STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 479^ 



thing over $48,000, aiul the expenses of the society in the construction of buildings 

 at Detroit, the payment of premiums and the expenses have been such, that the 

 amount on hand now is probably from $18,000 to $20,000. For exact figures I refer 

 to tlie reports. 



That we may more readily compare one year with another I recommend that yon 

 fix by rule the fiscal year to' begin. with the first of January. This will enable the 

 reports of all the officers and committees to come to a particular date; and as our 

 ■winter meeting is now fixed by by-law for the second Monday in January, it will give 

 time to have the reports completed after the first of the month. 



I desire to call your attention to a provision in the organic law which limits the 

 society to holding property to the amount of $20,000. Thirty years ago that limit 

 perhaps was not unreasonable, but our experience during the past year shows that it 

 is totally insufficient now. I recommend that you apply to the Legislature at its 

 present session to amend this act so as to increase the amount to the sum of $100,000. 

 Should it be thought desirable to have any further legislation for the benefit of the 

 society to enable it to increase its usefulness, or to throw any further guards about 

 the custody of its property, application for the same could be made at the same time. 

 There is no doubt the Legislature will cheerfully pass any act requested to further 

 the objects of the society. 



A question has been raised concerning the liability of the society for loss of prop- 

 erty placed upon exhibition at its fairs, whether such loss occur by fire or by theft. 

 A rule has been made by you in that regard, but some have questioned its authority, 

 and perhaps it might be wise to have the question settled by the Legislature. If it 

 should be held that the society was liable, provisions should be made whereby pro- 

 tection can be secui-ed through insurance. 



The proceedings of the society have been published for some years past in connec- 

 tion with the report of the State Board of Agriculture. It has been suggested that 

 it would be better to have these proceedings published in separate volumes, the same 

 as the reports of the Pomological Society. As long as room can be spared in that 

 volume for our proceedings without swelling the work to an unreasonable size, per- 

 haps it would be as well to remain as it is; but, if the board find it necessary to 

 condense our report within too narrow limits, I should think it well to ask for a sep- 

 arate volume. 



THE UPPER PENINSULA. 



Two-fifths of the area of Michigan is in the Upper Peninsula. Our society is 

 organized for the benefit of the whole State. The means of communicating between 

 the Upper and Lower Peninsula are becoming better every year, and we hope soon 

 to see the two peninsulas connected by rail. For the purpose of calling particular 

 attention to the capabilities of the soil of the Upper Peninsula for agricultural pur- 

 poses, I recommend that special premiums be proposed for agricultural exhibits 

 from that portion of the State. 



LIFE MEMBERSHIP. 



Our constitution provides for life membership. By the arrangement made a few 

 years since at the time of the consolidation of the Northern Agricultural and 

 Mechanical Society with the State Agricultural Society, the life members of the 

 former were made life members of the latter, with all their rights and privileges. 

 Those rights and privileges have never been defined by this society. Our rules for 

 voting at elections make no recognition of life membership. 1 recommend that 

 there be prepared a life membership certificate, and that all who are now life mem- 

 bers of the society be requested to surrender their present certificates and receive 

 new ones, and that the secretary make a register, so that we may know who are the 

 life members of this society. Upon the back of this certificate should be printed the 

 rule prescribing the rights and privileges of life members, that all may be fully 

 advised. 



IIIGnWAYS. 



There is no one subject in which the farmer is more interested than in the subject 

 of highways. " Cheap transportation is wealth " with the farmer as well as with the 

 dealer. If it costs 20 cents to move one ton one mile on good wagon roads, it will 

 probably cost double that over poor roads. The increase of trade and traflic and the 

 diminished cost of transportion which we have recently experienced throughout this 

 State, with a few weeks of good sleighing, enable us to appreciate somewhat the ad- 

 vantages of good roads. 



Our present laws relating to highways came to us as an inheritance from the i^ast.. 



