past year, in the varied departments which receive our constant care and attention. In manufactures and the mechanics arts, something new is annually looked for. The prolific genius of our countrymen rarely disappoints this expectation. Improved methods for accomplishing desired objects-perfection of finish-and improved beauty in design, characterize their annual offerings. In the department of agriculture, and the production of the prime necessaries of life, much that is entirely new, cannot be expected. Increased production, the reclamation of sterile or exhausted soils, and the conversion of materials, heretofore deemed worthless, into profitable manures, have evidently marked its progress. Nevertheless there is a vast amount of labor required to be done, in bringing clearly to the comprehension of practical operators in the soil, the truths which science has already largely developed. It has been charged, and there may be truth in the allegation, that our high seminaries of learning, fostered by the bounty of the State in no stinted measure, have too long neglected the great duty of bringing to the aid of practical operators in the indispensable arts of life, the important discoveries of science. Be this as it may, the spirit of the age is fast removing difficulties. The light of science begins to illuminate the humblest cottage; from whence it will be reflected with benefits innumerable, and a brilliancy unknown in the cloisters of monastic concealment. It is not an uncommon occurrence, for those who are engaged in gratuitous labor for the public good, to be assailed and misrepresented. We ask our fellow citizens to examine closely before they decide. Every act of the Institute is open to examination. The following is the financial condition of the American Institute: By the annual report of the Finance Committee, made to the American Institute April 12, 1849, There were invested in stocks of the city of New-York, and money deposited in the Mechanics' Banking Association, at "Managers of the 22nd annual Fair, "Treasurer of the State of New-York, under act of May 1841,.. $1,812 00 36 00 3 25 6,000 00 950 00 1,333 32 260 00 $495 00 Rent of store No. 351 Broadway, to February 1, Rent of room No. 333 Broadway, to February 1, 1850,... “ Interest on bonds, 66 Interest on money in bank,....... 120 83 615 33 66 Donation for library Messrs. French & Heiser, . 75 00 $29,124 92 May 1. Paid on account of purchase of property No. 351 Broadway, ($45,000,)...... 23. Paid insurance on do,...... Nov. 2. Paid interest on bond and mortgage, $25,000, from May 1 to Nov. 1, 1849,. Carried forward, $15,000 00 90 00 812 50 $15,902 50 REPORT OF THE MANAGERS OF THE TWENTY-SECOND ANNUAL FAIR. The Board of Managers of the twenty-second annual Fair of the American Institute, respectfully REPORT: That as usual, extensive public notice was given that the Fair would be open to visitors at Castle Garden, on Tuesday, the second day of October, but in consequence of the inclement weather the opening was postponed until the 3d. The number of entries on the books were, in the Mechanical and Manufacturing Department 2,092, in the Agricultural and Horticultural Department 268, and at the Cattle Show 227, making a total of 2,587, The American Congress of Fruit Growers, according to arrangements made the last year, met as before under the auspices of the American Institute, on the morning of the 2d of October. The assembly was called to order at 11 o'clock, by the Hon. M. P. Wilder, President. The meeting was held in the large front saloon at Castle Garden, which had been prepared by the Institute for their accommodation. The attendance was large, and their proceedings of great interest, a full report will be found among the transactions of this year. Since the 21st Fair, the health of Mr. Bridgeman, an old and respected friend has been so impaired that he was unable to perform the arduous duties pertaining to the Agricultural and Horticultural Depart |