256 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



commencement in June. Other committees have had meet- 

 ings to attend to the duties assigned them hy the Board. 

 The memliers of the Dairy Bureau meet every month. 

 Members of the Board have attended forty-three institutes, 

 "hy request of the secretary, in addition to those hehl l)y 

 their own societies. 



The societies have hekl one hundred and thirty-three insti- 

 tutes, and speakers have been furnished through this office 

 for seventy-eight of them, at an expense of $662.39. Nearly 

 every meml)er of the Board has attended, as delegate of the 

 Board, one feir other than that held by the society he repre- 

 sents on the Board. All the fairs continue at least two days, 

 so that, adding the time spent in travel to and from, an 

 average of at least three days for each member is occupied 

 by this duty. Two members of the Board of Agriculture 

 serve on the Board of Control of the State Agricultural 

 Experiment Station. This Board holds quarterly meetings, 

 and the members serve without compensation. 



One other matter of business should not be passed over. 

 While the Board of Agriculture is not strictly a State de- 

 partment, it is practically such, and the secretary is expected 

 to attend to matters of interest in agriculture and to agri- 

 culturists which come before the Legislature, during the five 

 or six months of the annual session. The legislative com- 

 mittee on agriculture continuallj^ calls u})on the secretary 

 for information and explanations ; the Governor and other 

 State officers call on the secretary and clerks for the same 

 purpose ; and officers of farmers' organizations and individ- 

 uals frequently come to the office for information and advice 

 on the bearing of legislation upon their duties and })rivileges, 

 and for assistance when matters of interest to them are to 

 come before the connnittees of the Legislature. In addition 

 to all official duty, there are numerous callers to assist and 

 entertain, (juestions and letters of inquiry to answer, and 

 innumerable other matters that need attention and take time. 



This paper has been prepared in order that the agricult- 

 urists of the State may learn something of the work of the 

 Board and its employees. The work of the office has won- 

 derfully increased in the past few years. The Legislature 

 has yearly imposed new duties, and the secretary has sought 



