.SIXTH DISTRICT AGRICULTURAL ASSOCIATION. 425 



OPENING ADDRESS. 



By L. Lichtenbeegee, President of the Association. 



Ladies and Gentlemen: It is with pleasure I extend a welcome to all 

 this evening, at the opening of the sixth annual Exposition of the district 

 agricultural association. 



Year by year we have noted the progress made by the various occupa- 

 tions in our midst, and the advancement achieved in the mechanical, hor- 

 ticultural, and agricultural industries. From nothing a few years ago we 

 have grown to our present prosperous condition, and the generous display 

 you see around on every hand to-night is the result of intelligent effort and 

 constant industry. Our friends have made a demand on the wonderful 

 capabilities of the soil, and nature has honored the draft in a lavish and 

 unstinted manner. What was once passed as a desert now blooms as the 

 rose, and a vast area of country, once thought fit only for cattle and sheep 

 ranges, now sustains a great, busy, and happy population, and the increas- 

 ing prosperity is continued and satisfactory. 



Favored as we are by every element which contributes to the wealth of a 

 community, it would be our fault if we did not pile up an array of products 

 of the vegetable kingdom which would be an index of our present prosper- 

 ity and future position. 



But it is not for me to enlarge on the reasons which prompted you to 

 come here to-night. You see around you a display which must certainly 

 be a gratification to every one, citizen or stranger, and no words from me 

 can add to the interest of the occasion. Only let me add, as you see the 

 tables loaded with the choicest of fruits, etc., here at the Pavilion, so you 

 will notice at the Park that every stall is filled with the most improved 

 stock of all kinds. 



Much of our success is due to some of the old and new settlers, as well 

 for their energy and foresight; the press did her share, for through the press 

 Los Angeles is favorably known through the Union, and even on the other 

 side of the Atlantic, wherever there is a language written or spoken. I 

 think you agree with me when I say that this community is indebted for 

 much of its prosperity to a gentleman close by, and to whom is due a debt 

 of gratitude wbich is not to be overlooked; a man, who, by constant and 

 energetic labor, directed in an intelligent and comprehensive manner, has 

 many times over told the story of our resources and great capacity, with 

 many prophetic forecasts of the position which awaited us. That gentle- 

 man I have now the pleasure to introduce to you as the speaker of the 

 evening, Mr. Joseph D. Lynch. 



