DAIRY AND SEED IMPROVEMENT MEETINGS. 165 



REPORT OF SECRETARY OF MAINE SEED IMPROVEMENT 



ASSOCIATION. 



Mr. President, Officers and Members of the Maine Seed 

 Improvement Association: 



I herewith present, for your consideration, a report of the 

 year's work, with such suggestions as may be of help to who- 

 ever may have charge of the inspection work the coming sea- 

 son. At the annual meeting a year ago and at a meeting of 

 the executive committee held in Bangor on March 23, last, it 

 seemed to be an almost unanimous opinion that the work of 

 Seed Improvement become more self-sustaining. It was also 

 voted that no seed of any kind should be sent out bearing the 

 tag of the Maine Seed Improvement Association and Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture, unless such seed was inspected and passed 

 upon at the time it was being sacked, or after it was placed in 

 the container in which it was to be shipped. It was much easier 

 for your executive committee to vote, as above, than it has been 

 for your secretary to carry it out. 



The number of acres entered and applied for entry in 1915 

 was more than there were funds available to take care of. It 

 thus became a case of either limiting this work to a small 

 amount each year or charging the actual cost of the inspection 

 work to those making entry. 



At the executive committee meeting, March 23, I was in- 

 structed to figure a schedule of prices for the field and final 

 inspection that would, as nearly as possible, make the work 

 self-sustaining. Taking the record of the work of 191 5 as a 

 basis, the following figures were submitted to the members of 

 the executive committee, for their approval: Fifty cents per 

 acre at the time of entry and $1 per acre for each field inspec- 

 tion, making, in the case of potatoes, a charge for the field work 

 of $2.50 per acre, and in the case of grain, a charge of $1.50 

 per acre. At the final inspection a charge of five cents per 

 barrel sack, or two cents per bushel, was made. These figures 

 were approved by your executive committee and the price for 

 work done the past season has been on the above basis. 



I wish to call the attention of all interested to the fact that, 

 while we have an appropriation of $1,000 per year for our 

 premium list and expenses of holding our annual meeting, we 



