SEVENTEENTH DISTRICT AGRICULTURAL ASSOCIATION. 801 



ANNUAL ADDRESS. 



By E. M. Preston. 



Mr. President, and Ladies and Gentlemen of the Seventeenth 

 District Agricultural Association: In appearing before you this evening 

 to deliver the annual address for this association on such short notice, per- 

 mit me to state that I share with you in the disappointment that one and 

 all must feel in not being permitted to listen to the remarks of the honor- 

 able gentleman who was originally selected by the Directors to address you 

 on this occasion. In common with many others who are present this even- 

 ing, I had anticipated much pleasure in having the opportunity to listen 

 to a carefully prepared discourse from Hon. E. W. Maslin. He is a man 

 eminently qualified for this difficult and embarrassing responsibility. He 

 is a lawyer by profession, gifted in speech, and of ready wit. He is a 

 practical fruit grower, a man of keen observation, and of practical methods. 

 He is experienced in the management of agricultural fairs, and in all re- 

 spects qualified to deliver to you such an address as I cannot hope to equal, 

 and certainly shall not attempt to imitate. 



Even so recently as last Tuesday I had not received the remotest inti- 

 mation that I would be called upon to address you, and, for this reason, 

 shall not attempt to deliver to you a set speech, but will rather crave the 

 privilege of calling your attention to the variety, quality, and extent of the 

 exhibits which we see spread out in the pavilion before us to-night, and 

 then will endeavor to draw some practical and useful lesson from the result 

 of our observations. 



But first permit me to ask, what is the object of this exhibition? Is it 

 only to ascertain who can grow the largest cabbages and beets, or the best 

 and largest fruits ? Is it simply to learn who has the fastest horse, Or the 

 most profitable cow, or the fattest bullock, or yet to criticise the needle- 

 work, embroidery, painting, or other works of art by our neighbors? Is 

 it to ascertain whether Grass Valley can display a finer pavilion than 

 Nevada City, or whether Placer County fruits and vegetables are of larger 

 size and finer quality than those of Nevada County? No; most emphati- 

 cally, no. 



While it is undoubtedly true that the comparison of the products of our 

 soil and the competition for premiums are necessary incidents to these exhi- 

 bitions at our annual fairs, yet they are not the real fundamental purpose 

 for which these fairs are held. Their real beneficial purpose is, I appre- 

 hend, by encouraging competition, to promote progress, and to stimulate 

 industry. It is to establish here an experimental school where all can 

 assemble for the purpose of comparing the results of the year's labor and 

 experiment, and thus improve our own methods by profiting by the experi- 

 ence of our neighbors. It is to ascertain, for example, which are the best 

 breeds of horses for speed, and which are best for farm work, and for other 

 purposes; which are the best breeds of cattle for general dairy purposes; 

 which for family use, and which best for beef; which breeds of sheep are 

 the best adapted to wool growing in these altitudes, and which best for 

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