do not refer to subjects which you may
deem of importance, it will be from this reason, and not because I may
have considered them unimportant.

* * * * *

In the first place, then, permit me a brief reference to this
Association, under whose auspices, and by whose directions--acting in
connection with the officers of the Agricultural College--this festival
is held. Your Society, I understand, extends over the counties of
Ingham, Eaton, Clinton, Livingston and Shiawassee, and has been formed
for the purpose of combining and concentrating a wider scope of
individual action than could otherwise be attained, with a view to an
increased interest in the subject of Agriculture and of Agricultural
Fairs; thereby recognizing the principle that "in union there is
strength."

The effort is not only laudable, but will, I have no doubt, be
productive of the most beneficial results. In fact we have in this very
effort to bring into notice and give an increased interest to one of our
most important branches of husbandry in our State--the growth and
production of wool--abundant evidence that such will be the result. By
coming together, as on the present occasion, in the spirit of a free,
frank and social interchange of ideas, an increased interest cannot fail
of being awakened, as well as an extensive inquiry instituted, among
farmers generally, not only as to the most desirable breed of sheep, but
also as to the best modes of tending and keeping and feeding the
different kinds, with a view to the greatest profits. The influence of
such a gathering as this is of much value--not only in encouraging a
desire for excellence and creating a spirit of competition and of
laudable emulation, but as furnishing the means for an active exchange
of the more desirable specimens. Those who assemble are enabled to enjoy
a season not merely of relaxation from toil, but also for mutual
consultation and discussion; and a healthy and growing interest in
everything pertaining to Agriculture, in all its varied forms and
branches, is thereby induced.

In this connection I may be permitted to make a few remarks in relation
to the salutary influence which our Agricultural Societies cannot fail
to exert upon the farmers of Michigan, and of the _benefits_ which are
certain to flow from them.

There is no employment which keeps man so isolated as that of
Agriculture; and these societies serve, in a very great degree, to
cou