21 



adopting every improvement which will elevate its standard 

 and tend to make its annual exiiibitions morally instruc- 

 tive, entertaining and profitable to all within its borders. 

 And to-day it stands enrolled as the only Agricultural 

 Society in the state whicli offers to its young men an edu- 

 cational premium for the most thoroughly prepared student 

 in the county, wiio may seek admission to that Institution 

 which has so overcome opposition that its success is as- 

 sured, and 1 deem it not incredible to predict that its future 

 will be crowned with opulence, and that it is destined to 

 improve, if not revolutionize, the agriculture of the country ; 

 I allude to the State Agricultural College. 



Mr. President, while you and I appreciate and enjoy a 

 good horse and accord him that supremacy which his in- 

 estimable usefulness deserves, may we rejoice that the fame 

 and name of this Society (l)y its records) has never been 

 tarnished by offering premiums for a hoise trot. That its 

 object has ever been to show by its exhibits some method 

 of improving the Agricultural, Mechanical and Manufac- 

 turing interests of the community, and spreading an edu- 

 cational and moral influence which can never be accom- 

 plished where we exceed a three minute gait. 



Let it be a monument to the memory of our fathers, aye 

 and our grandfathers, that we have thus far retained so 

 mvch of its early characteristics, and while our every 

 endeavor is toward improvement, may our united wisdom 

 never attain that lofty height, which shall recognize horse- 

 trotting as being essential to the success of an agricultural 

 exhibilion. And as we esteem and cherish the memory of 

 our predecessors who have so wisely guarded our welfare, 

 may we hope tiiat that regard which I have expressed for 



