SEVENTEENTH DISTRICT AGRICULTURAL ASSOCIATION. 693 



ANNUAL ADDRESS. 



DELIVERED AUGUST 24, 188G, ON THE OPENING OF THE SECOND ANNUAL 

 FAIR OF THE SEVENTEENTH DISTRICT. 



By E. W. Mas UN. 



Mr. President, Ladies, and Gentlemen: I think myself happy to meet 

 so large an audience as is here assembled to-night, interested in the cause 

 of agriculture, and to have an opportunity to speak in behalf of the asso- 

 ciation under whose auspices the coming Fair is to be held. 



Agricultural District Number Seventeen is composed of Placer and Ne- 

 vada Counties, and was created by the Legislature in 1885, and aided by 

 an appropriation of $3,000, payable in two equal annual installments after 

 the first of July each year. 'When the Directors first met in 1885 there 

 was not one dollar in the treasury, the appropriation not being available 

 until after the Fair had been held. You remember the wholesome Irish- 

 man in the song, who sung so light heartedly: 



It's true I've no money, 

 But then I've no sorrow ; 



And so on the morrow, without money or sorrow, he tramped o'er the hills 

 to his love, Nora McShane. Something of his faith in his sweetheart must 

 have inspired the Directors when they determined, without a dollar, to 

 undertake to hold an agricultural fair in a mining county. They appealed 

 at once to that generosity, that large heartedness which always distin- 

 guished the people of the mining counties. When I see what they have 

 accomplished I am amazed. You little know of the difficulties overcome, 

 the fertility of resources manifested, the undaunted courage exhibited, and 

 the unwavering faith before success was assured. It may surprise many 

 of you to learn that there was contributed, mainly by the citizens of Ne- 

 vada County and others who once lived in the county, the sum of $10,129. 

 All honor to their generosity. From contributions, loans, and receipts at 

 the Park and Pavilion, the association received and disbursed the sum of 

 $35,000. We are proud to record that the association owns a fair ground 

 and a mile track that are not surpassed, if indeed equaled by any in any 

 district in the State. While the Directors feel deeply grateful for the sup- 

 ' port accorded so cheerfully by the public, I wish to attest on behalf of my 

 brother Directors that without the aid and guidance of our most worthy 

 President, the work we accomplished had well nigh been impossible. To 

 his courage, energy, faith, boldness of design, and executive ability are we 

 indebted for our success. He has been instant in and out of season. His 

 one thought has been to exhibit the agricultural capacities of this district. 

 He has known no such word as "fail." Whatever fame he may achieve 

 as a miner will be overshadowed by that of President of this association. 

 Glenbrook Park will be his monument, and the thousands of people who 

 shall annually throng those grounds will be a continual testimony to the 

 executive ability and worth of Austin Walrath. 



I am inclined to credit the success of this agricultural association to the 



