State Board of Agriculture: HIS EXCELLENCY AUSTIN BLAIR, Ex-Officio, PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD. HON. HEZEKIAH G. WELLS, of Kalamazoo, Kalamazoo County, VICE PRESIDENT. HON. DAVID CARPENTER, of Blissfield, Lenawee County HON. JUSTUS GAGE, of Dowagiac, Cass County, HON. ABRAHAM C. PRUTZMAN, of Three Rivers, St. Joseph County. REPORT. College, STATE AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE,} To His Excellency AUSTIN BLAIR, Governor of Michigan: I herewith present the Second Annual Report of the Secretary of the State Board of Agriculture, being for the year 1863. Very respectfully, Your ob't serv't, C. A. KENASTON, SECRETARY'S REPORT. The attention of the State Board of Agriculture has been, for the past year, mostly devoted to the State Agricultural Collège. Circumstances similar to those detailed in our last report, rendered it inexpedient to appoint a permanent Secretary of the Board. When that office shall be filled the duties of the Board will be enlarged, and its relations to the general interests of the Agriculture of the State will become more intimate. It is thought that the interests of the College and of Agriculture require that an appointment of Secretary soon be made. The location of the College has often been objected to, as being too remote from the more thickly settled parts of the State, and too difficult of access. It should be remembered that the selection of its site was confined to the vicinity of Lansing by act of Legislature. But the difficulty itself is fast being obviated. Lansing is now accessible by railroad from the north, and the line will soon join the Central road. The great Saginaw valley is rapidly filling under the newly developed resources of that region, and the villages along the Detroit and Milwaukie Railroad are rapidly increasing in population, so that Lansing bids fair to be, at no distant day, the geographic center of the general interests of the State. In undertaking the reorganization of the State Agricultural College, we have felt ourselves to be the agents of the people of the State. It is they, that have willed it into being; it is they whose interest in its welfare must ensure its success. Our personal interest is no more than that of any other citizen. Our care over it is unpaid. But for this we care not; for it is not an ordinary charge, but one connected with the general |