112 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
The institution of State Fairs has done much for the improve¬ 
ment of Agriculture, rendering the results of individual efforts 
accessible to the whole community. 
By the personal examination of specimens and inventions, 
and the opportunity of conversation with the producer and 
inventor, every man can obtain specific information, such as 
cannot, in general, be acquired with equal facility in any other 
way. Difficulties can be explained, doubts resolved, objec¬ 
tions answered, fallacies pointed out and expenses calculated. 
Nor is it of small consequence that the collective opinion of a 
great gathering, and of a special council devoted to the con¬ 
sideration of such subjects, should lend its influence, experi¬ 
ence and judgment on such occasions. 
The friendly collision of congenial minds, the opportunities of 
social greetings and new friendships, patriotic feelings for im¬ 
proving the State of Wisconsin and cosmopolitan interest in 
the progress of Science throughout the globe, all add to the 
interest of the scene. 
But no advantages connected with them'are more important 
than those that flow from the opportunity they afford of con¬ 
sidering such national improvements, as can be inaugurated 
and sustained only by the general voice of the country, and 
the aid of public institutions, founded for the promotion of 
Science and Education. 
After those great truths, that relate to man as a moral, a 
religious and an accountable being, Agriculture has, with much 
justice, been regarded as the basis of civilization, commerce, 
art and science. Abundance of food being the first necessity 
of life, in proportion as it is produced with facility by a few, 
so is the time, labor and ingenuity of others liberated for arts 
and manufactures, and every thing that contributes to the 
comfort and prosperity of nations, and the refinement of High 
Art, Literature and Science. 
From ancient times to the present day, men of the highest 
genius, the most refined taste, and the most cultivated philoso¬ 
phy, have ever appreciated Agriculture ; and some, as Cicero, 
speak of it in terms of so much warmth and attachment, that they 
