proceeded to business by reading the minutes of the previous day which were approved. The annual financial statement was read, and the report of the auditing committee as recorded in the Journal, presented. Report accepted and the committee discharged. The committee on Essays submitted the following, which was adopted: "The committee on Essays beg leave to make the following report: Four essays on butter making were offered for our consideration, and all of them were almost models of practical perfection, fairly fulfilling in letter and spirit, the requirements of the premium offered. "After due consideration, we have awarded the premium to Mrs. N. L. Smith, of Lindenville, Ohio. We commend especial attention to the essay by Mr. Geo. Stanly, for its thorough instruction in the manufacture of farm dairy butter, combining, in our judgment, the best rules of the present age for its manufacture. The implements recommended by him ought to receive general adoption. "We further recommend that all the essays submitted, be published in order that their different points of excellence may be made known." JNO. C. LEVERING, J H. BRIGHAM, HENRY TALCOTT. [Signed.] On motion of Mr. Foster, President Bailey and Messrs. Bonham and Brigham were constituted a committee to wait upon the Governor and invite him to the Agricultural Convention to be convened in the Senate Chamber. The committee from the State Horticultural Society was requested to meet with the Board in Convention, and prepare resolutions relative to appropriations for State Fair Grounds. Messrs. Talcott and Pow were appointed a committee to draft resolutions on bogus butter. The Secretary was directed to request representatives from the Board of Trustees of the State University to meet with the Board of Agriculture for consultation in regard to State appropriation. Board adjourned to meet in State Convention, January 13, 1886. Attest: W. I. CHAMBERLAIN, Secretary. PROCEEDINGS OF THE FORTY-FIRST ANNUAL SESSION OF THE OHIO STATE AGRICULTURAL CONVENTION, Held in the Senate Chamber, at Columbus, Ohio, Wednesday, MORNING SESSION, 11 A. M. The Convention was called to order at 11 A. M. by President C. D. Bailey. Governor Foraker being present, was introduced, and spoke as follows: Gentlemen, I have not come here for the purpose of making a speech. I supposed when I came to Columbus, that Gen. Kennedy would occupy this part of the State House. I came in this morning only because I was kindly invited to do so, for the purpose of bidding the gentlemen who constitute this Convention a hearty welcome, as we all do, to the city of Columbus. I may be permitted, however, to say that I have a high appreciation of the importance of the interest which you are here to represent; which goes without the saying, because it has been the observation of everybody that there is no interest so important to us in this country as the agricultural interest. We all know that, not only from observation, but also from statistics; and some of us have a high and proper appreciation of it from experience as well. I shall always remember with a great deal of pleasure that I once had the honor and the right of classing myself of that number; and it has always been, in one sense at least, a matter of very great regret, that I should have ever parted with that privilege; for by and by I got away from the farm, and have been steadily going from bad to worse until I have landed at last in the Governor's office. But you have come to represent this interest, and it is entirely proper that you should do so. Every other interest is organized. We live in a day of organization; the railroads are organized; the manufacturing interests are organized; the commercial interests are organized; agriculture should be organized, I think the gentlemen here who are interested in the growing of wool appreciate that fact. What they have learned in that respect the farmer is learning in regard to wheat, and everything else that pertains to agriculture. There are many senses in which it is profitable. You ought to be organized not simply to see that you have your rights guarded by legislation, but that you may study.. what kind of legislation is calculated to promote agricultural interests. I remember when I was a boy on the farm we had a good many difficulties to con tend with aside from drought and wet weather. We had the old fashioned cut worm, which made it necessary sometimes to replant; but we did not have the potato bug and many other insects which you now have. I don't know whether their coming is due to the fact that we have these entomological societies for the study of bugology or not. I don't suppose it is due to that fact. But we do know their use. It is the appropriate office of associations of this kind, and that is why we should have them, to study in what way farmers can be protected against the ravages of such insects, and other enemies that continually beset them. When you have made a study of this matter, when you have learned how they may be provided against, you will know what sort of legislation to recommend to the legislature. I hope that during your deliberations here you may enjoy yourselves, and that you may be able to agree upon and recommend that to the other departments of the State which will be calculated to further the important interests you represent. Thanking you for the compliment of asking me to come and meet you here, and wishing you all honor and success, I bid you good morning. The Chair appointed the following committee on Order of Business: R. Baker, Dr. Hazzard and L. N. Bonham. The Chair announced that the next thing in order was the call of the roll. The Secretary proceeded with the call of the counties, the following delegates being found present: On motion of Hon. Peter Murphy, the Sergeant-at-Arms of the Senate was requested to act as Sergeant at-Arms of the Convention. A MEMBER.—I move that a committee of three be appointed on resolutions to report to this Convention immediately. The motion being seconded, was The Chair appointed F. B. McNeal, S. H. Hurst, and Hon. Peter agreed to. Murphy. The annual address of the President was then read, as follows: ANNUAL ADDRESS. GENTLEMEN CF THE CONVENTION: Agreeable to law, it becomes my duty to preside over this, the Forty-first Annual Session of the State Agricultural Convention, convened for the purpose of suggesting measures and formulating plans for the fostering, protection and promotion of that great interest through which all other interests live and are extended, and from a precedent estab lished by the long line of my distinguished and eminently qualified predecessors, I may be expected to refer briefly to the agriculture of our State, but more particularly to render an account of the State Board's stewardship for the year just past. I welcome and greet you as friends interested in a common cause, and also as the duly authorized representatives from your respective agricultural societies. The business that calls us together to day is of such vital importance to the people of this State as to demand the exercise of our best judgment in recommending or passing upon any measure presented for consideration, and I hope that when the work of this call shall have been completed, each delegate will be able to carry home with him some new thought to stimulate his constituency to fresh exertion in the fields of agricultural labor, and that good results may be manifest throughout the State. The past year may, in some respects, have been discouraging to the tillers of the soil and the feeders of stock, occasioned by the great shortage in our wheat crop and the average low price prevailing, together with the diseases that threatened our cattle and hogs, making the business of rearing and fattening uncertain, and consequently unprofitable, but on the other hand we have been blessed by the largest corn product for a number of years; an oat crop rarely equalled in area and bushels per acre, while other products of the diversified agriculture of our State have yielded comparatively well, and the farmers of the State, as a whole, have reason to be thankful. Unlike some other States, we depend not wholly upon any one crop or any particular branch of agriculture for success; the character of our soil and climate, and the location of the State in the center of the great lines of transportation, making it possible to grow with success and profit the numerous crops for which the State is noted, so that with the failure of any one the farmer is not bankrupt or the State ostracized. This, my friends, is why Ohio has earned the honor of being the best State in the Union; and her farmers, as a class, the most independent, a situation of which we may well feel proud, and another cause why we should feel thankful, even in the face of an occasional shortage in some particular product. The Ohio farmer of to day who feels like complaining at what may seem reverses, and is dissatisfied and sorely vexed with his lot, has but to turn back the pages of history for a few years and compare the condition and advantages of the farmer of the past with those of the farmer of the present, and his vexations and complaints will take wings and soon be out of sight. The men of only a few years past, who drove the entering wedges for successful agriculture in Ohio, had difficulties to contend with on all sides, besides danger and disasters, and their only reward was a bare livelihood for themselves and families, and the hope of increased value in lands and comforts in living as they increased in age, strengthened with the hope of providing better opportunities and surroundings for their children in years to come. They had neither the conveniences for labor or pleasure; a poor market in which to sell or trade their produce, and still poorer means of getting it there. They had not the benefits of knowledge based on experience and practice, such as eminates from the various agricultural socleties now in existence, but every man was compelled to rely solely upon his own knowledge and resources, and dig and delve as best he could, adapting themselves to what would seem to us now, most undesirable circumstances. The Ohio farmer of to-day has placed at his disposal every convenience to lighten labor and make life a pleasure. His surroundings are the best, his home comforts equal, in fact, superior to those of men in other callings and professions; the educational advantages for his children are such as to fit them for any walk in life, while for the disposal of his products the very best markets of the world are brought to his door by the nearly 7,000 miles of railway interwoven into the State, leading to connections for every quarter of the globe. Besides these great advantages, he has, in the solving of vexed questions, or in antagonizing measures that may be operating against his interests, the aid and co-operation of the various associations that have been organized to protect and promote the Ohio farmers interests. To-day there are in Ohio, guard. ing the interests of the farmer and breeder, and promoting agriculture to the interest of the whole people, various organizations of which I might mention the Shorthorn Breeders' Association, the Jersey Cattle Club, State Swine Breeders' Association, Sheep Breeders', Wool Growers', Bee Keepers', Horticultural and other associations, besides the State Board of Agriculture, the county agricultural society, and more recently the State Forestry Bureau and the Ohio Cattle Commission. The influence of these organizations is being felt in every department of the various branches of farm industry; not a question arising or a point to be made affecting these interests that does not receive the consideration and push necessary to securing the objects sought to be attained. These associations are fighting the business battles of the individual farmer, and where individual effort would fail, organized effort generally succeeds. I am frank to say, however, that the average farmer does not appreciate as he should the efforts of these associations and the objects of their formation, otherwise the membership in each would be over-crowded and their treasuries would be supplied, at but a trifling fee for each member, with an abundance of money to prosecute any work for the advancement of the farming interests. I should like to see these organizations brought into closer relations with the general farmer, and the proceedings of each, especially the valuable discussions that are had and the papers read, published so profusely that copies could be placed in the hands of every farmer in the State. Could this be done, there would be no lack of either membership or funds. For a few months past dreaded diseases have threatened to invade the State and lay hold upon certain classes of our live stock. The Live Stock Commission has had this matter in charge and have been laboring diligently, with their limited means, to prevent any such occurrance. You will, I presume, hear from the Commission during this Convention. And now, gentlemen of the Convention, permit me to refer more particularly to the work of the State Board of Agriculture for the past year, and let me assure you that its work has not been insignificant or its members idle. The Farmers' Institutes, for the season, were begun early in the winter of 1884, and continued with but slight interruption until the month of March, 1885. They were held in many different localities of the State, the principal lecturers being engaged and paid by the State Board, with some assistance from the State University and the State Horticultural Society. The Secretary reports a generally good attendance and an increased interest among the farmers and others who attend. The Farmers' Institutes, though of recent date, are now thoroughly established, and I believe the State Board should be |