JURISDICTION OF THE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 19 



would follow in consequence. Such is the importance of this great 

 industry that if you do anything in the way of legislation, either to 

 retard or advance it, it will be felt by every industr}' in the land. 



The Board of Agriculture was established for the purpose of ad- 

 vancing our whole farming interests. During these 3'ears which it 

 has been in existence, most nobh^ has it done its work. The yearly 

 Report of its doings which the Board sends out we may well be 

 proud of. No other State document in the land can just!}' claim 

 superiority. Since the establishment of the Board of Agriculture, 

 what advancement has been made in farraino; and in the management 

 of our farming operations ! What improvement in our stock hus- 

 bandry, in the methods of breeding and feeding stock, and in the 

 barns to shelter them ! What improvement has been made in the 

 implements with which we cultivate our farms ! The great business 

 of horse breeding has grown to such a degree of importance, that 

 our State now stands in the very front ranks of this industry. In 

 all this progress that has been made, without assuming an air of 

 importance, the Board of Agriculture can say, I am the pioneer ; I 

 have led the way. Her counsels have alwa3'S been wise and consid- 

 erate, and safe to follow. While the Board has been clothed with 

 some limited authority by which it could guard and guide our agri- 

 cultural interests, we do not hesitate to say that it should be clothed 

 with more authority. It is claimed, and we think justlj^ too, that 

 the administration of our Government should alwa}s be surrounded 

 by its friends in order to be successful. In this connection let me 

 ask who should surround our farming interests but its friends, but 

 the votaries of this calling. The Board of Agriculture should stand 

 at the head of all our agricultural interests. 



The Government of our State consists of three branches, viz : 

 a Legislative, an Executive and a Judiciar3\ And through the wis- 

 dom of our legislators we have established certain State Institutions. 

 In the interests of justice, and for the safet}' of societ}^, we have our 

 State Prison. In the interests of humanity we have our Insane 

 Hospital. That our wayward bo^'s ma\' be taught to turn their feet 

 into the paths of virtue and industr}' we have our State Reform 

 School. Over all these Institutions the State holds complete control 

 and we have no reason to be ashamed of the administration of the 

 affairs of an}' of these Institutions. For the benefit of our industrial 

 classes more particularly, we have our savings banks. The State 

 grants a charter b}' which they can do business, but holds over tliem 



