SECRETARY'S REPORT. 175 



wliicli must be cncoimtercd as prominently brought forward ? 

 Is lime water for a beverage, or rattlesnakes, or fever and ague, 

 or the 'many other fevers to which the newcomers arc exposed, 

 introduced ? Is the low price of what is to be sold, the high 

 price of what is to be bought, the distance of markets, or the 

 absence of the school house and the church, dwelt upon ? These, 

 and many other drawbacks are usually left quite in \hc back- 

 ground, to be discovered and felt by the emigrant in actual ex- 

 perience, together with the fact that if he had been willing to 

 work as hard, to live as plainly, and to endure half as much at 

 home, he could thrive as rapidly here as there, enjoying all the 

 while in the land of his birth, social, intellectual and religious 

 privileges, and uninterrupted health. 



Thus have I very imperfectly gone over the ground as pro- 

 posed at the outset, and by way of apology for the many defecta 

 and short comings, may I not be allowed to plead the somewhat 

 anomalous position of the Secretary for the present year ? It 

 will be recollected that the Board of Agriculture for 1856, is 

 the late Executive Committee of the State Agricultural Society, 

 which held its regular session in January last. By virtue of 

 having been chosen its Secretary, I have acted as Secretary of 

 the Board of Agriculture, in performing the duties required by 

 law — that aside from this, the Board has had neither organiza- 

 tion nor action, since the enactment of the law creating it, and 

 consequently I have received from it, neither direction nor 

 advice, (although I gratefully acknowlege suggestions and aid 

 from some of its members,) and so I crave your charitable 

 indulgence. 



In concluding this report let me say, it is believed that the 

 agencies now in operation within the State, for the promotion 

 of agricultural interests, are in a prosperous condition^ and 

 accomplishing, so far as may be reasonably expected from them, 

 the ends aimed at in their establishment, and that the future of 

 our Agriculture, nothwithstanding the many drawbacks which 

 exist, is full of promise from the gratifying evidence whichi 



