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and to disarm the thunder cloud of its terrors; in both cases the agent 
being the same, but in the one being advantageously used and in the 
other scientifically subdued. For all the uses to which iron, lead, copper, 
tin and zinc, with other inferior metals, may be put in the ingenuity of 
man, he is ever indebted to mother earth, and although less precious in 
their capacity to supply the wants of man, yet of great and altogether 
essential value as a medium in commerce, and a representative of value- 
man receives from earth her abundant products of silver and gold. 
Is this all that earth exhibits, as bountiful presents to the laborer and 
producer? far from it—earth has ever in her bosom exhaustless stores 
of that mineral which supplies fuel to the smelting furnace, and the 
household hearth, and puts in motion the steamship and the railroad 
caravan. This treasure of black-stones is not surpassed in its practical 
value even by the myriads of diamonds and other precious stones, which 
from time to time has been and yet may be given to the research of man. 
In a word, whether we look to earth as the bounteous source of our 
means of subsistence and the preservation of life, or as the great pro¬ 
ducer of all that renders life replete with pleasures, amenities and lux¬ 
uries, we are bound to respect the laborer and the cultivator in the first 
place; and second only to them, the mechanic, the manufacturer, and 
the artist. 
The riches of the earth are distributed with a lavish hand in our 
beautiful land of Wisconsin; they merely require the careful gathering, 
and their proper use and improvement, to ensure the prosperous condi¬ 
tion of a happy and contented community. How we have endeavored to 
improve the advantages presented to us, the present assemblage of citi¬ 
zens, the occasion which brings them together, and the products of in¬ 
dustry and art which they exhibit to each other, in praise-worthy emu¬ 
lation, may well furnish the answer. The State Agricultural Society 
has now held its three first Annual Fairs and Exhibitions of the produc¬ 
tions of the soil, the results of industrial labor in the mechanical arts, and 
particularly in the improvement of the breed of all domestic animals. 
We may well be proud of the fine display around us of the improved 
stock of cattle, sheep and swine, more particularly may we boast of the 
specimens of the noble animal, the horse, which are annually displayed on 
our grounds; breeds for the draught, the turf, and the saddle. Look at 
