Official Document, No. 7. 



AN ACT ESTABLISHING THE 



DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



AN ACT 



To Establish a Department of Agriculture aud to Define its Duties 

 and to Provide for its Proper Administration. 



Section 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 

 tives of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in General Assembly 

 met, and it is hereby enacted by the authority of the same, That 

 there be and hereby is established a Department of Agriculture, to 

 be organized and administered by an officer who shall be known as 

 the Secretary of Agriculture, who shall be appointed by the Gov- 

 ernor, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, for a term 

 of four years, at an annual salary of three thousand five hundred dol- 

 lars, and who, before entering upon the duties of his office, shall take 

 and subscribe the oath prescribed in Article seven of the Constitu- 

 tion. Said Secretary shall be ex-officio secretary of the State Board 

 of Agriculture, and shall succeed to all the powers and duties now 

 conferred by law upon the secretary of said Board. 



Section 2. That it shall be the duty of the Secretary of Agricul- 

 ture in such ways as he may deem fit and proper, to encourage and 

 promote the development of agriculture, horticulture, forestry and 

 kindred industries; to collect and publish statistics and other in- 

 formation in regard to the agricultural industries and interests of 

 the State; to investigate the adaptability of grains, fruits, grasses 

 and other crops to the soil and climate of the State, together with 

 the diseases to which they are severally liable and the remedies there- 

 for; to obtain and distribute information on all matters relating to 

 the raising and care of stock and poultry; the best methods of pro- 

 ducing wool and preparing the same for market, and shall diligently 

 prosecute all such similar inquiries as may be required by the agri- 

 '^iiltural interests of the State and as will best promote the ends for 



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