434 STATE BOARD OF AGRICUT.TURE. 



Washtcnaio county — F. S. Finley, Ypsilanti ; C. M. Fellows, Manchester; J.E.Smith 

 Ypsihinti ; J. S. Wood :iiul A. A. Wood, Saline. 



Macomb county — A. I). Taylor, Romeo. 



Cass county— B. G. Biiel, Little Prairie Ronde. 



Shiaicassee county— '^la.rtin Dietrich, Laingsburg; L. W. Barnes, Byron: W. G. Mor- 

 rico, Morrice. 



Lenaicee county — Henry "Wilson, Tipton. 



Kalamazoo cortnty-ll. Bishop, Yieksburg; S. B. Hammond, Kalamazoo; J. M. Nea- 

 smith, Yieksburg. 



iHfjham county — A. F. Wood, Mason ; W. H. Horton, Eden. 



St. Joseph county— A. W. Maring, Mendon; E. Olney, Leonidas; Richard Dougherty, 

 Parkville; Geo. Pellett, Mendon. 



Hillsdale county— J. M. Southworth, Allen; "W. E. Kennedy, Somerset. 



Van Buren county — John Gillespie, Lawton; E. B. Welch, Paw Paw. 



Lapeer county— 3o\m Abbott, Lapeer; Geo. W. Uigby, Lapeer; C. S. Dean, Lapeer; 

 J. T. Rich, Lapeer; B. T. Ingalls, Alraont. 



The President being in the chair called the meeting to order and delivered 

 the following address : 



ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT. 



Gentlemen of the Wool-groioers and Sheep -breeders'' Association : 



More than another year has passed since our last meeting. Many changes have 

 taken place since that time. In the eastern world, want, famine, pestilence, war and 

 terror reign; with us are peace and quietness, plenty to eat and much to spare. 

 "While in our own country, with her varied industries, with her great mineral wealth, 

 her thriving manufactories, her diversified agricultural pursuits and great variety 

 of climate, and with her republican form of government, prosperity is everywhere 

 apparent; in the old world adversity, depression, and an unusual disquiet and dis- 

 trust pervades the masses. 



Russia, with her iron heel and despotism placed on the galled neck of her subjects, 

 is hardly able to hold control, and is contemplating another war, hoping to direct 

 attention from the slumbering volcano which threatens to destroy her cruel and rot- 

 ten dynasty. 



Prussia, with her serious church question and jealous neighbors, the disaffection 

 of her population is hardly able to preserve a surface quiet. England, with her Af- 

 ghan and Zulu wars, her land difficulties, and starving subjects, her great crop fail- 

 ures, her large increasing public debt, the general depression of her business inter- 

 ests, coupled with the almost universal Irish discontent, has a heavy burden to carry, 

 and must ere long make many needed reforms in her modes of government, and cur- 

 tall that grasping and avaricious policy which characterizes the Beaconsfield rule. 



While such, in brief, is the position of affairs in some of the important govern- 

 ments in Europe, in the United States prosperity and happiness every wliere abound. 

 Resumption of specie payments is an assured fact. A greenback dollar is equivalent 

 to a gold dollar, and one can go from Maine to Mexico's farthest shore, Nova Sco- 

 tia to Behring's Straits, through her "Majesty's Dominions," and all are glad to get 

 the once despised greenback at its par value. 



Our mining interests, so long depressed, are now paying dividends on stock, mines 

 are being worked to their full capacity, and all departments, from the smelting 

 works to the rolling mills and manufactories, are obliged to run night and day to 

 supply the increasing demands for their products. 



Railroads are being built to a large extent, dividends on stock are reported, and a 

 healthy activity i)ervade3 every department in that direction. Agricultural interests 

 are in a prosperous condition. Money heretofore witliheld from a lack of confidence 

 in business enterprise is now seeking investment. Rates of interest are materially 

 reduced, and in every department of industry there are unusual signs of activity. 

 Farm products are in better demand, at an increased value, Wheat, pork, beef, mut- 

 ton and wool are returning a fair profit to the producer. Though in all departments 

 of farming there are positive gains, there is no one interest that shows so great an 

 advance, and is so sure to pay well for years to come as wool raising. No other 

 interest in agriculture has made so great a stride in its upward career, and no other 

 has any better basis for substantiabilit3\ With the dawn of better times came an 

 increased demand for woolen goods, and with the demand better prices. This 

 demand has exceeded the most sanguine expectations of every one. To supply this 

 demand manufacturers are all running to their fullest capacitj', and cannot supply 



