242 Transactions of the 



INAUGURAL ADDRESS OF DR. E. II. PARDEE, 



PRESIDENT OF THE GOLDEN GATE AGRICULTURAL DISTRICT FAIR ASSOCI- 

 ATION, DELIVERED SEPTEMBER NINTH, EIGHTEEN HUNDRED 



AND SEVENTY-EIGHT. 



Members of the Golden Gate Agricultural District Fair 

 Association, Ladies and Gentlemen: As President of the Golden 

 Gate Agricultural District Fair Association, it becomes my duty upon 

 this auspicious occasion to inaugurate the first annual fair of the 

 Association with a few brief remarks. 



From the earliest ages of the world the science of agriculture has 

 received the attention of mankind, and its advancement has been 

 made the subject of centuries of profound study, from which it has 

 been reduced to comparatively a science. 



Among the first records we have of anticiuity are those bearing 

 upon this all-important and deeply interesting subject. And through- 

 out the ages, also, it has been customary, in the fall of the year, when 

 the grain and the fruit had been gathered, to celebrate the event with 

 such a degree of thanksgiving and rejoicing as the abundance of tlie 

 crops might justify. 



In the annals of the ancient Jews, the Greeks, the Romans, and in 

 fact all the nations who have left any records upon the pages of his- 

 tory, we find the same attention and prominence given to this sub- 

 ject. 



In our own era, and especially in our own beloved country, the 

 annual agricultural fair has become a fixed institution. It embraces, 

 it is true, a wide range, and aside from its name, does not pretend to 

 confine itself to agriculture alone, but includes all industries of the 

 husbandman, and whatever is produced by the skill and ingenuity 

 of the human family. Yet it is the same annual gathering of the 

 people to compare the products of their labor and rejoice together at 

 the abundance of the yield, which has come down to us from the far 

 distant ages of antiquity. These annual gatherings adapt themselves 

 to the convenience of the people, to a great extent, in the area sought 

 to be covered by them or included within the scope of their especial 

 attention ; while one general fair is held by the State at large, annu- 

 ally, and with a success that has warranted district and county fairs 

 to be inaugurated in different parts of our State, that they may accom- 

 modate the masses of the people within their respective jurisdiction. 



But, strange to say, until the present time, this immediate portion 

 of our State has been neglected — has permitted less favored regions to 

 excel it in devotion to the great interests to which we are now, for a 

 few days, to give our attention, and accept the golden opportunity 

 which nature has so lavishly bestowed upon us. 



It is true that in San Francisco an annual exhibition of the pro- 

 ducts of industry other than those of agriculture is given under the 

 auspices of the Mechanics' Institute; and there have usually been 

 some spasmodic, and not altogether successful, attempts through the 



