No. 4.] REPORT OF SECRETARY. xiii 



1. Stock sent into the State is now required by law to be 

 accompanied by a certificate. No penalty attaches if trans- 

 portation companies receive stock not so accompanied. A 

 section should be added, requiring all transportation com- 

 panies to refuse to ship stock not accompanied by an unex- 

 pired certificate under penalty. 



2. All stock shipped in the State should be accompanied 

 by certificate. 



3. At present no officer is assigned to prosecute violations 

 of this law. This should be corrected. 



Committee on Changes in Laws. 

 The committee appointed at the last special business 

 meeting of the Board held at North Adams to consider and 

 report changes in the laws of the Commonwealth relating 

 to apiculture and the aOTicultural societies has org-anized 

 and begun its investigations. The work cannot be done 

 hurriedly and be well done ; a thorough revision and codi- 

 fication of the agricultural laws, with such changes as seem 

 wise to meet the circumstances of the present and the needs 

 of the future, is the intended Avork of this committee. 



Farmers' Institutes. 



The call for institute work during the year was greater 

 than ever before, and so many were the calls that a defi- 

 ciency appropriation will have to be asked for. This is in 

 part accounted for by the fact that the deficiency of last 

 year was taken from this year's appropriation, and also to 

 the new ruling of the Auditor, separating the appropria- 

 tions for lectures before the Board and for the dissemination 

 of information in agriculture. These appropriations have 

 formerly been used interchangeably, an overplus in the 

 former making up for a slight deficiency in the latter. 

 Nevertheless, the time has come when there should be an 

 increased appropriation for institute work, as it must go 

 forward and not backward, and our farmers are calling for 

 these meetings with more and more of insistence. 



During the year 1902, 120 farmers' institutes Averc held 

 under the direction and control of this Board. All of the 



