Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1880-09-22
TWENTY-sEvENTH ANNUAL EXHIBITION
OF THE STATE AGRICULTURAL
SOCIETY.
Delivered in the Pavilion, Sacramento,
Tuesday Evening, September 81,
1880, by e. NJ Larue, President
Of the State Board of
Agriculture.


But custom has enlarged upon this original idei
and has expanded the opening address into tn,
proportions Of an annual message from the execu
tive head of the society," in which the largest latitude
in the way of report suggestion and discussion ha.
been indulged. In dischargins the duty thu
made incumbent upon the President of the Stat,
Board Of Agriculture, permit me to call your atten
| ton first to the changes made in the laws of ou
! State concerning the organization, appointment snd
powers Of the Board. Very early in the history O.
this State the people recognized the great educa
tional advantages Of agricultural and mechanica
exhibitions, and the value to intelligent industry
agricultural and mechanical Societies. The law or
| ganizing State Board Of Agriculture and incor
porating the State Agricultural Society was among
| the earliest placed upon our statute books From,
time to time liberal appropriations from the
State Treasury in aid of the Society and
in promotion of its annual exhibitions have
been made But the new Constitution ratified
in 1879 contained sweeping prohibition against ap
preparations from the public treasury for the benefit
OF any corporations or associations not under the
exclusive management and control OF the State.
While under the law of 1852 the State Board OF Ag
riculture was the creature of the State and while
by that Act Department of Agriculture was created
as department of State Government still the
members OF the Board were chosen by annual
mass meetings of members of the State Agricultural
Society," in which only members of the Society were
eligible to vote. The State Agricultural Society
also possessed tie right of control OF the annual
exhibitions and the power to adopt, alter amend
the articles of association and the rules governing
the Board The corporation was not under the ex-
elusive control OF the State distnctivey State
institution, and therefore within the category of as
socatons ineligible to receive any gift grant, aid
subsidy from the State Treasury. All this has been
changed. By the Act of 1880 the Board Of Agri
culture is appointed by the Governor of the
State. All laws, rules, articles Of association,
with all legislative authority formerly be-
longing to the State Agricultural Society, are now
by law vested solely in the Board of Agriculture.
This, the twenty seventh annual exhibition Of
the Society, is the first held under the
new order of things. The law creates
q Board Of twelve Directors, and requires
the appointment OF the members thereof by the
Governor. At the last annual meeting Of the So
ciety three members were elected for the ensuing
three years. At the close of that meeting the
Board as constituted stood as follows H. NJ. Larue
L. u Shppee, S. J. Rose, G. W. Hancock, D. Flint,
G, W. Colby, R. H. Newton, Cyrus Jones' W. P.
Colman, P. A. FInnegan. The Governor of the
State in making appointments to fill the twelve po-
sitons created by law appointed all the members of
the Board constituted by the State Agricultural
Society, adding two additional names-M. D. Boruck
md John Boggs-to complete the additional num-
ber Thus the organization appears to be identical
with that existing before the passage Of the
law Of 1880, but, in fact, the entire legal
aspects of the Board and Society have
undergone complete revolution. A Department of
Agriculture are been established as department of
State government the members of the Board of
Agriculture and State officers, the rules of this
hibtion, have the sanction of statutory law the
hibtion itself is held by the authority and under
the protection of law the objects and aims of the
State Agricultural Society have been indorsed by
this common wealth the whole people constitute
its membership, while it's transactions and exhibi
tions its efforts to dignity and enoble labor dissem
mate information on subjects of practical and
scientific agriculture, manufactures, mechanics
mining and the fine arts, have been placed side by
side with the State University and the common
schools recognized department in the great sys-
tenn of public education. In the law under consid
Grafton the State Agricultural Society is fully recoe
nized. Its mission is by no means at an end. Its
annual meetings will still be continued and relieved
from many elements of contention growing out Of
succession in office the Society address its efforts
to still higher achievements in consonance with the
aim of it, founders. The agricultural societies Of
California have accomplished more for the cause of
practical education than all the schools of the State.
The public recognition of the Importance of this de-
partment of public instruction is high achieve
ment the honor of which belongs to the State Agri
cultural Society. But there remains other and
higher work to be performed, and judging from the
past, am justified in believing that the State Soci-
ETY. will not be found wanting in that zeal for viii h
it has been so distinguished.
THE LESSON OF THE SEASON.
The past season has been one of unusual proiuc
tiveness. The yield of all the staples has been
satisfactory. There has been failure in none The
wheat harvest however, offers the broadest field of
suggestion and to the lessons derived from the ex
periences of this year will devote the full limit OF
this address
The product Of the harvest has been variousy
estimated at from s0o,0o0 to 1900 0eO tons. From
reliable data accept the mean figure between these
extremes and adopt the sum OF 000 900 tons the
aggregate yield of the season. This am fully per-
suaded is not an overestimate At the low market
rate ruling this wheat is worth SIS 900 900. The
north winds March ard April Inflicted great injury
upon the growing wheat in many Localities, reducing
the yield from 80 to 40 per cent below full crop.
The somewhat unusual occurrence Of seeing the
wheat appear to ripen twice in the season was
r.l.. "a, tz~l
in many cases the apparently dried stalks freshened
and the process of filling resumed. This did
not however, fully compensate the bad effects of
the north wind. The aggregate yield has far-reach-
ing significance. 1t establishes the persistency of
the wheat-growing capacity of our soil. Many of
our friends who farm with the pen rather than the
plow have been warning US that our lands were
worn out In some years past the average yield per
acre had fallen SO low that many felt serious dis
couragement 1t was the honest belief of many
that the day Of large crops had past for California
The splendid yield of this year proves that the char
acter of the has almost everything to do with
the fluctuations of the yield from year to year. The
present season has clearly demonstrated the fact
that the fertility of oldest wheat Ian is by no
means exhausted. The harvest of this year has
had been cultivated to wheat for long series of
years returned crop equal to the yield OF virgin
soil. In fact, it is the universal opinion of al
well-informed men that but for the deeterious
effect of the north wind early in the season, the
average yield of this year over the entire State
would have been equal to the best average ever
noted. As it is, however, if We exclude the locali-
ties injured by the .unfavorable character of the
season, the average yield per acre s fully equal to
the best average ever attained in any former
desire to be understood not as undertaking the
rotation OF crops and the many highly valuable sug-
gestiens for restoring to the soil its depleted fert
ity. l desire in this connection simply TO assert
what has been fully established by the crop produc.
ton ei last year, to wit: That the wheat lands Of
California are not depleted, and that in seasons
equally favorable with those of former years. par
ticularly those years which noted in the
agricultural history of the State for the high
average yield per acre of their harvests,
with a recurrence of the same character
of season we find recurrence of the same high
average yield of wheat per acre. We have set the
production Of wheat in this State for this year al
1000 900 TONS which is equsl to 80 600 eco bushels
| and valued al s25, 900 In compa. tson witt
some other States of the Union, this amount doe: