TWELFTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART X 459 



form of public education to establish and conduct successfully a county 

 fair that shall be free from the objectionable features that have too 

 frequently been permitted in the past, an exhibition that shall possess 

 only desirable characteristics such as shall interest, entertain, and 

 instruct. 



ORGAXIZATION FOR A COUNTY FAIK. 



The organization to be most effective should be a legal body with full 

 authority for conducting the business of the association. Perhaps the 

 best method for securing this is by a State law providing that if a 

 minimum number of citizens subscribe to a form of agreement or con- 

 stitution and pay annually into their treasury a certain per capita sum, 

 and hold annually a minimum number of open meetings in the interest 

 of agriculture, and shall file a copy of their constitution and by-laws, 

 together with a list of their membership, with the auditor general of the 

 State and with the court of record of the county, the organization thus 

 effected shall be a body corporate in law and entitled to the exercise 

 of the powers and be subject to the obligations prescribed by the act 

 of assembly providing for such associations. 



The act might set forth in definite terms the following items: 



Membership. — Men and women over 21 years of age, resident of the 

 county, shall be eligible to membership upon subscribing to a constitu- 

 tion embodying the terms of the act of assembly relating to county fairs, 



and upon the payment of an initiation fee of $ , and annual dues of 



at least $ . The minimum number necessary to organize not to be 



less than . 



Officers. — The officers of the association shall be a president, a vice 

 president, a secretary, a treasurer, and an executive committee composed 



of persons, two of whom shall be the president and secretary of the 



association, all to be elected by ballot at the annual meeting of the asso- 

 ciation by the qualified members thereof from their membership, to 

 hold office for one year or until their successors are chosen, except, that 

 the secretary and the treasurer may be from outside of the member- 

 ship, and that the secretary shall be elected for three years or until his 

 successor is chosen. 



Special Comviittecs. — The form of organization should provide for 

 special committees, as committees on schools, roads, and similar sub- 

 jects of rural interest, and also for the appointment of superintendents 

 of departments, clerks, assistants, and other employees necessary for 

 carrying on the work of the association. 



Siupervision by State Board. — There should be general oversight 

 of the county associations by the secretary of the State board or depart- 

 ment of agriculture, who should be empowered to fix the dates for the 

 annual exhibitions so as to avoid conflicts, and to this end he should 

 district the State into sections or circuits, limiting them to a size that 

 will enable the fairs in each section to be held wihin the brief season 

 at which fairs are usually held, without interfering with each other, and 

 to have them come in such consecutive order as will require of officers 

 and exhibitors the least amount of travel and inconvenience to attend. 



