20 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



integrity of our great nation and beloved Commonwealth 

 with their life's blood. They toil from early morn till 

 dewy eve, realizing full well with the framers of this great 

 nation that upon their success depends the prosperity of our 

 republic. Occasionally a complaint comes from their lips of 

 what seems to them an unjust proportion of the burdens of 

 the government in the form of taxation, yet still believing 

 that in due time all wrongs will be made right. They de- 

 pend largely upon your Board for leadership in the great 

 agricultural industry in which they are engaged. Let their 

 confidence be justified by your continued exertions in their 

 behalf. 



Gentlemen, the Franklin County Agricultural Society, 

 yes, all the people of the county, bid you a most cordial 

 welcome. The doors to our hearts and homes are wide 

 open, and we bid you walk in. May your stay among us 

 be both pleasant and profitable. 



Chairman Grinnell. The response from what is in the 

 heart of every one of us will come from the Board through 

 Mr. George E. Taylor, who represents the Franklin 

 County Agricultural Society on the Board of Agriculture. 



Mr. George E. Taylor. Mr. Chairman, it gives me 

 pleasure in behalf of the Board to reply to the friendly 

 greeting extended to this organization by the president of 

 the Franklin County Agricultural Society. 



It makes the heart leap with gladness when the warm 

 grasp of the hand of a friend bids one welcome to his home. 

 So now the Board rejoices at the welcome extended by our 

 host, and we rest in confidence that the kindness, courtesy 

 and hospitality will be generous. 



The visits of this body of men are not frequent ; it is 

 seventeen years since it gathered in this place, and this is 

 the third time only in the existence of the Board. 



While the State and nation have always recognized the 

 importance of the husbandman as a factor in the nation, they 

 have been slow to encourage that branch of industry. Not 

 until the present century had any organized ett'ort been made 

 to encourage a scientific education for the farmer. The 

 elements and nature kept their secrets. The nation at 



