56 



Indianapolis, Oct. QO, 1851. 



Gentleimn .-—It would afford me great pleasure, did my official duties per- 

 mit, to mingle again with the farmers of old Elkhart on the interesting occa- 

 sion of their first Agricultural Fair. 



Having been a resident of the county almost since its organization, I have 

 had the pleasure of marking its advancement, step by step, to its present high 

 state of prosperity ; and it has been peculiarly gratifying to me, in every 

 comparison made with her sister counties, to find that in fertility of soil, 

 variety of productions, and the enterprise and intelligence of her agricultu- 

 rists, she suffers no disparagement. Indeed the contrast presented in many 

 portions of the State most forcibly reminds me of the tasteful residences, ca- 

 pacious barns and granaries, and stake-and-ridered fences of your prairies, 

 the blooming orchards planted all through your forests, the school houses 

 scattered here and there for the convenience of all, and the healthful, happy 

 countenances of your young men and maidens. 



The privations and toils of the early settlers, though fresh in our recollec- 

 tion as if but of yesterday, are happily surmounted. There is no more lying 

 down with the loaded rifle at your sides as some of you can speak of— no 

 more doling out of stinted rations to the family, until game could be secured, 

 or the father returns from the distant mill — no more following of Indian 

 trails from one scanty trading house to another — no more wagoning your sur- 

 plus produce aii hundred miles to market. These are all past, and the ancho- 

 rite who comes to your borders to do pennance has mistaken his latitude. If 

 he seeks a field for unrequited toil, for suffering and privation, or, if reso- 

 lutely resolved on starvation, he must go beyond the limits of Elkhart county. 

 It cannot be done where bams and granaries are groaning with the products 

 of the earth, and where fields of grain ai-e measured by the mile. 



While it is gratifying to observe the impulse given to the cause of agricul- 

 tural improvement throughout the State, it is particulariy so to see your 

 county leading off at the north with a zeal and determination that must result 

 in lasting benefit. Every profession has profited by association— merchants, 

 mechanics, lawyers, doctors and the clergy— and why should not equal ad- 

 vantages accrue to the farmer ? In agriculture the humblest member may 

 contribute to the knowledge and gratification of all. He may introduce a 

 new variety of fruit— a new specimen of grain for culture— a new implement 

 of husbandry— a new cross of stock, or a new method of tilling the soil, and 

 thus add to the general good. Why, it is but a few years since an enterpris- 

 ing German from Pennsylvania settled on Elkhart Prairie, and in the face of 

 all opposition, cavil and doubt, declared that clover would grow on the prai- 

 rie. He verified the fact by successful experiments, and the annual crop is 

 now worth thousands of dollars, and the farmers every where, not only figu- 

 ratively, but literally, "live in clover." 



The meetings of your society, and your annual fair, not only enable you to 

 compare notes with each other, and thereby arouse a healthy spirit of emula- 

 tion, but attract visiters from abroad, and enable you to profit by their exam- 

 ple, their advice and their specimens. You promote a feeling of fraternity. 



