PHILADELPHIA EXHIBITION.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 4947, 30 January 1877, Page 3

PHILADELPHIA EXHIBITION.

. —, *—, .... TO THE EDITOR OF, THE NEW ZEALAND TIMES. Sib, —The remarks of the correspondent of the Melbourne Argus, quoted in your paper of to-day, alleging a neglect of the wool and grain exhibited from this colony at Philadelphia, require a few words of explanation, so that the exhibitors may not be led to believe that their interests were sacrificed. Reference to the official catalogue will show that New Zealand alone of all the Australasian colonies complied with the rules of the Exhibition by placing exhibits of this class in bulk in the space allotted for such articles in the Agricultural HalL Only a few of the samples were, however, synt in sufficient quantity for this purpose, and a complete aeries was.shown under glass in the New Zealand court of the main building, where - they were 'carefully examined by the, judges, and attracted much attention from visitors interested in such matters. As the total value of the exhibits in bulk was only £l6 5b., it was not deemed

necessary to incur the expense of glass cases for them aim, especially as they wnre-consigned toapartof the east aisle of the Agricultural Hall, not much visited, and rendered dreary and unattractive by the .blank spaces due to the absence of the similar exhibits from neighboring colonies. Thev were accordingly placed in a series of ten bins, which exactly covered the space allotted to New Zealand. Theße bins were covered with wire netting to prevent sampling, and at ni.»ht a calico screen on rollers was drawn over them by the attendants. Of the wool exhibits there wore only d<mhle fleeces, and could not therefore be represented in the Agricultural Hall. eight exhibits, less two sample""fleeces of each, occupied eight of the bins. The other two bins contained ten out of the fifty eight samples of grain sent for exhibition, the rust consisting merely of small samples, varying from a few ounces to a few lbs. of each variety, and therefore only adapted for the classified collection in the main building. A number of samples of such grain as could be spared were given on application to representatives of agricnlturil societies, and at the close of the Exhibition the whole of the samples that remained were to be given to the U.S. Agricultural Department at Washington, for distribution and preservation in the U.S. National Museum. The same institution also, retains the sample fleeces, and the remainder of the wool was to be sold. ■ ■ ■ If some of the Australian colonies had not managed to effect a redistribution of the space originally allotted, by which New Zealand lost half itsshare, we could alsohaveshown thewhole of our exhibits in the main building ; but many were of opinion that the compact sample collection was the more convenient and instructive form of arrangement.—l am, &c , James 'Hector. Colonial Museum, Jan. 27. [The foregoing would have appeared in yesterday's issue had it not been crowded out by mail telegrams and local news]. ; ■ •