tion of a permanent fund, which shall yield at least an annual interest of one thousand dollars, to be distributed in premiums, or otherwise, as may best promote the interest of husbandry, and to be regulated and restricted in such a manner as to your Honorable Body may seem just and proper.

On motion of J. T. Gower the petition was adopted.

On motion of Mr. Hall a Committee of one was appointed to present the petition to the Legislature.

The Chair appointed Mr. Armstrong, said Committee.

Essays were read by the following gentlemen: Stephen Reynolds, H. M. Whitney, Rev. E. Johnson, W. H. Pease.

Also letters from Thos. Miller, of Hilo, and Rev. T. E. Tayler of Lahaina.

On motion of Mr. Bond, a vote of thanks was returned to those gentlemen who prepared and read Essays to the Society, and copies requested for the archives of this Society.

Messrs. Parsons and Torbert presented verbal statements of the extent of agricultural productions of the Island of Maui.

On motion of Mr. Bond-voted, that the thanks of the society be presented to Messrs. Parsons and Torbert, for their interesting reports, and that they be requested to reduce the same to writing, that they may be deposited with the permanent documents of the Society. Adjourned to Thursday at 9 A. M.

FOURTH DAY.

Adjourned meeting, August 15-10 A. M.

The Recording Secretary being absent, the minutes of the last meeting were read by the Corresponding Secretary.

The Chairman announced that Gen. Wm. Miller had requested that his name might be recorded as a Life Member of the Society.

On motion of Mr. Hall-Voted, that Gen. Miller be added to the Committee on Fences, and that he be requested to act as Chairman of that Committee.

On motion of Mr. Armstrong-Voted, that the natives throughout the Islands, be invited to co-operate with this Society in carrying out its designs, and that a committee of one from each of the large Islands, be appointed to propose to them the formation of Societies auxiliary to this, and to aid them in their formation, and that all Missionaries

throughout the Islands be requested to aid the committee in the formation of these auxilliary societies.

On motion of Mr. Marshall-Voted, that the chairman of the same Committee be instructed to issue a circular to the native population inviting them to unite with this society, or to co-operate with it through auxilliary associations.

The Chair appointed Messrs. R. Armstrong, J. S. Green, Titus Coan, H. R. Hitchcock, G. B. Rowell.

On motion of Mr. Armstrong-Voted, that a Committee of five be appointed by the Chair, to report at the next annual meeting upon the subject of Trees and Grasses. The Chair appointed Messrs. Duncan, Bailey, Pease, Whitney, and Judd.

On motion of Mr. Parsons-Voted, that a Committee of three be appointed by the Chair to report at the next annual meeting upon the subject of food for laborers. The Chair appointed Messrs. A. W. Parsons, R. W. Wood, and J. S. Emerson.

The President read a letter from Robert C. Janion, Esq., requesting that his name might be recorded as a Life Member of the Society. On motion of Mr. Castle, it was Voted, that Mr. Janion be added to the Committee on Agricultural Implements.

The President read a communication from Mr. G. M. Robertson on the culture of the Grape and of Tobacco.

On motion of Mr. Castle-Voted, that the thanks of the Society be presented to Mr. Robertson for his communication, and that a copy be requested to be placed with the permanent documents of the Society. Dr. Wood read a communication upon the history of the culture of the sugar cane.

On motion of Mr. Castle, it was voted that the thanks of this Society be presented to Dr. Wood for his communication, and that a copy be requested to be placed among the permanent documents of the Society. Individuals recommended as corresponding members.

By Judge Lee-Dr. Johnson, of Tahiti, Hon. Daniel Lee, of Geo. United States.

By Rev. S. C. Damon-Wm. Hooper, Esq., San Francisco.

By R. H. Bowlin-Hon. T. Ewbank, Commissioner of Patents, Washington, U. S.

On motion, is was-Voted, that the transactions of this Society be published annually in periodical form, and that Rev. Sam'l C.

Damon, E. Bond, Corresponding Secretary, and R. H. Bowlin, Recording Secretary, be appointed a committee to carry into effect the foregoing resolution this year.

The Society then took up the subject of importing foreign labor which elicited a spirited discussion, in which Messrs. Lee, Gower, Castle, Hall, Parsons and others participated.

Adjourned to 3 P. M.

EVENING SESSION-August 15, 3 P. M.

The minutes of the last meeting were read and approved.

The subject of importing foreign labor was again taken up and a long and interesting discussion ensued, during which many practical hints were thrown out. The subject was finally laid over.

On motion-Resolved, the thanks of this Society be tendered the Government for the use of the building in which it met.

On motion of Mr. Hall-Resolved, that Messrs. Armstrong and Clark be requested to publish the proceedings of this Society in the native language.

On motion of Mr. Castle-Resolved, that the Editors of the Polynesian, Times, Elele and Friend be requested to publish the proceedings of this Society in their respective papers.

On motion of Mr. Hall-Resolved, that the Vice Presidents on their respective Islands be requested to use their best exertions to secure members to the Society.

Resolved-That when we do adjourn, we adjourn to meet again on the 2nd Monday in August, 1851.

On motion-Resolved, that the thanks of the Society be presented to the following individuals, for the exhibition of specimens of stock, vegetables, fruit, &c.

John Meek, Samuel Thompson, H. A. Pierce & Co., A. Paki, Paul Manini, James F. B. Marshall. Mrs. Ladd, Alexander Adams, John C. Jones, R. W. Wood, J. T. Gower, L. L. Torbert, H. M. Whitney On motion, adjourned.

ADDRESS.

Delivered by WM. L. LEE, Esq.

This is no common gathering. In a small Island of the Pacific, which thirty years ago was buried in the darkness of heathenism and scarcely known to the most civilized portions of the earth, in a country whose uplands were then slumbering in the almost unbroken rest of ages, and whose lowlands knew little culture but that of the kalo patch, there has this day assembled the planter who counts his hundreds of acres of sugar cane and coffee trees-the farmer raising cargoes of vegetables for California, and the herdsman who gathers in his folds a thousand cattle. Indeed this is no every day assemblage. Who in the days of the distinguished discoverer of these islands,—of the great and good Vancouver, or in the still later times of the arrival of the American Missionaries on these then savage shores, would have dared to predict that in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and fifty, there would gather in these ends of the earth, from Europe and from Asia-from North and South America-from Old England and from New England, such a body as we now see! Who at that time would have staked his reputation on such a prophesy? Verily, my friends, I hail this assemblage with joy! I hail it, if it prove successful in the objects for which we have come together, as the dawn of a new era in the history of the Sandwich Islands. I hail it as an advancing step towards the thorough civilization of the Hawaiian race and the security of its national prosperity and independence. An advancing step, I say; for great as is the contrast presented to us between the present and thirty years ago, in the view we have just taken, I venture to predict that those who shall fill our places thirty years hence, will see a far greater one between that time and the year 1850. They will see our vallies blooming with coffee and fruit trees-our barren hill-sides waving with luxuriant cane fields—our worthless plains irrigated and fruitful, and the grass huts now scattered over our land replaced by comfortable farm houses. This is the day of small things in the agriculture of the Hawaiian Islands, but by no means is it a day to be despised. Let us improve it by doing a work not to be forgotten when

we are gone. By forming an institution to be perpetuated by its blessings, and for which the generations to come will remember us with .gratitde.

I propose to spend the time allotted me on this occasion in a few re marks on the necessity for and the objects of the Society proposed ; and then pass to the consideration of the dignity and importance of agriculture, and the necessity for its encouragement as a source of national prosperity and independence.

The necessity for the formation of an Agricultural Association in these Islands is too obvious to need more than a word. The cultivators of the soil, scattered as they are from Kau to Waioli, points, which, owing to the slow and uncertain movements of our inter-island navigation, are more distant from each other than England and the United States, with little or no opportunity of communicating with each other, live bound to their fields, in ignorance of their co-workers on other islands-in ignorance of each others advantages and disadvantages, improvements or wants, and with many of their best sympathies dwarfed and dormant. This is clearly wrong, and the exists an imperative necessity for reform. The agricultural interests of this group stand pre-eminent in importance, and its Representatives should at least meet once a year to aid in their promotion. To prosper, the farmers of this Kingdom need what they have never had, namely, an organization. One which shall bring them acquainted with each other's improvements, and means of procuring, securing and economising labor. One which shall give them a community of feeling—a singleness of purpose, and concert of action. One which shall serve as a head—a well regulated head, by which their operations may be guided, and through which they may speak as with the voice of one man. Το supply these wants, is one of the great objects of the proposed association. It has other objects not less important, among which, are the promotion of friendly and social intercourse, the mutual bestowment of assistance and the interchange of kind offices, the awakening of a spirit of industry and frugality; and the diffusion of light and knowledge throughout the Islands in relation to every branch of agriculture. Nor is this the end of benefits expected to flow from this association. It is intended by the judicious distribution of premiums, to arouse the people to a laudable ambition in the growth of finer and larger crops, the introduction of new seeds, plants, and better agricultural implements, the importation of new breeds of cattle and the improvements of those