114 
STATE AGKICULTUKAL SOCIETY. 
President—'EM Stilson, Oshkosh. 
Vice-presidents —Geo. F. Wheeler, of Fond du Lac county; 0. Cook, of 
Whitewater. 
Secretary —T. H. Goodhue, of Whitewater. 
Treasurer —C. K. Stewart, of Danville. 
Executive Committee —R. Richards, of Racine ; W. B. Kingsbury, of Ripon ; 
E. S. Hammond, of Fond du Lac ; 0. H. Lewis, of Sun Prairie ; H. H. Dixon, 
of Ripon. 
FORMAL OPENING OF THE EXHIBITION. 
The exhibition was formally opened under favorable au¬ 
spices on Wednesday morning, the 29th of September, with 
an appropriate address by the president, B. E. Hinkley, a 
copy of which will be found in the succeeding pages. 
The several departments had been unusually well filled— 
“ Agricultural Hall,” decidedly better than even before—and 
the quality of articles and animals gave encouraging proof of 
the steady progress making in all branches of our state in¬ 
dustry. 
The roll-call of the judges yielded the usually unsatisfac¬ 
tory result; not more than one-fifth of the whole number ap¬ 
pointed responding to their names. The consequence was 
that the whole of Wednesday and a good part of Thursday 
had passed, before it was possible for the oflS.cer5 to get the last 
of the class books into the hands of such committees as gave 
satisfactory evidence of competency. This non-appearance of 
the judges elected, by the executive board, and the necessity 
imposed of forming committees on the grounds, is one of the 
most serious difficulties with which the societv has to contend. 
Various remedies have been suggested, but no way has yet 
been found for avoiding this embarrasment. 
As the duties of the secretary, during the exhibition, neces¬ 
sarily preclude his carefully observing either the articles or ani¬ 
mals shown, or what transpires in the execution of the special 
daily programme, he must of necessity rely upon the reports 
of others. Trusting to their accuracy, quotation is according¬ 
ly made from the very full accounts published in the State 
Journal of that date: 
