearly all their products, are represented in these California groups, and among them are the usual specimens of phenomenal growth, including melons, pumpkins, and beets, with potatoes one of which would almost suffice for a family dinner.

The booth itself is a plain unpretentious structure of glass and wood-work painted in light colors, and with little attempt at ornamentation. [359] In the centre is a wigwam of unique design, constructed of Indian corn, and elsewhere are bouquets deftly fashioned of native grasses. The exhibits are neatly arranged, and show to the best advantage their several classified groups. But in other departments of the Fair, especially in the Mining and Horticultural sections, and above all in her own home among the state pavilions, California is seen to better advantage. Her display of fruits, for instance, is by far the best on exposition, representing one of her largest and most progressive industries, one that with cheaper freights is capable of almost unlimited expansion; for to the consumption of fruits in crowded eastern centres there are no practical bounds, if it can be hauled to market at rates that will leave a fair profit to the producer, while placing it within reach of the great army of wage-earners. All this will come in time; and as the golden age of pastoral days was succeeded by the age of gold, as mining gave place to agriculture and stock-raising, so are these latter yielding the precedence to fruit-growing, which promises erelong to lead all other industries, as even today it does in the southern portion of the state.

Next to California, Oregon ranks first among the wheat producing sections of the Pacific coast; for ever since the days when were sown on Methodist mission lands the first wheat planted in the Pacific Northwest, grain growing has there been a favorite pursuit. In her pavilion, which for reasons best known to the management was sandwiched between those of the southern and middle states, is a large collection of cereals, vegetables, grasses, and forage plants, fairly representing this stable and industrious community, one of the most steadily prosperous in the United States.

Of similar character are the exhibits from Washington, whose production of wheat has increased nearly four-fold during the decade ending with 1892, while for the same period Oregon shows but a slender gain, and California a decrease in yield. Of sheaf grain there are countless specimens, including cereals of all descriptions, and of threshed grain there are many varieties in display and decorative forms. Among them is wheat that has yielded nearly 100 bushels to the acre, and oats that have produced even more abundantly, with timothy hay nearly nine feet high, with vegetables of wonderful size, a complete assortment of field and garden seeds, and flax in all its stages of growth. Farm buildings and incidents are reproduced in photographic illustrations, and there is a chart containing farm and crop statistics, while climatic conditions are represented as taken from government reports. Few of the Pacific or other states have displayed such interest in the Fair as this, one of the youngest of the sisterhood, two of her citizens taking on themselves the task of preparing an exhaustive exhibit from the counties in which they resided, while a third erected at his own expense, and stocked with grains and fruits, a pavilion in the Washington section.

Nevada, it need hardly be said, is not an agricultural region, though gaining steadily in this as in other branches of industry, now that she has fairly recovered from the depression caused by the faded glories of the Comstock. Except on irrigated lands, cereals can only be raised to advantage in a few locations, as in portions of Elko county, where 30 bushels of wheat to the acre or 50 of barley are no uncommon yield. The exhibits consist mainly of grains and grasses, arranged in frames, and housed in a neat and tasteful pavilion.

Utah�s exhibit is well worthy of the community which, during its exodus from Nauvoo, halted midway on its journey to plant and gather grain, near the spot where now stands the cities of Council Bluffs and Omaha. Nowhere in the United States, and probably nowhere in the world have irrigation systems been developed with more economic method or with better results. When in 1846 the Mormons entered their western Zion, their land of Deseret, the first task to which they applied themselves was the construction of irrigating ditches. Twenty years later, when elsewhere on the Pacific coast artificial watering was almost unknown, nearly 300 canals had been built, with a total length of more than 1,000 miles, and conveying the mountain streams and melted snow to 170,000 acres. By 1892 the various systems had been so enlarged as to absorb nearly all the available water, the supply of which formed the only limit to further enterprises. Thus it is that several million bushels a year of cereals are raised on the arid soil of Utah, almost entirely by Mormon farmers; for the saints are essentially a farming community, leaving to their gentile friends the control of commerce and mining.

[361] resources. Within is a pagoda fashioned of native grasses, and on a semicircular screen are presented the agricultural records of the state. As in other groups, cereals form the bulk of the specimens; but vegetables are also in good supply, with feed and fodder of many varieties, as blue-joint, blue-stem, bunch, and other grasses, on Montana soil, its native herbage constituting a primary source of wealth. Though Montana is not an agricultural region, there are many sections well adapted to grain and other farming, with an average crop for 1892 of 33 bushels of wheat to the acre, 35 of barley, and 40 of oats, while on irrigated lands the average for all grain crops is nearly 42 bushels, and of vegetables 240 to the acre. Already there are some 250,000 acres of irrigated land in actual cultivation, and with the high prices of farm products, far above those of most of the Pacific states, Montana must cease to import, as now she does, a large proportion of her food supply.

Such are the agricultural products and resources of the Pacific slope, as represented at the Columbian Exposition, and here described somewhat at length as compared with other sections of the republic. As to the latter, most of my readers are doubtless well informed; but to many the choice and varied display of certain of the Pacific states will be almost in the nature of a revelation. In 1850 the cereal crop of the entire western coast could have been placed on board a single sea-going ship; in 1892 several hundred grain-laden vessels carried her surplus wheat and flour to a score of foreign ports. Yet in this region covering nearly one-third of the total area of the United States, there is infinite room for further development.

In the southwestern corner of Agricultural hall is the collective exhibit of agricultural colleges and experiment stations connected with or under the supervision of the government. Grouped along the outer walls of this section are specimens of plant life, models illustrating the development of the plough, articles contributed by women associated with the domestic and industrial departments, and various instruments used in ascertaining the properties of soil. Within are exhibits from manual training schools, and apparatus contributed by the laboratories. In the latter are ascertained many valuable facts relating to insects and parasites injurious to grains, fruits, and livestock, with other matters that concern the agriculturist. Beyond are exhibits of grains and vegetables from various stations, some blighted, and others in a healthy condition.

One of the most practical results of the experiments conducted by this branch of the agricultural department, is that which shows the effect of feeding to live-stock different proportions of food elements. In a series of glass boxes are various grains, with layers of protein, carbohydrates, and fats, and beneath them are stated the several quantities required to produce ten pounds of additional weight in cattle, sheep, and swine. Experiments have also been made to ascertain what results would follow as to the production of fat or flesh, and beneath the vessels which show the proportion of food elements that entered into these constituents are represented sections of their bodies, with the distribution of fat and lean.

All the states have contributed to this collective exhibit, the Massachusetts college showing a collection of soils taken from different sections, accompanied by statements regarding chemical and mechanical analyses. The veterinary departments of this college sends a model of a horse displaying its anatomy, and among the exhibits of the entomological section is the gypsy moth, with a story of its life, habits, and devastations. Plaster of Paris specimens of Indian corn, parsnips, carrots, apples, pears, and potatoes occupy another case, samples being shown both of cultivated and wild varieties. In addition to these are charts with 3,000 figures, illustrating the systematic study of botany, and some ingenious apparatus for ascertaining the [362] pressure exerted by the flow of sap through the trees. Near the exhibits stations is a large array of mounted Indian fowls, contributed by the New York branch, and illustrating various methods of feeding and of treatment.

The entire display is neatly and systematically arranged, glass-covered cabinets, cases, and jars containing, not only farm products, but every form of life that pertains to farming in all its phases, including the care and breeding of live-stock. Here also is illustrated the botany of the farm, showing the seeds and plants best adapted to various locations, and when and where to place them, with many varieties of vegetables serving as food for man or beast. In the entomological section are cases of many-hued insects, some of them harmless, and others destructive to crops. Finally, it may be said that in this collective exhibit, almost hidden from view by the surrounding pavilions, is one of the most attractive features of the Agricultural department, one in which the colleges have given emphasis to the government display. The object of the former is to afford a scientific training, both practical and theoretical, in connection with the varied industries of the farm, to train their pupils in the elements of art, and to make of them useful citizens, whose hands are the ready instruments of thoughtful and cultured minds.

In cereal and other raw products Great Britain is somewhat feebly represented in her 12,000 feet of space in the Agricultural building, her exhibits comparing unfavorably with those of Canada, which ships to the mother country a large proportion of her wheat surplus. In England the acreage planted in grain, and especially in wheat, is steadily diminishing, the decrease in the latter exceeding 25 percent for the decade ending with 1892. For that year the entire area in wheat was only 2,300,000 acres, or less than was planted in the single state of Indiana. In many of the American states the acreage and yield in cereals is larger than in the British isles, where little more than 9,000,000 acres are actually under cultivation, but with a larger proportionate surface devoted to hay and root crops. In average returns, however, the comparison is largely in favor of the latter, where of wheat the normal yield is 30 bushels, of barley 33, and of oats 40 bushels to the acre. These results are due largely to the more thorough and systematic farming, rendered necessary by the smaller size of holdings, which for the United Kingdom averages less than 50 acres, only a few hundred among the 1,500,000 landlords and farmers owning or renting more than 1,000 acres. Other causes are the rotation of crops, the fallowing of land for two or three years in succession, and the general use of fertilizers, of which more than 1,000,000 tons, nearly half of it imported at an annual cost of $6,000,000 or $7,000,000, aid in maintaining the fertility of the soil.

But with all his care and economy, the British grain-grower finds it no easy task to earn for himself a livelihood, so that many are turning their attention to root crops as yielding better returns, when taken in connection with stock-raising. In addition to hay, mangel-wurzel, turnips, and even cabbages are raised for winter feed, these being protected from frost, and mixed with dry fodder when distributed among the cattle sheds. Dairy farming is another prominent industry, and especially cheese-making, Stilton, Cheshire, and other [363] favorite kinds always holding their own in the market. Nevertheless Great Britain imports from Holland and elsewhere cheese to the annual value of $30,000,000, butter and margarine that cost nearly thrice that sum, while of the total consumption of milk, and that which is made of milk, requiring nearly 3,000,000,000 gallons a year, little more than one-half is produced at home. Hop-raising is a favorite, and in good seasons a profitable pursuit, especially in the southern counties, the yield for 1892 exceeding 46,000,000 pounds; for the British are a beer-drinking people, consuming more than 30 gallons a year per capita of population. Add to this market-gardening and fruit-growing, both showing a steady gain in acreage and production, and it will be seen that there are branches of remunerative farming still open to the British husbandman.

But while the outlook is not so dark as some would have us believe, it is nevertheless sufficiently gloomy; nor are the causes far to seek for this condition of affairs. First and chiefest among them are low prices, especially for grain, caused by over-production in the United States and India; these, with free trade, excessive taxation, complicated land laws; and the heavy toll demanded by railroads and middlemen, laying on the farmer a burden greater than he can bear. Thus it is that rents have gradually been reduced from twenty to fifty percent, and in some localities, especially in Ireland, have almost reached the vanishing point, while there are large agricultural areas whose value has sunk to a level with that of the prairie lands of Iowa and Illinois. Though many remedies have been suggested, such as protection, bi-metallism, and the creation of peasant holdings, it is doubtful whether any or all of them would go far to mitigate an evil due almost entirely to low prices, one that can only be righted by increased consumption or diminished production.

From the agricultural experiment grounds of a Lancashire exhibitor are displayed samples of ears and grain, as the result of operations, extending over thirteen years, for improving, by careful selection and fertilization, the cereals of all the principal grain-growing countries in the world. Add to these a few specimens of wheat and oats from a Kentish farmer, one of them showing 76 ears, and some 4,500 grains as the product of a single kernel, and apart from a couple of oatmeal exhibits from Drogheda, Ireland, we include about all that England has to show us in the way of cereals. Dairy products are represented [364] by a single exhibit, and diary appliances by a collection of churns, and other apparatus, the latter from the London and Provincial Dairy company. Of animal and vegetable fibres there is also but one collection, and that from an Irish company whose headquarters are at Belfast. Among fertilizers and fertilizing compounds are included nearly all the varieties used in Great Britain, as guano, ground bones, phosphates, sulphates, and other chemical preparations. Near them is an exhibit of eucalyptus oils and eucalyptus soap, the former in a dozen varieties as manufactured from various species of the gum-tree by a company whose works are in the Australian colony of Queensland.

Food preparations are better represented, as also are mineral waters, temperance beverages, and malt and spirituous liquors. From the British Bee-keepers� association comes an exhibit of 1,000 pounds of extracted honey, contributed by 100 apiarists, with books, pamphlets, and diagrams used by the society�s lecturers and experts. By a cooperative organization are displayed samples of English, Scotch, and Irish honeys, with beeswax in various forms. In the same group is an exhibit of Queensland cane sugar, now largely produced in that country by Kanaka labor. Of tea, coffee, cocoa, and chocolate there are many varieties, and among the first is one from the province of Assam. Preserved meats, soups, fish, fruits, and vegetables are in liberal supply, with combinations and concentrations for which special virtues are claimed, as those of the Bovril company, prepared from essences of beef, its exhibits housed in the most picturesque of booths, with office representing a fortress enthroned on a steep and rugged cliff. Of mineral waters there is a large array, and with them are many other drinks for the total abstainer, including such non-alcoholic preparations as hop bitters, fruit cordials, and orange champagne.

Except for a few samples of London gin and compounded spirits, whatever these latter may be, the brands, and the latter the famous poteen which, in its purity, is one of the best of whiskeys, though for every gallon of the real article a hundred are sold under its name. Among these exhibits is a round tower, forty feet high, and constructed entirely of whiskeys in wood and bottle from a Dublin distillery. Allsopp�s, Tennent�s, and other favorite varieties of ale, porter, and stout are classed in a separate group. Of tobacco, an interesting display is that of the British North Borneo company, including leaf for wrappers, and cigars made entirely or in part from the products of its plantations. A similar exhibit is that of a company whose estates are in Sumatra, and a Birmingham company shows its appliances for rolling the leaf into coils or plugs, and for the making of cigarettes.

But the most attractive exhibit in the British section is a model of the Brookfield stud farm, at the foot of the Highgate hills, within a few miles of the most densely thronged of London�s business centres. The stud is the property of W. Burdett-Coutts, whose "unearned increment" of wealth, with the influence that wealth commands, won him a seat as member of parliament for Westminster. Its purpose is to preserve and improve the old English breeds of coach-horses, hackneys, cobs, and ponies, some of which were in danger of becoming extinct. In the model are reproduced with remarkable fidelity of detail, all portions of the farm and stud, from the cottage of the groom, and the office where clerical work is done, to the covered yard, the clean well ventilated stables and loose boxes, the harness room, the riding-school, the granary and barn, and the show-ground with its wide expanse of turf. [365] There is also a collection of oil paintings by prominent artists, including those of the sire of Brookfield, and other famous hackneys.

East of the British section are the more compact exhibits of Canada, contained in three pavilions, one of them displaying the cereal, root, and other products of the government�s experimental farm at Ottawa. There are also minor pavilions erected by the officials of the agricultural colleges of Ontario and Quebec, the latter structure in two portions, made of tobacco and grain. Near the enclosure which surrounds the government pavilions is a heterogenous collection of articles, among them flour, starch, maple syrup, mineral waters, malt extracts, beers, and ales. Of cheeses, the making of which is a prominent Canadian industry, there is a sufficient display, and one of the chief attractions in this section is a monster cheese, encase in an iron tank, and mounted on a platform approached by a flight of stairs. On an inscription attached to the stand we are informed that it weighs 22,000 pounds, and that to supply the materials more than 1,600 maids milked 27,000 gallons from 10,000 cows. Manitoba, British Columbia, and the northwest provinces are all represented in the Canadian division, where are also mounted specimens of the white and black bear, of deer, goats, antelope, wild geese, and turkeys, with other illustrations of Canadian fauna.

In the annex is a collection of Canadian agricultural machinery, and as neither Great Britain nor any other of her dependencies have any exhibits of the kind, it represents the contribution of the entire empire in this department. The largest display is from a Toronto company, and includes binders, threshers, cultivators, mowers, and a Manitoba straw-burning engine. The last is used by agriculturists in regions where wood is scarce, and is fitted with a tubular boiler of peculiar construction, whereby a forced draft may be obtained. The cog-wheels are of aluminum, and connected with the thresher, which is supplied with an ingenious device for measuring the amount of grain that passes through it. The company�s office is panelled with fifteen varieties of Canadian woods, such as are used in the construction of its machines, and included in its collection are the medals awarded at former expositions. In all some thirty firms have samples of agricultural implements, and among them are a few special apparatus, as pea harvesters and sap evaporators; but as for the most part one agricultural machine is very like another, when used for similar purposes, it is unnecessary here to describe them in detail.

A feature in the Agricultural building, and one that has never been seen before, except at such local expositions as were held in Sydney and Melbourne, is an exhibit of the agricultural products of the Australian colonies, and especially from the oldest of her colonies, that of New South Wales. It is now some three centuries since a French navigator, landing on the western shore of the continent, found there, as he relates, a boundless expanse of forest primeval, with no signs of life nor anything that would support it, save for a few human and marsupial bipeds, the former so degraded that he hesitated whether or not to class them among the brute creation. But on this continent, with an area about equal to that of the United States, there is now a larger white population than on the entire [366] Pacific coast, a contented and in the main a prosperous community, one that has built at least two cities larger than the Pacific coast metropolis, with many of smaller size. Among its sheep-farmers and stock-raisers are not a few who count their herds by tens of thousands, and their flocks by hundreds of thousands, the wool-clip of a single station, as the Australian terms his rancho, sufficing to load a clipper ship.

While not an agricultural country, in the proper sense of the word, Australia is more than self-supporting, producing of certain staples a much larger surplus for foreign markets than offsets the importation of others. Though wheat thrives badly on its thin, arid soil, an average crop represents a value of $30,000,000, and yet the average yield does not exceed seven or eight bushels to the acre. Of other cereals the product is worth some $25,000,000; of hay an equal amount; of root crops $20,000,000; of vineyards, orchards, and market gardens, $22,000,000, and of cane-sugar, $10,000,000, the last produced only in Queensland and New South Wales. Of wool the clip from 125,000,000 sheep, more than twice the number contained in the United States, was valued in 1892 at nearly $20,000,000, and of canned and frozen meats there is a considerable and steadily increasing export. In the latter department the colonies are encroaching somewhat on the American trade, for beef and mutton are worth less than half the prices paid for them in the eastern states. Such is the industrial condition of Australia, a country yet in its infancy, with a population of less than two to the square mile, but with resources which, until recent years, were not appreciated even by the Australians themselves.

Notwithstanding a serious depreciation in the price of wool, with little prospect of improvements so long as sheep continue to increase in two-fold ratio as compared with the human race, sheep-farming continues to be, as it ever has been, the greatest of Australian industries. And especially is this true of New South Wales, whose exports of wool for 1891 amounted to 332,000,000 pounds, valued at $56,000,000. As to the quality of this wool we have a complete illustration in the exhibits of the Australian section, forming the largest collection of the kind in Agricultural hall. In this collection there are no less than 400 bales, representing many varieties, from the soft merino fleece, prized for its purity and texture, to the coarser grades valued for quantity rather than quality of clip. At the entrance to one of the apartments is an arch constructed of solid bales of wool, and within or abutting on the aisles are pillars and pyramids of similar construction, with bins and cases filled with samples in bulk or fleece. There are also pictures of sheep and sheep stations, and as though standing ready to start on its journey of many hundreds of miles is a heavy wagon, laden with wool, more cumbersome even than the so-called prairie-schooners which bore across plain and mountain of America the argonauts of 1849.

In another apartment are the exhibits of cereals, flour, oils, and such as represent the tanneries and meat-preserving processes of New South Wales. Among them is an arch of corn cobs, artistically fashioned, and representing a prominent branch of colonial industry; for [367] maize thrives well on Australian soil, and is the only cereal that is largely raised for export. Here also are dried specimens of native grasses, such as are found on sheep and cattle ranges, with leaf tobacco, sugar-cane, and pyramids of food preparations and table delicacies. On the walls and pillars are large photographic views of public and other buildings in Sydney, and to the arch-ways of wool and corn is appended the Australian coat-of-arms, above it the colonial flag, on the field of which is the constellation of the southern cross.

Except for the exhibit of wool, Victoria, the smallest in size but the foremost of all the Australias in population and enterprise, has nothing worthy of mention, this not through indifference but on account of a severe financial depression, forbidding the appropriation of public funds. The collection of wools is from the Australian Sheep-breeders� association, and includes the choicest samples off the various grades in bale and fleece, with many fine and long wool varieties. In conclusion it may be said that the Australian exhibits, not only of agricultural specimens, but in the mining, fisheries, and other departments, display as they were never before displayed the varied products and the infinite resources and possibilities of the southern continent. Among these exhibits is much that is well worthy of being studied by American merchants and manufacturers, not merely as a matter of curiosity, but with a view to the enlargement of commercial intercourse. While our trade with Australia is of considerable amount, it is insignificant compared with what it should be, and the more so because the balance of trade is largely in favor of this country. New South Wales, for instance, sent us in 1891 more than $8,000,000 of her gold, and took from us in the same years goods to the value of more than $6,000,000, while shipping to this country little more than half that quantity of exports. While Australian merchants deal more largely with the United States than with any other foreign nation, their transactions are trifling in comparison with those of Canadian business men, who purchase in American markets nearly one-half of all that they require.

Small in size but of excellent quality, complete, compact, and in perfect taste, is the exhibit of Cape Colony, grouped in a glass pannelled enclosure decorated with banners and bannerets, its windows hung with ostrich eggs, and depicting the flora and scenery of southern Africa. On a revolving frame within is a choice collection of water colors, representing in natural size and hue the most beautiful and fragrant flowers and creepers, indigenous and exotic, among them some wonderful orchids and vines. In the decorative scheme is largely used a gray, silvery vine, which so far as is known grows only on Table mountain, near the foot of which lies Cape Town. Flanking the entrance ways are cases filled with ostrich plumes in their various shades of color, from those of grayish-brown, such as cover the back, to the soft, fleecy feathers, white as the driven snow, that are plucked from the tip of the wing. In the centre of the booth is a gigantic ostrich, and mounted on stands are two full-grown birds in all the glory of their plumage. In one of the cases, side by side with a large pyramid is a select assortment of eggs, some polished and other painted in various designs.

Of other birds the collection is remarkable for variety of species, and brilliancy of plumage. Fish are represented in water colors, their scales displaying all the brilliant hues of semi-tropic climes. In the centre of the booth are mounted specimens of animals, showing the highest art of the taxidermist. Among them is an Angora goat, with its silk coating of hair, a fat-tailed sheep, whose unwieldy appendage is esteemed by Kaffirs a so-called Boer goat, whose hair and carcase are worthless, and whose mission in life is to guide homeward the flocks at nightfall. Elsewhere are specimens of furs and pelts, with rugs fashioned from the skins of the golden jackal and [368] the spotted tiger. Of tusks there is a fair collection, including what is said to be the largest elephant�s tusk in existence, more than seven feet long, and weighing nearly 160 pounds.

Of wool and mohair there is a plentiful display, the latter selling in the London market at thirty-five cents a pound, and comparing favorably with Turkish and other growths except for length of staple. Though a comparatively recent industry, exports of mohair for 1891 amounted to some 10,000,000 pounds, while those of wool for the same year exceeded 75,000,000 pounds. Cape wines and brandies are arranged in the form of a pyramid and side by side with bush or native tea is tobacco, cured and in the leaf. Of cereals there is a small display, but one of superior quality, including samples of wheat that weighs nearly seventy pounds to the bushel. There are also the buchu leaves, used for medicinal purposes, with native grasses, gum-arabic, and dye and other woods of many descriptions.

Of miscellaneous articles there is an interesting assortment, including Kaffir, Zulu, and other weapons, implements, and curios, among them the assegai, thrown by the African bushmen with unerring aim, and which in the Zulu war dealt his death-blow to the prince imperial, sone of Napoleon III. There are also the insignia of chieftaincy, including a curious cloak made of strands of twisted fur, such as is worn by a chieftain�s wife on state occasions.

North of the Australia section, and adjoining the rotunda of Agricultural hall, is the pavilion of Ceylon, with pillars of ebony and wood-work elaborately carved. Tea forms the principal display, and those who are so inclined may test the quality of the brew, as prepared and served by native attendants. There is a model of a tea plantation, and in diagram form is shown a thirty years� record of Ceylonese exports to Great Britain, where most of the surplus teas are marketed. Other exhibits are native woods; cinchona, or, as it is more commonly termed, Peruvian bark; desiccated cocoanut, and the products of cocoanut fibre, as in mattings, ropes, and basket-work, these with a few skins, a case of plumbago, an irrigating machine, and a small collection of agricultural implements, including about all that Ceylon has to show us in this department.

In France about one-half of the entire population depends on agriculture for a livelihood, the number of proprietary and tenant farmers amounting to nearly 4,500,000, the majority [369] belonging to the former class, with about an equal number of laborers and domestics. Add to these the wives and families of agriculturists, many of whom share in the work of the farm, and we have a total of some 19,000,000 persons supported by this industry. Partly through the agency of the law which requires the father to bequeath his property in equal shares among his children, the subdivision of farms has here been carried to an extreme. Nevertheless France still imports largely of cereals, the total of her average crop not exceeding 40,000,000 bushels a year. Nowhere are better understood the advantages of diversity of farming, and nowhere are the agricultural classes more frugal and industrious. Largely through their contributions France has been enabled to pay almost without apparent effort, the $200,000,000 of her war indemnity, to sink nearly twice that amount in the Panama canal project, and pay as interest and sinking fund some $260,000,000 on her $6,500,000,000 of national debt.

France and her colonies occupy sections in the annex, and the western and eastern portions of the main building, the exhibit of the government being installed between that of Russia and the United States. This consists largely of maps and charts, showing the location of vineyards, agricultural districts, and national schools of agriculture, with such statistical tables as represent the fluctuations in the prices of bread and breadstuffs throughout the republic from 1830 to 1891, and of meats and all agricultural products during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The results of various experiments in the government laboratories are also given, and there is a model of the testing field, connected with the government seed house, with photographs illustrating the province of the French agricultural department, especially in sugar-beet culture, as conducted at the government farm at Grignon. In addition to these are models and programmes of the primary agricultural schools, with their methods of education fully explained.

Fronting on the eastern extremity of the central transverse nave are displayed the products of French farms, including food preparations. Grains and vegetables are arranged along the walls, with seeds and colored illustrations in the centre. Elsewhere are barrels of flour, glass cases filled with refined sugars, canned vegetables, fruits, and nuts, salad oils, liqueurs, and delicacies in solid and liquid form.

In the French pavilion the main attraction is a rectangular structure, about thirty feet long, and half that width and height, with an arched doorway in the centre composed entirely of small papers of chocolate manufactured by a Parisian house, and representing the daily output of 50 tons, valued at $40,000. In the [371] annex is a display of distillery apparatus, and a large portion of the space is occupied by a model barn, with granaries, stalls for live-stock, and other farm buildings enclosing a central yard.

In an adjacent section to the north of the pavilion the French colony of Algeria displays her products, the main exhibit consisting of cork in many varieties. The principal entrance to the Algerian edifice is framed with slabs of cork; within is the tree itself, and there are many carvings of superior design and execution. The rough bark is exhibited in bales, and sheets of cork are shown for use in the linings of hats, and the insoles of shoes. The entire collection represents an industry which is making rapid headway, if we can believe the statement here contained, that in this colony more than a million acres are covered with young cork-trees, not yet in bearing.

Cordage is also a leading Algerian product, many of the specimens here displayed being made from the native grass known as alfa. A mass of silk cocoons attached to the branches of a mulberry tree points to another prominent industry, as also the cases in this vicinity containing such products as olive oils, nuts, dried figs, grains, and cigarettes. Across the aisle from the main section is a tasteful structure containing a central court cooled by a beautiful fountain, its enclosing arches and floor in imitation of marble, and its walls hung with Moorish tapestries. This is a reproduction of an apartment in the palace of the Algerian governor, and adjoining it is the office of the colonial commissioner, with collections of native woods bound in the shape of volumes, a carved and inlaid cabinet, specimens of needlework, tobacco, and minerals, and typical illustrations by native artists.

In Germany more than one-third of her 50,000,000 inhabitants are supported by agriculture, the total number exceeding 19,000,000, of whom nearly one-half are actual farmers or farm laborers. About fifty percent of the entire area of the German empire is classed as arable lands, of which there are 65,000,000 acres, a goodly surface in truth, but less than is contained in a couple of our western states. As in France, agricultural lands are here minutely subdivided, with 2,500,000 farms of less than two and a half acres, and perhaps an equal number below 25 acres, while of those above 250 acres there are less than 25,000. Even the smallest of these holdings include a certain percentage of meadow and cultivated pasture lands; yet each of them suffices for the support of a family. But with this careful and laborious husbandry, the German turns his land to the best account, raising of wheat an average crop of nearly 50 bushels an acre, with other cereals in proportion, while of potatoes the yield is five times as large, far surpassing that of Ireland, the "land of potatoes and poteen." In Austria and Hungary considerably more than one-half the population is maintained directly or indirectly by agricultural pursuits, which, especially in the latter country, are rewarded by excellent returns.

The German and Austrian groups, the former by far the more interesting and extensive, are separated from the British section by the main longitudinal nave. In the latter the most noticeable feature is that which represents the mineral waters of Austria, an exhibitor from the neighborhood of Carlsbad displaying a huge metallic bottle at whose base is a number of the vessels used in the trade. Hops, barley, and seeds, wax and waxen goods, are also on exposition, with powders for the destruction of insects, and appliances and publications relating to the several industries of the apiarist.

In the German section, are two main centres of interest, ranking indeed among the most attractive features in Agricultural hall. The first of these if the pavilion of the Stollwerck brothers of Cologne, fashioned of chocolate and [372] in the form of a temple of the renaissance period. It is 38 feet in height, and in its construction were used 30,000 pounds of chocolate and cocoa butter, the latter giving to the structure the semblance of marble. Blocks of chocolate form the foundation, upon which rest fluted columns crowned, above the architrave, by the emblematic eagles of Germany, and surmounted by a dome, with the imperial crown as apex. In the midst of the temple is a heroic statue of Germania, modelled after the figure on the Niederwald monument, and sculptured from a solid mass of chocolate. On its pedestal are reliefs, more than life size, of the emperors William I, Frederick III, William II, Bismarck, Von Moltke, and other historic characters.

The other exhibit to which reference is made is also in the shape of a temple, its court containing an exposition of the industries which centre in a Strassfurt establishment for the mining of salt and potash deposits, and their manufacture into fertilizers. This is known as the German kali works, a large stand in the centre of the court showing samples of the deposits as mined and prepared for the use of agriculturists, while from a broad platform depend a number of charts explaining the composition of the product, and its uses in supplying potash, phosphoric acid, and nitrogen for impoverished soils. A series of photographs also shows the visitor the large works connected with this enterprise at Cologne, with their mines, manufacturing departments, and laboratories.

In the German section are also displays of many varieties of prepared food and drinks, several firms making a specialty of food preparations for infants. As in the Austrian section, mineral waters, cordials, and liqueurs, to say nothing of beers and malt extracts, are in liberal display. The proprietors of some thirty German resorts, at which are famous springs or baths, have a collective exhibit of their waters in a pavilion adorned with statuary, and provided with settees and easy chairs for invalids, and others seeking information. Baden-Baden, through its city committee on baths, presents views of that well known resort, with plans of its new bathing establishment. The royal Prussian bath at Ems, the cold and the hot sea water baths of Heligoland, the royal Bavarian baths, and the Harzbury Springs company, purveyors to the dukes of Edinburgh, and Saxe-Coburg-gotha, with other noted sanatoria are also represented. In the northwestern portion of the annex are the exhibits of machinery for the treatment of mineral waters, with refrigerators and the apparatus used in breweries and distilleries. Such agricultural appliances as ploughs, scythes, potato-harvesters, and threshing machines, with fertilizers of various descriptions are also on exposition.

Russia�s exhibit, west of the French government section, demonstrates the varied resources of her vast empire in the form of structures of flax, tow, and hemp from the Caspian region, raw silk and tobacco from her Transcaucasian domain, and grains of all kinds from her central and southern provinces of Europe. Wheat and oats are displayed in sheaves, and threshed grain in vessels fashioned in imitation of bronze, a large collection of the latter arranged in the form of a lofty tower. The manufacture of candles is a flourishing industry in Russia, the largest and those of the most elaborate design being used in the ceremonials of the church, of which some fin [373] specimens are here on exposition, arranged in structural forms. There are several imperial factories for the refining of sugar from beets, all of which have samples of their products, the government of Kieff adding to this collection specimens of honeycomb and confectionery.

Of more than 1,000,000,000 acres of arable land contained in European Russia, at least 60 percent is under crop, the total yield of all cereals for 1892 amounting to 1,700,000,000 bushels against nearly 3,000,000,000 for the United States. Within recent years nearly 7,000,000 of emancipated serfs have redeemed or paid for their land in labor or kind with government aid, the average holding of the peasantry not exceeding ten acres per capita. Erelong the most favorable outlet for the poorer class of agriculturists will be in central and southern Siberia, a region whose resources are as yet but little appreciated, though gaining favor as the railroad, now approaching its eastern verge, lays open to settlement its vast and virgin expanse. What the western and Pacific states were to our own republic, that will Siberia become to the Russian empire at no very distant day.

Italy occupies a small rectangular section in the southwestern portion of the main hall, adjacent to that of the agricultural colleges and experiment stations. Her display is of a somewhat miscellaneous character, including a large collection of olive oils and food preparations, as pastes, almond, and honey cakes, macaroni and cheese, chocolate, sugar, spices, sweetmeats, and liqueurs, with a few specimens of flax and hemp. Silk, one of her leading industries, with nearly 100,000,000 cocoons, gathered yearly from more than 5,000 cantons, and with 200,000 women and children employed in the treatment and manufacture of silk, is here represented by a single exhibit of larvae. In line with the Italian group, but at the opposite side of the hall, and adjacent to the Virginia section, Greece shows her raw silks and olive oils, from various localities, with specimens of honey and honey-comb such as Attica produced long before Homer bethought him of the [375] famous simile in which the Grecian hosts are likened to a swarm of bees covering the plains of Troy.

Holland, Sweden, and Denmark are grouped together in the northeastern portion of the hall, an Amsterdam chocolate house monopolizing most of the space allotted to the Netherlands. In its booth are dummies of life-like appearance, representing women and children about to receive their favorite beverage from the hands of a waiting maid. Somewhat of a curiosity is the Java kapok, a fibre used for bed-filling, and for which are claimed the advantages of remarkable elasticity and lightness.

Sweden illustrates her paper manufactures from wood pulp in the form of a small pavilion within her section, its base composed of segments of the trees generally used for the purpose, a large twisted column representing the finished product. Next to paper, Swedish punches, including such as are made of arrack, are the most prominent exhibits, while in the adjoining Danish collection the display of butter and a milking machine whose workings are illustrated on a model cow, are features not to be overlooked. In the latter is a booth filled with chocolate from a Copenhagen factory appointed as royal purveyor, and containing busts of the king of Denmark made of that article. The main entrance to the Danish pavilion represents a farmhouse, with high thatched roofs and broad gables, and with national types of women and pastoral scenes depicted on panels in the outer walls.

Spain and the Philippine islands jointly occupy a pavilion west of the main northern portal. The exhibits of the former include summer, red, and winter wheat, with other grains, of which some are prepared for use in various forms. There are also preparations of food and drink, as soup, pastes, arrow-root, tapioca, confections, honey, and chocolate. Of alcoholic, vinous, mineral, and other beverages there are many samples, and in the group of olive oils are 100 specimens. Of wool there are a few assortments, and in the form of a hut are the fibres peculiar to the Philippine islands. Porto Rico [Puerto Rico] sends an assortment of coffees, sugars, tobaccos, cigars, native woods, and curios. Near by is the booth of Trinidad, some of whose exhibits duplicate those of Porto Rico [Puerto Rico], but contain also collections of birds, with special native products and curiosities.

[376] - In the Cuban pavilion, the bulk of the exhibits consists of tobacco in leaf, or in the form of cigars, and sugars of various grades manufactured from the cane. Upon the wall are statements from chambers of commerce as to the production of these staples, and also of Cuban minerals.

Prominent among the exhibits of Latin-American countries are those of the Mexican section, and especially as to their collections of tobacco, fibres, and grains. Side by side with cigars and cigarettes is the raw material in leaves of phenomenal growth, while the fibres of the maguey plant are heaped in and around a huge central basin, and appear elsewhere in the form of rope, matting, and cloth. Some 2,000 varieties of seeds, spices, and grains are here on exposition, and there is a fair collection of the sheath-like fruit of the vanilla. Sugar made from the cane, and soap from cotton seed oil, represent important branches of industry, and there are specimens of wild cotton indigenous to Mexico. Samples of native drinks are plentiful, including pulque and other liquors extracted from native plants, with such as are made from the orange, lemon, apple, pear, and peach.

Richly decorated in green and gold is the pavilion of Brazil, with its attractive and varied display. Noticeable among the exhibits are pyramids of wool and tobacco, and a hut constructed of sections of fibrous plants, with hats of the same material arranged in the shape of festoons. There are also in various grades and forms coffee, sugar, silk, grasses, and manufactures of native fibres, with Brazilian wines and other beverages.

The Argentine republic gives prominence to her stock-raising industries. Wool in the fleece and other forms is everywhere in this pavilion, one of the walls of which is almost covered with tanned hides and pelts. Of wines, sugars, and tobacco there is also a creditable display. Paraguay shows her medicinal plants outside of her section. Within are several samples of native tea, which there takes the place of the Chinese product, and is largely exported to other countries. Though not suited to American palates, it is a less injurious beverage than most of the varieties that Japan and China send forth. The exhibit indicates that Paraguay intends to make herself known as a tobacco-growing country. Here also is the cassava, or manioc [377] is prepared. As this is a collective display, it includes articles of pottery, carved wood, canes made of native trees, laces, and other illustrations of industries and resources.

On the panels of Ecuador�s miniature pavilion are depicted the governor�s palace at Quito, and scenes typical of the republic. The exhibits include tapestries, porcelain, paintings, and wood and ivory carvings, the last of excellent workmanship. A model of a human skull, carved from wood and skillfully colored, is a remarkable specimen of imitative work. Among manufactured articles - for this is also a collective display - may be mentioned boots and shoes, saddlery, hats, clothing, and tinware. There is a small collection of native woods, and curios and relics are plentiful, including a few primitive agricultural implements, and costumes of Indians.

In the northeastern portion of Agricultural hall, Uruguay has an ambitious display, representing many branches of her industries and arts. In the centre of her pavilion is a column of dark wood, erected by the Liebig Extract of Beef company, whose works and yards at Fray-Bentos are probably the largest industrial establishment in South America. Around it are bottles of the extract, and photographs of the factory and grounds, with specimens of candles and soaps in a case adjacent. Elsewhere are fleeces and piles of long silk wool, with all the grains of the temperate zone, with liqueurs and mineral waters, minerals and woods, and collections of paintings, books, and specimens of work from pupils of the public schools. Among the pictures, one of the most remarkable represents a young mother, drawing aside the coverlet from a sleeping infant, her had upraised in a gesture of warning. The educational exhibits abound in specimens of kindergarten work, and there are many illustrations of proficiency from pupils of the higher schools, conducted jointly by the government and the Catholic church.

South of the Mexican section is the Japanese pavilion of bamboo and matting, its outer walls adorned with green panels of the latter material. The exhibits of tea, with photographs illustrating the methods of picking and packing, are of special interest to the people of the United States, who consume so large proportion of this product. Jars and boxes of rice and vermicelli, leaf tobacco and cigars, wax made from berries as well as the more common kind, plantain fibre, hemp, and matting are also on exposition. There is a large assortment of cocoons, and among other curiosities are gourds made of snake skins. Brandy manufactured from rice, beers and vinegars, fish sauces, and other condiments and beverages, some of them peculiar to the country, are arranged side by side with canned salmon, trout, beef, lobsters, oysters, and sardines.

[378] - An attractive feature is the collection of birds and fowls, including such as are found in forest and on farm, and those which are used for food. Among them are bantams and Siamese chickens, and mounted on high in a coop is a pair of long-talied fowls, one of which has an appendage more than ten feet in length. In the pictures scattered throughout the pavilion are illustrated tea plantations and processes, together with many ingenious devices whereby the Japanese ensnare the birds of forest, field, river, and lake. These include decoy birds hung in cages, nets attached to long bamboo poles, and limed ropes stretched over the water, all of which are represented in graphic art.

British Guiana and Curacoa, the latter a small colony of the Dutch West Indies, have small adjoining exhibits in the Northwestern corner of the hall, in which are brought together many forms of wild and civilized life. A case in the latter section contains the antiquities of Carib tribes, and near it is a burial urn of clay. Among other curiosities are samples of shell and feather-work, whose bright colors stand forth in strong relief.

British Guiana has a more elaborate display, as befits resources and commercial importance. Birds of brilliant plumage, crabs, turtles, sword-fish, a sea cow, an alligator, a so-called bear howler, whose roar is out of all proportion to its size, with ant-eaters, deer, squirrels, raccoons, armadillos, opossums, and in the centre of the pavilion, a jaguar perched on the shoulder of a tapir, illustrate the animal life of forest and water. Another illustration of forest life is presented in the highly polished sections of native woods arranged around the structure, unfinished logs serving as pillars and beams. Thus are exhibited more than 100 specimens suitable for ship building, railroad ties, cabinet work, and other purposes. A series of pyramids, gradually rising in height, and increasing in size, illustrates the progress [379] in the production of gold from 1884, when the entire yield was but 250 ounces, to 1892, when the export was nearly one hundred times as much.

Johore, in the southern extremity of the Malay peninsula, has a tasteful pavilion between the Brazilian and Mexican sections. From the main entrance floats the star and crescent, and near it, within the booth, is a large bust of the sultan, with photographs of his palace, and the scenery of his dominion. On one side are specimens of printing from the imperial establishment at Singapore, and on the other, books and charts from the native schools, with a heavy wooden block to which the rebellious pupil is chained. The exhibits include samples of coffee, tea, copal, rice, sweetmeats, betel nuts, spices, sago, rattan, and preserved fruits, the last including a species of plum, which, as is claimed, is the most luscious of all the fruits. There are also shown the various tools by which the pith is extracted from the palm, grated into powder, and kneaded with water, in the preparation of sago flour, several jars being filled with sago cakes. Ranged along one of the outer walls are groups of agricultural implements, and strung beneath the cornice is the dried skin of a huge boa constrictor.

The forest wealth of Johore is illustrated in another portion of the hall by polished sections of native woods, and by a large and beautifully carved model of the royal residence, with the dining room and kitchen which connect with it. Here also are sheets of the reddish substance stripped from the inner bark of a native tree, and largely used for clothing.

In the centre of the United States pavilions is a Persian exhibit of rugs, tapestries, ceramics, brass-ware, and wood-carvings. The fabrics come from all the industrial centres of the empire, some fashioned almost entirely of silk, and others of the wool of the Angora goat. Brilliant colors seem to be in disfavor, deep blues and yellows being most used, except for the silken rugs of Shiraz with their changing hues, and those of Khorassan dyed in brilliant carmine. Gold and silver embroideries [381] and several specimens of rich jewelry work are also on exposition; but more precious than these is a translation of the entire Koran written on tiny parchment leaves, and enclosed in a small box which could be easily carried in the pocket.

In the extreme northwest corner of the main building is the Liberian exhibit, which, though small in size, displays to excellent advantage the resources of the West African republic. Two immense horns form an arch to the chief entrance of the pavilion. Animal life is here in many forms. There are horns of cows, of antelope, elk, and deer, tusks of elephant and hippopotamus, and in the background is grouped a large collection of the skins of deer, monkeys, squirrels, tiger-cats, leopards, otters, coons, and snakes. Heads of different animals protrude from the walls, and more strange than all else is the miniature hippopotamus mounted upon a table. Until its capture in Liberia, a few years ago, this was believed to be an extinct species, and today there are only two other mounted specimens in existence, one in Paris and the other in London. As to implements, weapons, clothing, and curios illustrative of life in Liberia, there are bracelets of iron, brass, and copper, leather bags and water bottles, blue and white cloths, warriors� caps, and women�s skirts and head-dresses of grass, with leather charms, hideous wooden idols, spears, swords, daggers, and dirks, looms, inkstands, pens, bars of iron, wooden sandals, embroidered gowns, hammocks of cloth, yarn, and grass, powder horns, photographs, postage stamps, postal cards, metal and paper money, newspapers and books, strainers for palm butter, palm oil gourds, blacksmiths� tools, and bellows, chairs, stools, and trunks of bamboo, fishing nets and basket, and fine needlework. Among the last is an embroidered satin quilt, upon which is represented in raised work a coffee tree in full bloom.

From an enumeration of the articles displayed, it would be inferred that Liberia is still a country of tribal distinctions, as well as a community of civilized and intelligent people. The contrast in the social conditions of the republic is illustrated in a reproduction of the bamboo hut, thatched with [382] palm leaves, and the modern Liberian house, with its two stories and attic, surrounded by wide verandahs, and containing spacious halls, and airy cheerful rooms. Among the exhibits which show the products of the country and its growing commerce, may be mentioned coffee in bags and jars, sacks of cocoa and of red, blue, and yellow dyes, bundles of fibres of the bamboo and plantain, boxes of iron ore and ivory, barrels of palm and nut oils, bunches of rice, and cases of crude rubber.

The Orange Free State has an attractive home in the southwestern portion of the hall, decorated with skins, pelts, and ostrich plumes. A case of rough diamonds glistens near the entrance, and in the interior is a structure composed of jars of grain surmounted by a native deer. Near the Mexican section Siam has a booth containing grains, tobacco, edible birds-nests, and models of primitive vehicles and agricultural implements.

Along the aisle which separates Agricultural hall from its annex, are the collective exhibits of seeds, oils, and packing industries. Several of the first are housed in attractive pavilions; but as the main collection of their exhibitors is in the Horticultural building, this is by comparison a minor display. Among packing houses, however, such firms as Armour and company, Swift and company, and others of world-wide repute, not only show manufactured products, as butterine, stearine, lards, and oils, but also their methods of packing, preserving, and transporting meats. One firm exhibits a model refrigerator car, with glass sides, its contents neatly arranged for shipment. The hog is seen in all postures, and fashioned of many materials. One group contains a stuffed animal in a gilded chariot, with shoats in place of steeds; in another is a huge hog made of lard, with spectacles on snout, and pen and inkstand beside him, while a third exhibitor symbolizes perhaps the prosperity which pork has brought him in the form of a group of golden pigs around one of the pillars of his pavilion.

The American Cotton Oil company, of New York, has a structure in this vicinity, in the shape of a circular colonnade of Corinthian pillars, joined by metallic garlands which meet in the centre, and support an American eagle perched on a globe, the entire composition resembling frosted silver. Opposite is one of somewhat similar [383] design, representing one of the company�s departments transacting business under another name, and manufacturing a preparation of cotton seed oil and beef fat known as cottolene.

In the northern portion of the annex, Canada, France, Germany, and Russia have a collection of agricultural machinery, together with such as is used for manufacturing farm products into food and other preparations. Apart from these, the annex is mainly occupied by the collective exhibit of the United States, Illinois, New York, Ohio, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan, combining to present a forcible illustration of American ingenuity and industry. From the special forms of agriculture developed in various sections of the country have been evolved the hundreds of machines here placed on exhibition. Among them are the plows used on prairie lands, and such as are specially constructed for the cultivation of hillsides. There are harrows and pulverizers, threshing machines and separators, reapers and binders, fanning mills and feed cutters, mowers and drills, grain measures and baggers, straw cutters and rakes, manure spreaders, and presses for hay, straw, cotton, and fibre. There are also such special appliances as the potato planter, digger, picker, and loader, the corn and pea sheller, the rice and coffee huller, the tobacco hiller, the oat clipper, the grape and berry hoe, the horse clipper and sheep shearer.

A mere enumeration of the more prominent groups and special apparatus contained in the annex is a sufficient excuse for omitting descriptive detail, [385] and it is almost unnecessary to say more than the foremost of American manufactures have placed their choicest specimens on exposition. Among the more noticeable exhibits is that of the McCormick Harvesting Machine company of Chicago, who are the largest manufactures of their kind in the world. Their exhibits consist of harvesters, binders, mowers, and reapers, the first including rice and corn harvesters, and all of them extensively used, not only in the United States, but in foreign lands, wherever grains and grasses will grow. In the patent office exhibit of the Government department, there is a series of models, showing the processes of development in the McCormick machine, and forming with others, a complete illustration of the progress and preeminence of the United States in the manufacture of agricultural machinery. Side by side with the perfected mechanisms of the present day is the model of the first practical reaper invented by Cyrus H. McCormick in 1831, and in the summer of that year, worked with excellent results in a field of oats at Walnut Grove, Virginia. He was then only twenty-one years of age, but inheriting from his father, Robert McCormick, a taste and gift for invention, took up his work on the reaper after observing the failure of previous attempts made by the latter. Hence his name was deemed worthy of a place among those of the great inventors and discoverers inscribed on the frieze of Machinery hall, for in his original reaper were embodied the fundamental principles on which all reapers and harvesters have since been made. An interesting feature is the panoramic illustration of the growth of the company�s business. The story is depicted upon opposite sides of a screen, one showing the old-fashioned blacksmith shop in Virginia, where Cyrus H. McCormick forged the iron work for his first reaping machine, and the other the Chicago works as they appeared in 1893, with their forty acres of factories, warehouses, and yards, with trains running to and fro, and vessels [386] loading and unloading at the docks. Here also are the medals and other recognitions, awarded at former international expositions, beginning with the gold medal of the American institute, bestowed in 1845, and including those which were granted at the London Expositions of 1851 and 1862, the Paris Fairs of 1855, 1867, 1878, and 1889, and the Philadelphia Exposition of 1876. Especially were the merits of the McCormick reaper recognized at the London Exhibition of 1851, though still a novelty to British manufactures and agriculturists. Even the London Times, which had before described it as "a cross between an Astley chariot, a wheel-barrow, and one that of itself would almost repay its entire cost. Said the commissioner of patents in his report for 1849; "In agriculture it is, in my view, as important a labor saving device as the spinning-jenney and power loom in manufactures. It is one of those great and valuable inventions which commence a new era in the progress of improvement, and whose beneficial influence is felt in all coming time."

[387] - The Chicago firm of William Deering and company has a creditable display of harvesting machinery, this firm claiming to be the original makers of what are termed elevator harvesters and automatic twine binders. The Oliver Chilled Plow works of South Bend, and the Moline Plow company of Illinois have each a spacious pavilion, the central figure of the latter being a mammoth bronze statue of a Dutchman, with outspread wings, typical of its Flying Dutchman sulky plough. Other establishments have also attractive headquarters, especially those which occupy a large group of pavilions of tasteful rustic design. A Philadelphia house which manufactures garden implements, groups its specialties on a platform surrounding the equatorial line of a huge revolving globe. Here are machines for sowing the seed and fertilizing the soil simultaneously, and those which plough, hoe, cultivate, and rake at a single process. Other specialists are those which manufacture binder twine, an Auburn, New York, establishment constructing its entire pavilion of balls of this material. One of the most unique exhibits is that of the Eagle Cotton Gin company, of Bridgewater, Massachusetts, which has machinery in operation for illustrating the most improved system of freeing cotton from the seed, and preparing it for the factory. In a model of an oil mill are displayed all the processes for extracting oil from this seed, formerly thrown away as worthless, and for grinding that which remains into fertilizing materials.

The second floor of the Agricultural building is divided transversely by two broad apertures, or light wells as they are often called, eight minor shafts running east and west between the several galleries. Collective American exhibits largely occupy this story, and first may be mentioned those of the brewers of the United States, installed in the broad aisle which skirts the western wall. There are about thirty participants, many of them with ornate and handsomely equipped pavilions, conspicuous among which are those of the Pabst Brewing company, of Milwaukee, and the Christian Moerlein brewery, of Cincinnati. The later, nearly decorated in cream and gold, contains an array of richly costumed figures representing historic characters of many nations, with others symbolic of the four seasons, thus advertising the general consumption of Cincinnati beer. The Milwaukee establishment has a gilded model of its plant, on a scale of one inch to the foot, enclosed in a pavilion of terra cotta, crowned with a dome in mosaic work of stained glass. The headquarters of a Detroit company are fashioned entirely of bottles, and a Rochester brewer displays in motion a model of the machinery that makes his beer.

Occupying the entire southern gallery is the display of diary implements and appliances, ranging from the common milk-jar and butter mould to machinery worked by steam, for the making of butter and cheese. [388] There are also many varieties of salt, the pavilion of a Genesee company showing in three large cases the grades best adapted to the manufacture of butter and cheese, with such as serve for table use. It is no secret that dairies use various preparations for hastening the curdling of cream, and giving color to cheese and butter. By a Copenhagen factory, with a branch at Little Falls, New York, are exhibited extracts and ferments for ripening cream, chemical coloring matters, and a collection of similar articles. In the centre of its pavilion is a large glass frame, containing the medals and prizes awarded at former expostions.

In the eastern gallery the state commissions and bee-keepers� associations have arranged an exhibit of honey and honey-comb in many forms, together with the most improved and recent apparatus used by apiarists. The exhibits of honey, whether in the comb or otherwise, are classified according to the food of the bees, including clover and basswood, white sage, buckwheat, and other varieties. Ten of the mid-continental and Pacific states, together with the province of Ontario, occupy sections in this group. New York has a collection of comb-honey weighing nearly 100 pounds, the product of a single colony at Attica. In the Nebraska case are specimens of finished workmanship in wax, in the form of cupids, angels, flowers, and fruits. Granulated honey and straw beehives are features in the Minnesota exhibit, and Illinois has a model of a house made entirely of wax.

Adjacent to this section, enclosed by a bamboo railing, are several Javanese huts, on the walls of which, or forming a part of them, are native musical instruments, fashioned, as are the former, of bamboo. Rice and other grains, with coffee and tea, are here displayed, the last varying in color from light green to black. There are also Batavian hats of all grades, with swords and daggers, violins, and models of a native bullock cart and of one of the suspension bridges, in the building of which across deep chasms the Javanese show remarkable ingenuity. At the back of the booth hangs a large painting representing a village such as is reproduced on the Plaisance, and with extensive rice fields stretching far away toward the horizon. It is a cheerful, sunny scene, painted by a Javanese chief, who, though he never received instruction in art, was rewarded with a place of honor in this locality.

In the north gallery, west of the dome, are cases filled with domestic wools from nearly a score of states. Ohio and Wisconsin occupy entire sections with their numerous grades, fine and coarse, long and short, combing and pulled, washed, scoured, and unwashed. A Philadelphia house has an extensive display of foreign varieties, and near by New Zealand exhibits her wealth of animal fibre.

Between the east gallery and the central court, are exhibits of flour, and such food products as canned vegetables and meats, coffee, olives, apple butter, plum puddings, soups, starch, baking powder, yeast cakes, and oats, corn-meal, and buckwheat, in the form of food preparation, together with soaps and fertilizers whose bases are potash and soda. The most extensive display in the line of cereals is by a New York factory, in whose pavilion comely damsels in Quaker costume serve cakes made of the company�s preparations from Quaker oats. Another manufacturer advertises his business in the form of a rustic hut, constructed of gilded cocoanuts, while a soap maker erects a pyramid of his special products on a thirteen sided base, representing the original [389] states, and above it a statue in soap of the woman who, as is said, was the first to fashion the stars and stripes in the form of the national emblem. Beyond is a section containing a series of photographs representing growing plants, with a row of vases containing vegetable life itself in all stages of growth, a case of crude nitrate of soda from Chile, and various fertilizers whose base consists of that compound.

In the southeastern gallery is an exhibit of the milling industries of the west, a Minneapolis company showing models of its mills, and a Duluth firm housing its miniature machinery, illustrative of the modern roller process, in a tiny mill with an old creaking wooden water wheel, the latter an exact reproduction of a factory built near Reading, Pennsylvania, a century and a half ago, and still operated by a descendant of the original owners.

The western division of the gallery is largely occupied with preparations of food and drink, comprising such articles as condensed milk, evaporated cream, chocolate, cocoa, syrups, confections, macaroni, vermicelli, starch, mineral waters, cider, rum, brandy, liqueurs, and bitters, together with crackers and biscuits, cigars, leaf tobacco, and spices. Of the exhibits of condensed milk the most prominent is that of the New York Condensed Milk company, whose first works were established at Wolcottsville, Connecticut, in 1856, by Gail Borden, president of the company until his death in 1874. For the products of this company, of which H. Lee Borden, the son of its founder, is now the president, it is claimed that they stand the test of all climates, and have been used in many lands for hundreds of thousands of children. The total quantity of milk thus treated in 1892 by various establishments in the United States was 400,000,000 gallons, and far the largest among them is the one referred to. The preserved milk, also prepared by this company, and largely supplied to the army during the civil war [390] is condensed by a similar method, preserved with sugar, and hermetically sealed in cans.

In the collection of mineral waters nearly all the states are represented, showing how generally such beverages are coming into use. In a large and handsome booth a New York confectioner, whose specialty is the manufacture of chocolate bon-bons, has modelled from that material heroic statues of Columbus, Venus de Milo, and Minerva. A starch company of Oswego, New York, reproduces a Grecian temple in cream, gold, and light green, whose pillars and cornices are elaborately carved by hand from solid blocks of wood. Several eastern manufacturers of crackers and biscuit have neat and tasteful pavilions, while many of the cigars and tobacco booths are of unique design, an Egyptian exhibitor advertising his wares in a temple covered with hieroglyphics, and containing miniature monoliths, pyramids, and other familiar forms of ancient architecture. There is also a pavilion built in the Corinthian style, its pillars composed of glass panels, through which may be seen varieties of smoking tobacco, while elsewhere is a case of mahogany, and rosewood, filled with cigars, and surmounted by a globe, above which is the historic Pinta.

A New Jersey firm, which manufactures the Tiger brand of tobacco, has in the centre of its exhibit a fine mounted specimen of the man-eating species, bearing in his mouth a pail of the prepared weed. Wisconsin, Connecticut, and Massachusetts have collective specimens of leaf tobacco, Connecticut�s display being confined to the variety produced from Havana seed. Adjoining the group of the New England Tobacco Growers� association is a small booth in which Honduras illustrates the varieties and quality of her tobaccos, both in leaf, and in the form of cigars. Among the exhibits of spices may be mentioned that of a Chicago firm, whose dealings are largely with Penang, representing in gaudy colors an ancient Malayan temple, with sections of the allspice tree, twigs of cinnamon, and other crude forms of the products in which it deals, the raw material being scattered among a varied display of manufactured articles. Finally there is a collection of syrups, suggestive of the maple groves of Vermont and Ohio.

[391] - From agriculture in its proper sense let us turn to dairy farming, a prominent industry in nearly all sections of the United States, where are more than 16,000,000 cows, or one to every four of her inhabitants, a larger number than is contained in Great Britain, France, and Germany combined. In 1892 the dairy products of the republic included some 35,000,000 pounds of butter, worth nearly $5,000,000, with more than 100,000,000 pounds of cheese, valued at $9,000,000, this apart from what is consumed by farmers, and their families and employees, which probably represents almost an equal amount.

In the Dairy building we have one of the smallest, and yet one of the most interesting departments of the Exposition, for here is contained not only a choice and complete display of dairy products, but what has been called a dairy school, where at intervals during the term of the Fair is held a series of tests for comparing the relative merits of various breeds of cattle. Here also are displayed in actual operation the best methods of handling milk and cream, and converting them into butter and cheese.

The structure is of simple design and neat exterior, covering somewhat less than half an acre in the southeastern portion of the grounds, near the Forestry building. Besides the offices of the department, the first floor contains the sections in which many of the states show their samples of butter and cheese, the later also abundantly displayed in the galleries. The glass cases provided for the purpose are supplied with refrigerating apparatus, the cold air pipes banked under the floors, and against the walls. These sections occupy three sides of the hall in which machinery [393] is in operation for the testing of milk and cream, and their manufacture into butter and cheese. This is known as the model dairy, and is well supplied with seats for the accommodation of spectators. Beneath are refrigerators and cold storage rooms for the preservation of dairy products. On the second floor is a cafe, which overlooks the lake, one of those secluded spots where the pilgrims of the Fair love to rest from their toil.

At a suitable distance south of the Dairy building are sheds containing 200 cows, all of which are contesting for the honors of the dairy, together with a collection of blooded calves that form an amusing exhibit. Jerseys, Guernseys, and short-horns are the chief of the rival breeds. From the time the milk is drawn from the cow until it arrives at the model dairy it is under the watchful care of scientists connected with the test committee, and representing various agricultural colleges and experiment stations, the different herds being in charge of the breeding associations, by which they have been collected from all sections of the country.

Entering the building from the east, we find the collections of Indiana, Minnesota, and Nebraska ranged along the walls as specimens of yellow butter in plain and fancy shapes. The North State state especially has an artistic display deftly molded in the form of flowers and fruits. Nebraska, one of the most attractive feature being the heaps of butter globules, not yet fashioned, as elsewhere, into solid, grained masses.

New York, Iowa, Illinois, Ohio, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania are also prominent in the Dairy building, though the exhibits of some of these states, with others of lesser not, were somewhat impaired by the partial failure of the refrigerating apparatus during the earlier days of the Exposition season. Moreover, on account of the contracted space available for the display of these products, the great dairy states were compelled to distribute their collections over the entire term of the Fair. Thus, as in the Livestock and Horticultural departments, no description written in the present tense would properly represent the case. Iowa, for instance, which ranks next to New York in this industry, had little to show in the month of August, while in June, September, and October scores of her creameries sent the most fragrant of their products, filling several large sections. On the other hand, [394] August showed New York and Illinois to excellent advantage, with rich saffron-yellow butter from the empire state, and cheddar and other choice brands of cheese. The Illinois exhibit was at once artistic, massive, and historic, for here were not only tubs and mounds of butter, and cheeses of generous proportions, but from Minneapolis came flowers, log huts, and mottoes of welcome, fashioned of the more plastic material, while an Elgin farmer sent the can used for the first shipment of milk to Chicago by rail in 1852. In August a strong feature of the exhibit was a select lot of Dutch cheeses from Rotterdam, and at that time Missouri and New Hampshire were well represented both in butter and cheese.

In opposite galleries of the Dairy building are small French and German exhibits, the former consisting mainly of a few cheeses, labelled genuine Roquefort, and samples of prepared milk for infants, almost identical, as is claimed, with that which nature produces, the preparation being contributed by a society which supplies the hospitals of Paris. A similar exhibit was made in the German section by a Mecklenburg company, where also Berlin inventors show milk in bottles and in concentrated form, with the apparatus by which they exclude the air and expel gases, thus effectually destroying the germs of disease. Here for the first time this invention has been publicly exhibited in the United States, where, as is asserted, it would largely aid in the development of dairy industries, since by its use milk can be kept in good condition and in unlimited quantity, ready to be forwarded from remote regions to the great centres of consumption. Iowa, Michigan, New York, and Wisconsin have all a considerable space in the galleries, stocked with cheeses.

The series of experiments and tests conducted during the term of the Exposition were watched by dairymen from every part of the world. In the first ten days of May were illustrated the best methods of handling milk and cream, followed by tests of Jerseys, Guernseys, and short-horns as to the comparative value of breeds for the production of cheese, which is manufactured by machinery in the model dairy. In the closing days of may the apparatus for cheese making was replaced by such as is used for [395] butter, with additional illustrations of modern processes for handling milk and cream. From the last of May to the close of August were compared the relative values of dairy breeds as producers of butter, with the nutritive qualities of skim milk and buttermilk, and the increase or decrease of live weight. In the following month the contest was as to butter along, and in October there were still further illustrations of the various methods of treating milk and cream, and of butter making, with examples of what could be done with young herds in this connection. In these experiments were represented several cattle clubs and associations which concern themselves mainly with blooded grades of stock, the Exposition management furnishing quarters and feed, and retaining the produce of the model dairy.

For the cheese test between Jerseys, Guernseys, and short-horns, twenty-five cows were selected to represent each of these breeds, the American Jersey cattle club of New York gathering its choicest specimens from no less than [396] twenty states, and 30,000 thoroughbred animals. Among the exhibitors of Jerseys were Theodore A. Havemeyer, of New Jersey, and John Boyd, of Illinois, while Levi P. Morton sent some of his Guernseys, and in all the three breeds were many former prize winners. For several weeks before the cheese test in May, animals of each class were placed in the sheds south of the Dairy building, and from their milking records the contestants were selected. Thus it was that the Jersey milch cow, Signal�s Lily Flag, valued at $15,000, and considered the queen of her race, was not permitted to enter the lists, for though with a record of more than 1,000 pounds of butter a year, at her preliminary trial she failed to meet the expectations of her admirers. Nevertheless the result was a decided victory for the Jerseys, the herd producing during the fortnight of the test more than 13,290 pounds of milk and 1,450 of cheese, against 10,900 and 1,130 pounds respectively for the Guernseys, and 12,180 and 1,070, for the shorthorns. The highest award for cheesemaking was for a Jersey cow named Ida�s Marigold, the property of a Buffalo bank president. As an outcome of the test, it was found that Guernseys produced cheese at smaller cost than the others.

Of the exhibits contained in the Forestry building, though officially classed with the department of Agriculture, mention will be made elsewhere in this work, in connection with the Horticultural display.

World�s Fair Miscellany - Exposition wits tell many amusing stories of the crowds which surge toward the galleries of Agriculture hall as the lunch hour approaches, as it is generally known that a number of exhibitors distribute their specialties in food and drink for advertising purposes. A cereal company, for instance, serves out biscuits; another, cakes; a third draws root beer for the thirsty; a fourth dispenses beef extract; a fifth, a dish of gelatine, thus permitting the needy to enjoy a gratuitous bill of far. Among the jokes that passed current as to distinguish visitors was one concerning Edison, the great electrician, who, it is said, being lost for hours to his friend during a visit to the Fair, was finally discovered in one of the galleries eagerly devouring a large pancake spread with jelly.

In the Pennsylvania section, opposite the old-fashioned fireplace mentioned in the text, is an armchair with heavy wooden frame covered with corn-stalk, of which, it is said, 3,000 pieces were used, the stalks being cut in thin, narrow strips, and with ornamental designs. In the chimney corners are sprays of evergreens, with birds perched among the branches. What is the exact meaning of this fireside group of feathered songsters is not explained; but, as in love and war, everything is permissible at the World�s Fair.

During the term of the Fair, vegetables in season and other perishable articles would be admitted, and, when necessary, might be replaced with fresh specimens under permit from the chief of the department, who reserved the right to remove such exhibits as were not properly cared for. In September there would be a special display of potatoes and other tuberous food-plants, and in October one of sugar-beets.

With exhibits of farm products must be forwarded, among other items, information as to the character of soil, the date of planting, and harvesting, the mode of cultivation, the yield per acre, the price at the nearest home market, and the average temperature and rainfall [397] between the time of planting and gathering the crop. For other branches of this department similar regulations were framed.

Dairy products would be received only between the 1st and 10th of June, July, October, and November. In making awards prominence would be given to the flavor of butter, for which would be accredited a maximum of 45 percent, with 25 percent for packing. So with exhibits of cheese, except for slight variations. The display of butter includes ordinary and fancy brands, with creamery descriptions, one package only to each exhibit, and of specified weight. Exhibitors of cheese were restricted to a single specimen, limited as to weight and size. American and Canadian articles must be made of full new milk, and were generally classed as cheddars, flats, young Americas, domestic Swiss, brick, and dairy, others being subject to special regulations at the discretion of the chief of department.

To provide for a uniform and sightly display of honey and beeswax were provided the glass cases mentioned in the text at the joint expense of state commissions, bee-keepers� associations, and individuals, in proportion to the space occupied by each. Specimens of comb honey must not exceed 100 pounds, and of extracted honey and beeswax each 50 pounds. Exhibits were also invited of domestic and foreign bee culture, whether by ancient or modern appliances.

Exhibits of wool were classified as pure-bred fine, pure-bred middle, pure-bred long, and cross-bred descriptions. Entries must consist of a single fleece, as taken from the sheep in its natural condition, displays of Cashmere, Angora, Alpaca and Vicuna wools being subject to the same regulations as the rest.

Among the artistic phases of the agricultural display mention should be made of the miniature models of domestic animals in one of the galleries, the originals of which were copies from life by Max Landsberg. Horses, donkeys, mules, cattle, sheep and swine, are all moulded and painted in natural colors, and with marvelous fidelity of delineation. The originals are the property of the Imperial Agricultural university of Berlin.

Not far from the shore of the south pond is a miniature house surrounded by a broad veranda, and near it a plat of ground has been laid out in sections showing a strata of crushed stone, soil, macadam, and other substances, arranged in regular layers. This is the exhibit of the National league of good roads, a young organization, but one in which substantial merchants, farmers, and others are largely interested, their efforts to secure better country roads meeting with favorable consideration from the United States department of agriculture. It was at first proposed to build a model road 1,000 feet in length, from the Forestry building to the Live-stock pavilion, but this project was abandoned in favor of the more condensed exhibit around the league�s pavilion. Here sections of road are shown whose beds, varying in thickness, are constructed of macadam covered with fine stone and sand, and those whose principal material is stone. Highways are also arranged in forms best suited for wet and dry lands, for clayey or sandy soils.

By several firms to whom were granted concessions to sell confections and beverages upon the grounds, ornate pavilions were erected. Among the most elegant is that of the Lowney company, of Boston, manufactures of chocolate bonbons, whose structure is near the Manufactures building, while the most unique is that of the Blooker cocoa company, a quaint reproduction of an ancient Amsterdam mill, located on the shore of the south pond. It was during the early portion of the present century that two brothers of the Blooker family established this business, the windmill now represented at the Fair then grinding the cocoa beans into the product which has since acquired an excellent reputation. Adjoining the mill, or rather forming a portion of it, is a Dutch house of the old style, built and furnished to illustrate the surroundings of a burgher of moderate means, and refined tastes. The furniture and pottery are essentially Dutch, and of superior quality, and there are girls who serve the cocoa dressed in the national costumes of the Netherlands as worn in early days. Very noticeable, also, among the chocolate booths is that of Menier, the French manufacturer, which, in its dress of white and gold, stands south of the entrance to the Mines and Mining building, and within the court of honor.

A picturesque display in connection with the Agricultural department is the collective exhibit of windmills, mainly by Illinois, Iowa, Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan factories, and grouped around the shores of the south pond, between the intramural road and the buildings of the French colonies.

Among the larger collections of mineral waters in the galleries of the main hall are those from Waukesha, Wisconsin, arranged in the form of gigantic bottles; but the real exhibit is distributed over the entire grounds. To the Waukesha Hygeia company was awarded the concession for supplying visitors with mineral water, and for this purpose stands were erected both in grounds and buildings. The water was pumped from the source of supply in Wisconsin, and near the terminal railway station the company erected a power house and a pavilion of unique design, its main entrance in the form of a court, containing an ornamental basin, into which the water is forced, still bubbling and sparkling. Thence it is conveyed in pipes to its many points of distribution, and sold at the rate of one cent a glass.

In the rear of the Anthropological building are two unique exhibits by Louisville manufacturers of whiskies, each of whom claims to produce the real old-fashioned article by modern methods. One of these firms has erected a long hut, or moonshiner�s cabin, with imitation mud plaster between its timbers, and with pieces of glass or crockery inserted as ornamental features. Inside, however, the parallel is not faithfully developed. Floors and walls are of the finest wood, and sour mash and rye are displayed in most seductive forms. The so-called Old Times distillery company has a commodious two-story distillery in actual operation, with bonded warehouse, and a United States gauger�s office within. Whiskies labelled Old Times, Kentucky Comfort, Gladstone, and others, are exhibited in the room containing the stills. On a placard prominently displayed the visitor is warned not to ask too many questions on pain of having some of them unanswered.