202 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Jan. 



tion, and I will decide that all in the hall who desire to vote 

 on one side or the other shall have the privilege. Before 

 asking you to vote upon this question, I will read the 

 motion, as amended by the committee : " That proof of 

 the soundness of a stallion advertised for service should be 

 required by law, and that such proof should be a certificate 

 from a veterinary surgeon, and that the committee already 

 appointed shall be authorized to act for this convention 

 before the Legislature." 



Mr. Shaw. Is this to go forth as the vote of the Board 

 of Agriculture, or of the convention ? 



The Chairman. The vote of the convention. I rule that 

 all who are present in this meeting have a right to vote. 

 All those in favor of this resolution, as now amended and 

 read, will rise, and stand until counted. 



Thirty-five having voted in the affirmative and seven in 

 the negative, the chairman declared the resolution carried. 



The Chairman. As the time is getting late, unless there 

 is other business to come before the meeting, we are now 

 ready to listen to the address from the secretary of the State 

 Board of Agriculture of Connecticut, upon the question, 

 ' ' What can Legislation do for Agriculture ? " I have the 

 pleasure of introducing Mr. T. S. Gold, Secretary of the 

 Connecticut State Board of Agriculture. 



WHAT CAN LEGISLATION DO FOR AGRICULTURE P 



BY T. S. GOLD Or WEST CORNWALL, CONN. 



Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen : — I have com- 

 mitted to writing what I have to say to you to-day, that I 

 might not be induced to wander too much, and perhaps 

 weary your patience too long. Otherwise, I should have 

 preferred to have spoken as the ideas came to my mind ; 

 but, with the necessity of being brief, I have written the 

 few things I have to say. 



There is a great outcry about the depression of agricult- 

 ure, the decadence of agriculture, and, among the reasons 

 brought forward to account for this state of things, it is 

 charged that legislation operates injuriously to the farmer ; 

 that his rights are not duly considered ; that he is made to 

 bear an unequal and unjust share in the expenses of the 



