88 BOARD OF AGRICULTUEE. 



Forestry Department is given to a special board. The live stock sanitary 

 system is removed from our domination, and otlier functions of the Board 

 have been taken away by the laws that have from year to year been added 

 to the statutes of the State. I do not believe that there is any reason or 

 a demand for a change in condition that will take away from the State 

 institutions as now constituted, any of their present rights or power. Few 

 States can boast of a better institution of its kind than Purdue, and I 

 take pleasure irr especially commending the agricultural section of the 

 school. I do not think that the management of the farmers' institutes 

 could be more successful than now, and I am of the opinion that the pres- 

 ent condition should remain imdisturbed. That these meetings, as now 

 conducted and stimulated by the liberal appropriation made by the last 

 Legislature, are working to an excellent end, all will admit. I hope to see 

 the present conditions continue, and that Prof. W. C. Latta, who has so 

 ably managed the meetings, and his able corps of assistants, will have the 

 hearty co-operation of this Board and all friends of agricultural advance- 

 ment everywhere. 



In harmony with the sentiment expressed at the meeting of the Dele- 

 gate Board in 1901, the State Board of Agriculture presented a memorial 

 to the General Assembly of 1901, asking that the sum of $41,000 be appro- 

 priated for the purpose of purchasing the 134 acres, that part of the State 

 Fair Grounds held by lease and under an option to purchase at the rate of 

 $300 an acre. The committee, made up of members of the State Board of 

 Agriculture, did their whole duty in the premises. The legislative com- 

 mittees, to whom the bills providing for the appropriation had been re- 

 ferred, both in the Senate and in the lower house, were almost unanimously 

 in favor of the measure, and favorable I'eports were made to their re- 

 spective houses by these committees. The sentiment expressed by the in- 

 dividual members of the Legislature, especially those who were interested 

 in agriculture, were so favorable that but little concern was felt, and it 

 was almost taken for granted that the appropriation would be made 

 without hesitation. But we had not taken into consideration an Important 

 and dominant feature in legislation, the political exigency. Our proposi- 

 tion was satisfactory, the State had the money to spare, but we were de- 

 feated because the game of politics demanded a different move. I think 

 that the State owes a more liberal support to the Board than it has re- 

 ceived in the past. Our sister States, for the asking, give liberal appropria- 

 tions for the purpose of making needed improvements upon their grounds 

 and for the maintenance of their boards. In Illinois and Ohio, with which 

 fairs we come in direct competition and are subject to comparison, liberal 

 appropriations amounting to nearly $900,000 have been made during the 

 last few years. This has made their State fair grounds what they should 

 be— permanent and commodious, attractive and comprehensive. 



At the meeting of the Board in September, after the close of the Fail', 

 I was instructed by a resolution unanimously adopted, to close a deal by 



