666 TRANSACTIONS OF THE 



ANNUAL ADDRESS, 



DELIVERED ON THE EVENING OF SEPTEMBER 2, 1886. 



Bv Hon. C. F. Reed. 



Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen, Members of the Thirteenth 

 District Agricultural Association: I congratulate you to-night upon 

 this auspicious meeting. The occasion which has brought us together is 

 pregnant with noble objects. We are assembled here this evening, not as 

 the representatives of any particular theory or practice in any department 

 of life, nor as the exponents of any particular creed, political, sectional, or 

 otherwise. We come together not as agriculturists, seeking the advance- 

 ment exclusively of our own special interests; we come not as miners to 

 devise schemes for the advantage alone of our peculiar and hazardous 

 occupation; nor do we come as mechanics or artists, having in view exclu- 

 sively improvements in machinery or greater perfection in the arts. 



We are assembled here as the representatives of all these interests — the 

 conservators and improvers of all the industrial occupations of the people 

 of the great empire State of the Pacific Coast. 



Laying aside all recollections of caste, all differences of opinion, all dis- 

 tinctions of birth or occupation, let us, in the spirit and inspiration of the 

 occasion, unite in friendly and mutual enjoyment, in ennobling and bene- 

 ficial improvement. These annual fairs are as stations by the wayside on 

 the journey of life, at which, as travelers, we collect together, look back 

 and talk over the incidents, and caution each other against repeating the 

 errors of the past, and drink in new inspiration and intelligence, and form 

 new resolutions for the better and greater progress for the future. They 

 should be, and in this country they really are, the workingman's and 

 workingwoman's holiday — the practical industrial colleges for the people — 

 the beacon lights to lead us to avoid the schools of failure and disappoint- 

 ment, and guide us on to a higher civilization and more perfect state of 

 existence. 



This hall to-night presents a comprehensive index of the present stage 

 of the civilization of the world. It opens before our eyes a great volume 

 in which is faithfully recorded, and from which all may correctly read, 

 the true difference between man in a cultivated state and man as a savage. 

 This collecting together within our view the many rich products of the 

 varied soils and climates of our mountains and valleys, affords our farmers 

 and horticulturists rare opportunities for comparison of notes, interchange 

 of experiences and opinions, and consequent valuable improvements. The 

 miner sees here specimens of our mineral deposits, collected from every 

 nook and corner of our great State, whose auriferous soil is studded w T ith 

 gems of priceless value, whose gorgeous mountains are so rich with ledges 

 of exhaustless wealth, and whose whole surface is so marvelous and anom- 

 alous in geological formation. He compares these specimens one with 

 another; he learns from their labels the particular locations from which 

 each was taken; observes by their classification the geological formation 

 of that locality; and by comparing these items with his own past experi- 



