MICHIGAN STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 355 



The aggregate contributions of Detroit alone to secure the fair at various times 

 ■during the past tliirty-five years with the interest, approximate $60,000, the half of 

 which judiciously invested, in the early history of the Society, would have secured 

 valuable and substantial brick structures and the land on which to locate them. 



In view of our increasing expenditures which cannot well be lessened in a State 

 growing so rapidlj'' as Michigan, 1 submit whether it may not be wise to take into 

 thoughtful consideration the question of a permanent location, thereby saving the 

 great waste of our migratory methods. 



I am aware that the object of the Society is not to accumulate money, but to edu- 

 cate and stimulate to high endeavor. To that end heretofore we have moved around 

 always with marked benefit to the community that has secured the exhibition. A 

 leading citizen of Saginaw county assured me that the farmers of that region had 

 been benefitted many times the cost of the display bj' improvements resulting 

 directly from its educating influence, and soin other localities. But has not the time 

 arrived when the best interests of the Societj^ dictate the ownership of suitable 

 grounds, wisely located for its own accommodation? More substantial and appro- 

 priate structures are demanded by the improving taste and wealth of the country 

 not only for the more convenient care and comfort of animals on exhibition, but for 

 the display of machinery, manufactures, and the fine arts. 



The cost to the exhibitor of making suitable preparations deters many from show- 

 ing articles that would greatly enhance the interest of such an occasion. Unplaned 

 boards do not present a very attractive background for works of artistic merit, and 

 little can be realized in comparison with what might be accomplished if the build- 

 ings were permanent. With an established location some regard might be had to 

 the arrangement of grounds, with avenues ornamented with the elm and maple, and 

 with the needed structures effectively placed and painted, if the question of stability 

 was settled. An apprehension exists that a fixed location would withdraw interest 

 from the State to district organizations, but such has not been the experience in 

 other States. In Ohio the State fair was migratory for more than twenty years, 

 and of limited influence, but with a permanent location at Columbus, on gi-ouuds 

 controlled by the Society for the past ten years, the institution has been increasing 

 in interest, attendance, and wealth, and the expenses have been materially reduced. 

 That State appropriates annually six thousand five hundred dollars for the salaries 

 of officers, and for crop reports, which are made by the officers of the society, and 

 not, as with us, by the State department. Indiana's State Agricultural Society has 

 a permanent location with thirty-six acres of ground, costing originally twenty 

 thousand dollars, now estimated at one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, orna- 

 mented with appropriate buildings of the best character, the main hall being of 

 brick on a stone foundation, covered with a fire-proof roof, and three hundred feet 

 in length. Jt has likewise permanent steam power, Avith one thousand feet of shaft- 

 ing. During the year improvements valued at sixteen thousand dollars have been 

 made, and paid for from the receipts of the fair. The whole property is said to be 

 worth three hundred and thirty thousand dollars, and each year shows the wisdom 

 of fixed quarters. A late president ©f the Board of Agriculture of Nebraska writes 

 me tliat since the permanent location of the State Agricultural Society in Omaha it 

 had become a marked success, rapidly increasing in interest and attendance, and 

 under no circumstance would they resort again to the migratory plan. The execu- 

 tive committee of the State Agricultural Society of Pennsylvania has recently 

 appointed a committee of five persons to ascertain if a permanent location cannot 

 be secured in the vicinity of Philadelphia, expressing the conviction that the mag- 

 nitude of the interests involved forbids the continuance of the migratory plan. It 

 may be that two or three diffierent points in this State would make such overtures as 

 would warrant consideration. I feel sure that Detroit would act liberally with you 

 in the solution of this important subject, which must, sooner or Inter, command your 

 best practical judgment and action in the interest of economy and future prosperity. 



No man who has considered the subject in all its varied bearings in the city of 

 Detroit, has failed to see that the presence of a great fair has brought with its 

 75,000 to 100,000 strangers, rich commercial benefits, to say nothing of incidental 

 advantages and the formation of personal acquaintances and friendships. It seems 

 most desirable to me that Detroit should make such proposals to you as would be 

 acceptable and lead to the establishment of permanent and improved facilities for 

 your future accommodation. My own judgment has favored three locations with 

 permanent buildings and improved grounds, widely apart yet wisely selected, with 

 a view to the future growth of Michigan and the conceded superiority of the State * 

 Society over district institutions. In either case whether a permanent or alternat- 

 ing series of locations, I should strongly recommend the purchase and ownership of 

 grounds by the State Agricultural Society. 



