Wis cons in State Agricultural Society. 
331 
mer who has-a home market for most of his varied products. The 
trials and tribulations of a purely agricultural people have been 
pictured in somber colors in the experiences of our guild in Iowa 
and Minnesota, where entire communities are poverty-stricken b} r 
an army of grasshoppers. 
To the officers and employees of the State Agricultural Society 
let me say, your duties will many times be arduous and trying, but 
patience, with a strict sense of justice to all, and a close adherence 
to the printed rules and regulations, will do much to make your 
position pleasant and the fair a success. The long association that 
[ have had with most of 3-011 in this work, and your former success, 
give us the highest assurances that we shall receive your most able 
co-operation in every department of the fair. 
To the exhibitors, let me say you have done nobty, and the fair 
in every department proclaims your progress and success. You are 
engaged in a noble work, the improvement of agriculture and its 
kindred arts. The production and preparation of your products 
have cost you great labor and skill, and an intelligent people will 
award 3 T ou a high degree of merit. 
To the public—the exhibition is yours to enjoy. This exhibition 
gotten up at such a cost of skill and labor from all parts of the state, 
is now arranged and presented for 3 r our inspection, pleasure and 
1 • 
profit. You will find much to interest you in every department of 
the fair. There will be many here that will remember the state 
fair at Milwaukee twenty 3 ^ears ago, and by them the growth of the 
institution will be fully realized. Milwaukeeans may well be proud 
of the progress of their noble city, and many of us who are here to¬ 
day will remember when she numbered but a few thousand in¬ 
habitants, or less, while to-day she boasts of being a great commer¬ 
cial emporium with a population of 1 C 0 , 000 ; but let her remember 
that for many 3 T ears agriculture has poured into her lap much of 
the wealth of one of the finest states on the continent. 
To the farmers of Wisconsin let me say, that there is no appar¬ 
ent reason why our progress should not be as great, or even greater 
in the future than in the past. We have as }^et scarcely entered 
upon the application of science to agriculture. We must go for¬ 
ward and unlock natures’s laws with science, experience and ex¬ 
periments. The man who adds to the productive power of the state 
is a public benefactor, and thus while } r ou are working for your in- 
