119G New York State Agricultural Society 



this conntrv would find people interested in agriculture not only 

 on the farms l)iit in the cities, in the lawyers' ottices, in the 

 doctors" othces, in the editorial rooms of the newspapers; and all 

 that would redonnd to the interest of agriculture and the interest 

 of the people of this state. 



That is the his; thoui>ht that T have always had in mv mind 

 ahout aii'ricnlture. We think in this country that we are in the 

 lead of all the rest of the world in a lot of things, but we are 

 far behind France in that respect ; we are behind Denmark in 

 that respect, and we are behind Portugal ; and it is about time 

 we, who are waving the stars and stripes and claiming to lead the 

 procession of civilization in all things, ought tO' awaken to the 

 fact that we are behind in agriculture. Some of our sister 

 countries in Europe are ahead of us simply from the fact that 

 they have placed agriculture in their schools on the same high 

 plane that they have placed rhetoric, poetry and mathematics ; 

 and I, for one, am in favor of doing that in our state. 



l^ow, my friends, it is my pleasure to introduce to you a man 

 who will give you a real address on agriculture, a real farmer, 

 Mr. George W. Sisson, who will deliver the annual address of 

 the president of the oSTew York State Agricultural Society. 



ANNUAL ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT 



George W. Sisson, Jr. 



To the Members of the Xctc lork State Agricultural Society: 



I have the honor to present to you my first annual address as 

 president of your society : 



At the close of the agricultural vear of 1912, and standing at 

 the threshold of another year big with possibilities, it is well for 

 us to review briefiy the occurrences and accomplishments of the 

 ])ast year, and measure as best we can the progress in the agri- 

 cultural development of the state. 



We have come to know that the agricultural development of a 

 people or a state does not mean merely increased production from 

 the soil, but includes all those things which make for the stability, 

 permanence and profitableness of agriculture, and the improve- 

 ment in the social condition and education of the people engaged 



