REPORT OF SOCIETY’S MEETINGS. 4ul 
conclusion he said it was time to bring his remarks to 
a close and to lay down the office which they were good 
enough to confer on him twelve months ago. He had 
felt it a honour to be eleéted to the high and important 
office, because he knew there was no position in the 
colony conferred by the votes and opinions of one’s 
fellow-citizens more to be valued than the Presidency of 
the Royal Agricultural and Commercial Society. At the 
first meeting he had presided over he had taken leave to 
draw their attention to certain provisions in their charter 
of incorporation, which he conceived were not carried 
out in their full or true spirit. During the year these 
provisions had often been in his mind, but he was sorry 
to say that his remarks had not fallen on fruitful ground, 
and he was afraid the agricultural interests of the Society 
had not been developed to the extent he had hoped. 
He would not go over the same ground as on the former 
occasion, but would only express his hope that they 
would yet be enabled to deal with such important sub- 
je€ts as the development of agriculture in the colony. 
It gave him great satisfaction in retiring from the office 
of President to be able to recommend as his successor 
a gentleman who stood high in the agricultural world. 
He felt sure that if knowledge, ability and earnest 
attention to the duties of President could awaken their 
interest in agriculture it would be done under his 
auspices. He would not say anything of the work of the 
Agricultural Committee as he understood that the Hon. 
Mr. Howell Jones, its Chairman, would give in a full 
report. He again thanked them for the honour they had 
done him and for their attention to his remarks. 
In reference to the report of the Agricultural Com- 
