they to select their own subjects, and report the same by the first of October to the officers of this Society. The motion was seconded by Mr. KELLER. Mr. WILHELM. I would simply state, for the information of the gentlemen present, that there was a committee appointed to invite to our exhibition President Arthur, the Governor of Pennsylvania, and the candidates for President, including Benjamin F. Butler. I had been appointed the chairman of the committee. I addressed letters to all those gentlemen, and to the candidates for Vice President, and I received very polite replies to all. I addressed letters to the Governor, including one to him while he was in the city of Philadelphia, and asked him to name a day that would be most convenient to himself to visit the State fair, for the purpose of receiving, in the name of the State, a silk flag, to be presented by ladies of the Pennsylvania Silk Growers' Association, as well as to deliver an agricultural address of only twenty minutes. That would not have taxed him very hard. I then paid a personal visit to the Executive Department. He was absent. I went to personal friends in this town on the subject. One finally telegraphed me that the Governor could not attend, and his private secretary informed me that it was owing to a standing appointment that he was subject to be called upon any day to fill. These were the reasons given us, whether valid or not, why he did not attend our exhibition. Mr. HIESTER. I beg leave to differ a little from Mr. McDowell in his suggestions. I think it would not be well to have this Society do what the State Board is doing. The State Board has been making up the statistics, and doing it in a very thorough manner; and it is having a number of essays read at each of its three meetings each year, which are printed in the same volume as the report of this Society. I think the State Board is doing very great good in this direction. This Society is furnishing an exhibition of the products of the Commonwealth, and in that way doing as good a work as the State Board. Just at the present time, the members of the State Board have no feelings antagonistic to this Society, and no cause for any, because each one is doing its work and doing it well. I think it would be better for this Society to go on doing its own work, and doing it as well as it has done. I fear if we have this Society and the State Board doing the same work, that we will have more or less antagonism. It would be well to consider the matter fully before deciding upon doing what Mr. McDowell proposes. Mr. MCDOWELL. I would be very sorry if my remarks would lead any one to the conclusion referred to. If there is any member of this organization that would try to prevent these two associations becoming antagonistic, I think I am one. I do not suppose that the State Board exhausts all the subjects it takes up-I think the subject of agriculture will never be exhausted. It is as hard to fathom the depths of agriculture as to find out all the ramifications of chemistry. It is a study that will always be a matter of research by scientific men, and we will never reach its lowest depths. On the motion that a committee of five be appointed as essayists to read essays at the next annual meeting of the Society, or present them for publication by the first of October next year, and have them incorporated in the report, the essays not being confined to members of the Executive Committee, but to be presented by members of the Society, the motion was agreed to without a dissenting voice. The PRESIDENT appointed as the committee, Messrs. McDowell, Branson, Rhey, Hiester, and Taggart. Mr. MCDOWELL. The vote was so meager I would rather have it defeated entirely. Secretary SEILER. There was no objection. Mr. HIESTER. Does not the Society offer two or three premiums each year? Secretary McCONKEY. Yes; more than that. Secretary SEILER. About six or seven. Mr. HIESTER. It was my recollection that the Society offers premiums on stated subjects. I have read several prize essays in old reports. Secretary McCONKEY. It offers eight or ten, including a premium for the best report of the exhibition. Mr. McDOWELL. I have brought with me a sample of petroleum, obtained by sinking a well near the little town of Washington, from whence I come, that members here may look at as a further development of the resources of our great county of Washington. The PRESIDENT. Made great by its fine wool sheep. Upon motion of Mr. MACKEY, it was agreed that when the Executive Committee adjourn, it adjourn to meet at ten o'clock, Wednesday morning, January 21, 1885. Adjourned. "HARTFORD," 3574 Sire "Harold;" dam "Judith," by "Mambrino Chief," owned by R. J. C. Walker, Schreiber & Sons, Philadelphia. III. PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY. WEDNESDAY, January 21, 1885, 10 o'clock, A. M. The annual meeting of the Society was called to order, and, on motion, Mr. Neiman was called to the chair. The polls for election of officers opened. The following amendment to the constitution, of which notice was given at the September meeting, was offered, and after discussion, adopted: That, at the annual election of this Society, there shall be elected, from one of the number of Vice Presidents, one of said officers, to act as first Vice President, whose duty it shall be to act as President of this Society, in case of the absence or death of the President. In case of the death or resignation of any officer of the Society, the President shall have the power to fill the vacancy by appointment, until the next annual meeting of the Society. The Recording Secretary shall have power to approve such bills and contracts as he is authorized to make, and the Treasurer shall pay the same. The hour of twelve having arrived, the chairman declared the polls closed, and the judge and tellers reported the result as follows: We, the undersigned, appointed to conduct the annual election of the Pennsylvania State Agricultural Society, this 21st day of January, A. D. 1885, beg to submit the following report; the whole number of votes cast, seventy-three (73): 6. David H. Branson, Atglen, Chester county, 7. William H. Holstein, Bridgeport, Montgomery county, 8. Tobias Barto, Reading, Berks county, 9. S. S. Spencer, Lancaster, Lancaster county, 10. Daniel H. Neiman, Easton, Northampton county, 11. D. J. Waller, Bloomsburg, Columbia county, 12. Ira Tripp, Scranton, Lackawanna county.. |