STATE AGEICULTUKAL SOCIETY. 397 



President's Office. } 

 St. Johns, Mich., January 11, iSTo. j' 



Dear Sir: — Owing- to circumstances entirely beyond my control, it will be impossi- 

 ble for me to be present at the opening of the meeting of the Executive Committee 

 to-morrow. 



Please convey to the committee my regrets at this occurrence, and tender to them 

 my grateful acknowledgments for their hearty co-oi)eratiou, kind indulgence, and uni- 

 form courtesy extended to me during the year. 



And I desire to express to the Superintendents in charge of the various depart- 

 ments my sincere thanks for the kind and gentlemanly manner in which they pei-- 

 formed their respective duties, and I desire to express through the committee espe- 

 cially the thanks of the Societj' to the people of Saginaw Valley for their hearty co- 

 operation with the officers of the Society in making the Fair of 1874 a grand success. 



And to the police of East Saginaw, the thanks of the officers of the Society are 

 gratefully tendered for the ver}' efficient manner in which they discharged their ardu- 

 ous duties during the Fair. 



With my best wishes for the future prosperity of the Michigan State Agricultural 

 Society, I remain, very respectfullv, 



CHARLES KIPP. 



To C. F. Kimball, Esq., Secretary. 



President Humphrey addressed the committee. At the close of the address, 

 on motion of Mr. Baxter, it was referred to a special committee consisting of 

 Messrs. Baxter, Childs, and Sterling. 



Gentlemen of the Executive Committee, and niemhers of the State Agricultura 



Society : 



In accepting the position of President and entering upon its official duties, I 

 do it with gratitude and humilit}^ ; and for the undeserved compliment to which 

 by your kindness I have been elevated, allow me to thank you. Believing that 

 your generosity will prove to be of sufficient compa^s to enable you to overlook 

 all the shortcomings and imperfections which may be observed in your presiding 

 officer, gives me hopeful assurance that my administration may be successfully 

 devised. I can assure you that so far as my humble abilities permit, there shall 

 not be wanting on my part attention to the advancement of the best interest of 

 the Society. 



I take great pleasure in knowing that this Society has been so successful in 

 its usefulness, and is now on good footing ; and you wlio have stood by it and 

 labored earnestly and devotedly through the most trying vicissitudes of its exist- 

 ence are entitled to the thanks and grateful remembrance of every iudiddual in 

 this State, and I wish to impress upon you the importance of the continuation 

 of your efforts to sustain and build up this Society in the future as you have in 

 the past, I know you have contributed your time for days and weeks annually, 

 a portion of you since its organization. But let me say to you, gentlemen, 

 this is not all for no pay : you are building yourselves a lasting monument that 

 will stand to your memory after this organization shall have passed out of your 

 hands to be controlled by others who shall succeed you. 



One of the principal conditions on which depends our agricultural progress, 

 is increased respect for labor and agricultural pursuits. In many portions of 

 our State, this condition is amply fulfilled and the healthful results are plainly 

 seen in finely cultivated farms, in improved homes, in education, thrift, and all 

 pursuits of an honest, intelligent, and respected industry. Farmers should 

 cherisli not only a high respect for their employment themselves, but instill 

 their convictions into tlie minds of their children. It is not only a great mistake, 

 but a great misfortune that young men should feel dissatisfied witli the com- 

 paratively slow gains of agriculture, or that they should regard the farmer's life 



