THIRTY-THIRD ANNUAL SESSION OF THE OHIO STATE AGRICULTURAL CONVENTION. SENATE CHAMBER, COLUMBUS, OHIO, WEDNESDAY, January 9, 1878, 10 o'clock A.M. The Convention was called to order by the President, James B. Jami son. The Secretary called the roll of counties, in alphabetical order, and the following delegates responded: NAME. COUNTY. POST-OFFICE. Allen.. Ashtabula Athens Auglaize Belmont Brown... Carroll Champaign Columbiana Cuyahoga Gallia Guernsey Hancock .......... Lima. Jefferson. Athens. Wapakoneta. St. Clairsville. Mt. Orab. Hamilton. Carrollton. Urbana Springfield. Monterey. Wilmington. New Lisbon. Coshocton. Bucyrus. Gates' Mills. Greenville. Defiance. Delaware. Sandusky. Lancaster. Steubenville. B. W. CARLISLE moved that the sergeant-at-arms of the Senate be requested by this body to assist in keeping order in the convention. Which was agreed to. B. W. CARLISLE. I move that a committee of four be appointed by the chair, on rules and order of business for this convention. Which was agreed to, and the chair appointed, as such committee, B. W. Carlisle, of Fairfield; J. C. Stevens, of Hardin; W. D. Hill, of Defiance; and L. B. Wing, of Licking. The President, James B. Jamison, then delivered the following address: PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS. Gentlemen of the Convention:-We have met to-day, in accordance with a provision of the statutes, for the purpose of deliberating upon the wants and prospects of agriculture, the greatest of all industrial interests. On this great interest all other industries depend. Without organization, without deliberative bodies especially devoted to the in terest, the representatives of this industry are powerless for good or for self-protection.With proper organization and deliberative bodies, social life is enhanced, peace pro~moted, and progress in civilization attained. The year just closed was one in which many of the husbandman's hopes were not only revived but realized. The propitious seasons, abundant crops, ready sales, and fair prices for all farm products, will bring returning prosperity and a revival of industries which have been greatly depressed. The weather throughout the year was propitious for the growth, maturing, gathering, and garnering of the crops; and with the exception of the Colorado potato-bug and the cabbage-worm, no injurious insects attacked or destroyed crops to any extent. Those who gave proper attention and care to the potato crop, and applied the known and efficient remedies to prevent injury by the Colorado beetle, suffered very little injury, whilst the negligent and careless lost their crops. For many years we have been comparatively exempt from attacks of injury to the wheat crop by the "Hessian fly," and it is much to be, regretted that from some cause or other during the recent fall it has made its unwelcome appearance in many portions of the State. The most effective remedy against its destructive attacks appears to be late seeding. During the past two years the farmers of this State have suffered extraordinary losses... from the so-called hog cholera. The appearance of this disease is no longer confined to isolated portions of the State, but has made its appearance to a greater or less extent in almost every county in which swine-growing receives any attention. Up to the present time no specific remedy appears to have been discovered, and the latest investigations by competent men leave us to infer that either the disease assumes several forms, or else that several distinct diseases are named and known by this one term. During the last Legislature the governor was authorized to appoint a commission to investigate and report upon this disease, but the Legislature failed to provide for the payment of necessary expenses, and in consequence the committee never organized or made any examinations. Meanwhile the disease appears to be on the increase, and is destroying millions of dollars' worth of swine annually. The total number of hogs in the United States. and Territories, January, 1877, was 28,077,100, and there were lost by hog cholera, from April, 1876, to April, 1877, no less than 4,202,765, or fully 15 per cent., according to the following tabulated statement, compiled by a firm in Illinois, which is deeply interested in the question of this disease: These hogs were valued at $46,979,331. Ohio alone lost 122,899, valued at $1,721,986. These losses are too severe and the disease too alarming to be passed over without more than a mere casual mention. As the term for which the commisssion to inquire into the diseases of animals has expired by non-compliance, it is suggested that the governor be solicited to appoint a new commission, and that this same commission, or a similar one, should be authorized by the Legislature, amply provided with means to conduct any examinations or investigations, and make any experiments having in view the discovery of a specific remedy or means of eradicating the disease. Upon the whole, the condition of agriculture throughout the State is very satisfactory, and the prospects for the future brighter than at any former period. The many improvements of a permanent character are the best evidence not only of its present prosperity, but of the confidence and faith in the future-not only of the improvements in farm buildings, but the almost universal introduction and use of every available laborsaving machine and implement. The attention given to rotation of crops and system of improving the soils by manuring, plowing down green crops, and underdraining, are evidences that the slip-shod, hap-hazard method of farming during the log cabin or pioneer period has passed away. The Secretary has taken some pains to collect statistics on the subject of underdrains, which are published in the last volume of the annual reports, from which it appears that there are fully 25,000 miles of underdrains, mostly of tile, laid in the State. All this has been done within the past fifteen to eighteen years, or fully 1,000 miles a year. The benefits resulting from this improvement are becoming very manifest, and in future it will progress much more rapidly than in the past. The State Fair for 1877 was a complete success in every respect, in point of attendance as well as in respect to quantity and quality of articles on exhibition. The Board deemed it proper to make an innovation during the late fair upon the time-honored custom of appointing a separate committee to make awards upon each class of live stock, by appointing one committee only for all the classes of horses, another for the classes of cattle, a third for all sheep, and a fourth committee for all classes of swine. The change has proved to be a salutary one in every respect. Not only does this system enable the Board to secure the services of experts in each department, and th' s render superior service, but is more economical in both time and money. How far this system may be applied to the departments other than live stock, is for the State Board in the future to determine. I would respectfully suggest the propriety of appointing a reporter in each of the departments, whose duty it shall be to make a report of the department to which he is assigned, similar to that of the reporter assigned to each of the live stock departments. The reports of Messrs. Buckingham, Jones, Humrickhouse, and Millikin are highly appreciated, and eagerly sought for by the breeders of the several kinds of live stock, not only in Ohio, but in adjoining States. The large edition of the Bulletin, in which those reports were published, was exhausted in a short time. At the last annual convention, the Board was laboring under a heavy financial embarrassment, its liabilities at that time amounting to upwards of $16,000. This au mnt of liabilities was not incurred through any neglect or mismanagement on the part of the State Board, but was occasioned by the unfortunate deposit of the entire proceeds of the last State Fair in Mansfield, in the First National Bank of Mansfield. At the time of the failure of this bank, the State Board hau about $16,000 on deposit in said bank, and the dividends since received barely sufficed to pay the interest on the liabilities of the Board. The convention, last year, petitioned the Legislature to appropriate a sum of money sufficient to relieve the Board from all its pecuniary embarrassments. In accordance with the request of the convention, the Legislature appropriated the sum of $10,000, thus leaving the Board with an indebtedness of $6,000, to be liquidated as best it could. Notwithstanding a very heavy list of premiums awarded at the late fair, the proceeds of the fair were sufficient to pay all current expenses, together with the premiums, and $3,000 on the $6,000 overdraft which the Board had been carrying. If the fair of 1878 will be as successful, financially, as the one of 1877, the Board will be enabled to wipe out the last dollar of indebtedness, and a year hence commence with a clear and clean balance sheet. Notwithstanding the fact that the Ohio State Board has offered and paid a larger sum in premiums than many of the sister States, yet, in the aggregate, the Ohio State Fairs have been self-sustaining, and the most difficult question with which future Boards will have to deal will be to devise methods of revenue by which all future fairs will be selfsustaining. All taxes are burdens grevious to be borne, and they should be equalized as much as possible. All property for the benefit of the public, when taxed, should be taxed on the entire community that is thereby benefited. The farmers of Ohio are now paying taxes on many millions of dollars from which they ought to be exempt. Every farmer pays taxes on the land occupied by every railroad, county or township road which passes through his farm, notwithstanding he derives no more benefit from any of these roads than any other member of the community. They are a public convenience, to say the least, if not absolutely a public necessity, and, therefore, the owner of the farm through |