.■)0 



the sons of toil wlio Mnniiiilly land upon its 

 shores. I well remember, now more than half a 

 century ago, a mechanic with his family emigrat- 

 ing from my little picturesque native village in 

 the south of England, to the western portion of 

 the State of Illinois, which at that i\i\y was 

 regarded as the "far west." It took him more 

 time and trouble to get from New York to his 

 destination than the whole ocean voyage, which 

 at that period was a much more formidable under- 

 taking than it is now. How stupendous the 

 changes in the means of locomotion, as in many 

 other things since then, supplied by the steam- 

 boat and the railroad, the latter now connecting 

 the Atlantic with the Pacific! These are truly 

 marvelous changes occurring within living mem- 

 ory, and their benefits, with yet still further 

 developments, will be transmitted from sire to 

 son, through all future generations. 



It is now upwards of twenty years since I 

 first had the pleasure of attending the New York 

 State Agricultural Show, and I have observed 

 with much gratification and benefit the astonish- 

 ing progress you have made. Many of the earlier . 

 members of this Society, who took a prominent 

 part in its management, among whom I had the 

 honor of including several esteemed personal 



