At your request and upon your kind invitation, I am here to contribute my share--small though it be--to the general fund. I should, however, have much preferred the position of a quiet learner to that of an incompetent teacher--to have _listened_ rather than to have _spoken_. But being here, it will be my purpose--by your indulgence--to speak, in general terms, upon such topics as seem to me appropriate to the occasion. I shall not presume to theorize, or to speculate; neither shall I travel through unexplored fields with no other guide than imagination; nor shall I attempt to entertain you with any rhetorical flourishes, or figures of speech; but in a simple manner endeavor to give briefly my own views on the several subjects discussed. The occasion is undoubtedly one affording a wide field for profitable discussion; yet the space which your greatest indulgence can be expected to allow me will render it necessary that I confine myself to a very few topics, and will barely permit a hasty glance at some of those only which may be considered appropriate in this address. You will therefore, I trust, remember that in case I 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."