Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 8.djvu/346

 338 GEORGE H. HIMES. On motion, it was "Resolved, That a committee be appointed to present a petition to the Legislative Assembly of Oregon, at its next session, praying that body to appropriate money for the support of this society and the formation of county agricul- tural societies; and that the said committee be, and it is hereby instructed, to accompany said petition with such a representation of facts, as the basis of it, as shall be deemed most likely to accomplish the object sought." J. Quinn Thornton, William H. Eector and L. E. V. Coon were appointed the committee referred to. The foregoing is the substance of the business transacted at the meeting for organization. In response to the invitation by the Agricultural Society the executive committee of the Oregon Fruit-Growers' Associa- tion, composed of Messrs. Thomas T. Eyre, William Ruble and Ashby Pearce, on April 7, 1860, issued a call for a meeting of the entire committee to be held on September 10, following, to take action upon the invitation. This resulted in its acceptance, which act dissolved the "Oregon Fruit- Growers' Association," and its funds went into the treasury of the State Agricultural Society. April 8, 1860, J. Quinn Thornton, chairman of the com- mittee to prepare a petition praying for State aid through the legislature, made a strong plea in support of the measure and quoted the examples of Alabama, California, Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, New York, and Ohio all giving State aid from $2,000 to $5,000 annually. He also declared that he could not vote for any man who would not pledge himself to support such a measure. Among other things Mr. Thorn- ton said: "Most men perceive that some decided action has become necessary to give a new impetus to farming in Oregon. Its languishing condition causes every other industrial pur- suit to suffer. Any measure which tends to place the arts of agriculture upon a solid basis is wise and beneficent. ' ' On September 10, 1860, a second meeting of the Oregon Agricultural Society was held in Salem, with William H. Rector presiding. The constitution was revised to some ex-