CHAPTER XII 



A Progressive Society Dairy Education The Old Board of Agri- 

 culture Travelling Missioners The Mischievous Microbe. 



WHEN I first entered upon my duties 

 with the Bath and West Society its 

 operations were limited to the holding 

 of an Annual Show and the publication of an 

 Annual Journal. The Society's financial resources, 

 owing to previous losses on the shows, had become 

 somewhat impoverished, and, just previous to 

 my taking office, the Council appointed what 

 was termed " an economical committee " for the 

 purpose of seeing in what directions the expenses 

 could be reduced. This resulted in several drastic 

 curtailments. But shortly after this Fortune began 

 to smile upon the Society, and the luck changed, 

 beginning with the Bridgwater meeting to which 

 I have just referred. 



As soon as it was realized that an era of pros- 

 perity had set in, the Council enlarged its grants 

 to the various show committees, thus enabling 

 them to extend the scope of the Annual Exhibi- 

 tion in several directions, and especially by adding 

 to the prize-sheet some breeds of stock not pre- 

 viously recognized. Even before this the show 

 was more cosmopolitan in character than any 

 other gathering of its kind at that time, for, in 



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