220 TBINIDAD AND TOBAGO BULLETIN. [XVIIL 4. 



Society. The affairs and funds of the Society are administered by a 

 Committee of which the Governor is Chairman. The Committee has 

 power to make rules and regulations for the management of the Society 

 including the conditions of membership and the appointment of members 

 of the Committee. The Secretary is appointed by the President and 

 may not be a member of the Society. The funds of the Society consist 

 of subscriptions and fees of members and such annual grant as may be 

 voted by the Legislative Council, but the law provides that the grant must 

 not be less than d6400. 



Since 1895, the Society has received from Government an annual 

 grant of j£600. The amount raised by subscriptions of members is about 

 £100 a year. The Society holds monthly meetings in Port-of-Spain at 

 which matters of agricultural interest are discussed, and the greater 

 part of its funds are expended in organising agricultural shows and 

 exhibitions in Port-of-Spain and in the country districts, and in publishing 

 a monthly journal which is supplied free to members. These shows ai'e 

 well attended and have done much to encourage improved methods of 

 cultivation among peasant proprietors. 



DISTEICT AGRICULTURAL SOCIETIES. 



23. In connection with the Society, District Agricultural Societies 

 have been established in several country districts. A District Society 

 pays an annual affiliation subscription of 10/- to the parent Society, in 

 return for which it is entitled to be represented by one of its members 

 at any meeting of the parent Society, and its members also receive the 

 Proceedings of the parent Society free of charge. 



The Agricultural Society and the affiliated District Societies do much 

 useful work in disseminating knowledge and stimulating interest in 

 agricultural matters especially among tde small proprietors. 



AMALGAMATION OF STAFFS OF DEPARTMENT AND 



BOARD. 



24. 1 now turn to proposals for re-organization. The most urgent 

 need in any scheme of re-organization is the abolition of the present 

 system of dual control and the unification of the separate staffs of the 

 Department and Board of Agi-iculture. Such an amalgamation would 

 not only result in greater efficiency bj- facilitating concentration of 

 effort and eliminating the risk of rivalry, but it would also lead to 

 economy of stafl through the combination of the separate correspon- 

 dence and accounts of the two organizations. 



During the time it has been in existence the work of the Board of 

 Agriculture has been of the greatest benefit to the agricultural interests 

 of the Colony, and it is highly desirable that its usefulness should in no 

 way be impaired. 



To enable the Department of Agriculture to fulfil the purposes for 

 which it was created it must possess the confidence of the agricultural and 

 planting community. The Board of Agriculture has served to keep the 

 Department in close touch with the needs of agriculture by giving the 

 planters opportunities of expressing their views as to the work of the 

 Department, and it is highly desirable that the Board should continue 

 to perform this useful function. 



