No. 7. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 165 



heartily wish that this convention may place it within the power 

 of the Executive Committee or of the Secretary himself to call a 

 meeting of the State Board of Agriculture on Tuesday, so as to give 

 rioom for the other meetings to follow, and I do not know but it 

 would be proper to make a motion to that effect to call a meeting 

 on Tuesday. 



MR. SEXTON: Mr. Chairman, does not the law fix the time when 

 the meeting of the State Board of Agriculture is to take place? 



The SECRETAEY: My impression of the matter is that the law 

 gays that the election of officers shall take place on the fourth 

 Wednesday of January, at the annual meeting of the Board in the 

 city of Harrisburg. I do not think that there is anything in the 

 act of Assembly that prohibits our going into session on Tuesday 

 only so that we are in session on Wednesday when the election must 

 take place. 



A Member: Mr. Chairman, has the State Board any by-laws? 



The SECRETARY: I believe that the State Board does not have 

 any written by-laws. Secretary Edge, I think, at the last annual 

 meeting made the statement that there arc no written by-laws. 



MR. HERR: Mr. Chairman, I think wo have certain by-laws to 

 regulate our admission and so on; but I think the Secretary is mis- 

 taken in his stating that the law creating the Board of Agriculture 

 simply says that we must hold our election on Wednesday; I think 

 it says that the Board shall convene on the fourth Wednesday in 

 January at which time the annual election shall be held. We could 

 hold the election on Thursday if we wanted to, but that is the date 

 fixed for our meeting. I do not know that there is anything in the 

 law to prohibit us from having a special day; but I know this, that 

 inasmuch as the State Board of Agriculture is the recognized body 

 of the State to hold these meetings, and the other Associations are 

 not State associations, we should not divide up all our time and give 

 too much of it to other organizations. We have now at our dis- 

 position a fund to pay for our annual meeting and to secure lec- 

 turers, and we are willing that that fund shall go to a certain ex- 

 tent where 'Our friends want it to go in the line of stock breeding, 

 dairying, and so on, that are so closely connected with the line of 

 agriculture, and that is as appropriate to our work as it is to theirs, 

 but I am opposed to cutting up any part of the time that should 

 properly belong to our meeting. I won't oppose the motion to 

 meet on Tuesday, but I shall oppose the motion to adjourn before 

 the evening session on Wednesday. Sometimes some of us have 

 to miss some of those sessions; it has been customary for the trus- 

 tees of the college to meet on Tuesday evening preceding the meet- 

 ing of the Board of Agriculture because a good many of the trus- 

 tees are members of the Board of Agriculture and are interested in 

 the meetings of the Board of Agriculture. The suggestion was that 

 we adjourn Wednesday afternoon and give them Wednesday even- 

 ing and Thursday. I do not see why their meeting cannot convene 

 on Thursday morning instead of taking part of the one day that 

 the law requires the Board of Agriculture to meet. 



