394 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



Mr. Burton: I move that the Society request the exhibitors to make 

 this donation of the fruit to be presented to the members of the Legisla- 

 ture. 



The motion was seconded and carried, 



Mr. Burton: If we intend to make an exhibit at the St. Louis Expo- 

 sition we must be up and at it in earnest and with some of the vim the 

 Connecticut man shows. We ought to have a collector in every county in 

 the State. I want to volunteer to represent the counties of Lawrence and 

 Orange. I move that the secretary appoint in each county in the State a 

 man to make this collection. 



The motion was seconded and carried. 



Secretary Flick: I would suggest that all counties that are represented 

 here today by members send me the names of persons who will best do 

 this work. 



President Stevens: We have with us today Mr. Henry, our State Li- 

 brarian, who will occupy the time that had been assigned to Mr. Barnes. 

 He comes here to talk about the distribution of the State Library among 

 the people throughout the State. 



Mr. Henry: I simply want to speak upon this subject briefly. There 

 will be a bill presented before the next Legislature to permit us to lend 

 individual books to individual responsible citizens over the State. Other 

 States are doing this. Our State Library is an old one, as you know. 

 It was formed first in 1825. We have a collection now of more than 33,000 

 volumes. Many of these books you would not want; some of them you 

 would. We hope to have books soon that practically everybody in the 

 State will care for. A bill will be presented before the Legislature asking 

 them to so modify the law that we can lend the books in this way. If 

 this matter interests you I wish you would carry that interest to your 

 legislators and ask them to do what they can in this line. I shall see 

 them and ask them about it, but they will feel that this is my specialty 

 and they will not know whether the people of the State want it or not. 

 But if from one to six men will go to a legislator and asked to have his 

 support for this law, he will take it as a matter that affects his constitu- 

 ency and he will pay more attention to it than if I spoke to him about it a 

 hundred times. 



Other States are lending books in this way. They lend individual 

 books to individual citizens. We have a great many books in the library, 

 and expect to have a great many more, that will be of interest to the 

 farming communities. For instance: As soon as our money is sufficient 

 to do so, we will complete the records of registered stock, and then if you 

 wish to see them at your homes, you can do so. If you live a hundred 



