22 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



that position in the world to which they are by right en- 

 titled, the position taken by their representatives must be 

 in keeping therewith. 



The administrative duties should include the administra- 

 tion of laws enacted having a direct bearing upon agri- 

 culture, now frequently requiring the services of a special 

 commission. Such work as the suppression of contagious 

 diseases among animals, the destruction of insect pests, the 

 enforcement of laws against the fraudulent sale of imitation 

 dairy products, the promotion of horticulture, dairying, 

 forestry, wool growing, bee keeping and pomology, the 

 oversight of fair associations, regulating the sale of com- 

 mercial fertilizers and all similar supervision could well be 

 done by the boards of agriculture, or bureaus established 

 under their direction. This course will concentrate the 

 forces and accomplish greater results with less expense. It 

 will place the management of these different matters under 

 the direction of those who have a direct interest in the re- 

 sults, and will make the managers of each directly responsi- 

 ble to a board having some knowledge of such matters. 

 We would make the duties and powers of .boards of agri- 

 culture as broad as the name implies. 



Much can be done by boards of agriculture in popularizing 

 agriculture by advocating its advantages. The abandoned 

 farms of New England, about which so many thousand 

 pages have been written and printed, have been widely 

 advertised, and found many occupants through the adminis- 

 tration by boards of agriculture of laws enacted for this 

 purpose. 



In this same line we would make boards of agriculture 

 bureaus of information upon the condition and production 

 of the farms. To this end we would have them authorized 

 and provided with funds to take an annual census of the 

 farm property, farm stock, crops and the opportunities for 

 investment in agriculture. We would have included some- 

 thing in regard to the undeveloped water powers, mines 

 and forest areas, and we would annually publish this infor- 

 mation and distribute it widely. We believe that the faith- 

 ful administration of such laws would add to the prosperity 

 of the farmers, for the reason that anything that adds to the 



