196 



MONTHLY JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURE. 



aal^abitants of the county, to act as marshals, at 

 •catlleshovvs and exhibitions; and they shall 

 Jiave and exercise all the powers of constabl s, 

 in relation to the preservation of the public 

 5pea,ce, and the service and execution of criminal 

 'process, within the towns, respectively, where 

 much shows and exhibitions may be held ; and 

 any such criminal process may be directed to 

 them accordingly ; and they shall exercise their 

 •eaid office from twelve o'clock at noon of the day 

 jprecedina: the commencement of such shows 

 and exhibitions, until twelve o'clock at noon of 

 id\e day succeeding the termination thereof, and 

 aao longer. 



[Act of Feb. 25, 1842, Chap. 31.] 

 ^N ACT RELATING TO RETURNS FROM AG- 

 RICULTURAL SOCIETIES. 



Section 1. No Agricultural Society which, 

 Kja the first day of April, in the year one thou 

 eaiid eis^ht hundred and fortj--two, shall have 

 neglected to make returns to the Secretary of 

 ahe Commonwealth, as recjuired by the first and 

 fourth sections of the forty-second chapter of the 

 2ievised Statutes, shall be entitled to receive the 

 allowance from the Commonwealth, as therein 

 provided. 



$ 2. No Agricultural Society which shall not 

 J\ave made returns to the office of the Secretary 

 <of tlie Commonwealth within the month of Jan- 

 aiary, in the year one thousand eight hundred 

 and forty-three, and within the month of Janu- 

 :ary in each succeeding year thereafter, as re- 

 •tjaired by the sections of the Revised Statutes 

 saentioned iu the preceding section, shall be en- 

 titled to receive any aid from the Common- 

 ■wealth. 



[Art of March 7, 1845, Chap. 111.] 



AN ACT REQUIRING ADDITIONAL RETURNS 



FROM AGRICULTURAL SOCIETIES. 



Section 1.* Every Agricultural Society en- 

 titled to receive money from the treasury of the 

 Commonwealth shall, in addition to the return 

 ■of premiums paid, now required to be made in 

 the month of January, make full returns of their 

 <doiags into the office of the Secretary of State, 

 .loa or before the first day of January, in every 

 year — embracing all reports of committeei?, and 

 Sill statements of experiments and cultivation, 

 •■deemed, .by the officers of the several Societies, 

 ■worthy of publication. 



^ 2. The Secretary of each Society, whether 

 iiis retura be iii printed or manuscript form, .shall 

 aaiark, in a manner to be easily distinguished, 

 aiiosie passages in the several reports and state- 

 aneuls which he regards as most worthy of pub- 

 lilc notice, study ajid application. 



^ 3. The Secretary of State is directed to 

 ttrausmit a copy of this Act to the Secretary of 

 MSvery incorporated ALrricviltural Society in the 

 't'jjHjmonwealth, on or before the first day of 

 ."Septcm'ber, ■184.1. 



<5 4. The Secretary of State is hereby dircct- 



* It has been made s question whether this section 

 jnxyvides for an additiomil ntnrn. into the SecretHry's 

 djflice, to that required in the fourth section of cbai)- 

 fter 42 of the Revi.sod Statutes, or whether the ineor- 

 raoralion, into the old form of return, of the infornia- 

 anon speeitied in the new, is ii suliieient foniplianre 

 •with the law. The former api)enrs to be the eoneel 



"-.- _....; — ^e •u,. ...^..mit l;i.>ii,»^ 'I'ti/, »-#'MirTi nil. 



•der 



;ary, am 



11 lilt; inv*. I in. i\ntiiK,L ..j^j.v.... .. ..^ ..^. ..-- 



•rpretation of the recent statute. Tlie return un- 



the old law must be made in the month of .lanu- 



ry, and may be made on any day of that nionih. — 



TJie return under tlie new law may he made ai any 



aime before .lariuary, hut ci.rinot be made later than 



nhiC first day of that ii:onth. 



(436) 



ed to cau.se as full an ab.slract from said returns 

 to be made and published in each j-ear, for dis- 

 tribution, as in his judgment will prove useful. 



§ 5. Any Agricultural Society which shall 

 neglect, in any year, to comply with the provis- 

 ions of this act, shall forfeit its claim to bounty 

 from the Coirmouwealth the succeeding year. 



§ 6. Any paits of passed acts inconsistent 

 with the provisions of this are hereby repealed. 



The present publication is the first which 

 has taken place under the authoiity of the 

 Act of 184.1. The Societies have all com- 

 plied with its provisions so far as to furnish a 

 summary of their proceedings for the year ; 

 but more tlian half (if them have neglected 

 that part of the law which requires them to 

 mark those passages deemed by their Secre- 

 taries worthy of the public notice, sttidy and 

 application. All the returns were made 

 within the legal time, with the exception of 

 that of the Society in Bristol. 



Of these retunis, the most complete is that 

 of the Essex Agi'icultural Society, which, 

 from its long experience in publishing annu- 

 ally a volume of its transactions, has attained 

 to a high rank in the fullness of its reports 

 and the exactness of its statements. The 

 ^Vorceste^ and the I'lpnouth Societies' re- 

 ttinis are also highly satisfactory. The 

 Hampden vSociety, consideiiiig its youth, 

 (it having been established but two years.) 

 has made a ven^' credit;ible return of its do- 

 ings. The officers of all the Societies have 

 appeared desirous of furthering the design of 

 the Legislature in enacting the law of last 

 year, by making as full a return as the char- 

 acter of their proceedings admits. 



The object of the law obviously is, to bring 

 together the practical knowledge of our best 

 fanners, horticulturists and nnmufacturers, in 

 their respective branches of labor. In order 

 to secure a valuable volume of this descrip 

 tion, the Legislature of New-York, in a law 

 simiLn- to our own on this subject, requires 

 of all Agricultural Societies receiving the 

 bounty of the State, that " before any pre- 

 miuni" shall be delivered, the person claiming 

 the same, or to whom the same may be 

 awarded, shall dehver in writing, to their re- 

 spective officers, as ttccurate a description of 

 the proct^ss in jneparing the soils, including 

 the (piaiitity Jiud qtitility of the intiiuire !ij>- 

 l)lied, and in raising the crop or feeding the 

 animal, ;us may be ; and also of the expense 

 and piodtict of the crop, or of the increase in 

 value of ihe aniintds. with the view of show- 

 ing acctirtitely the i)rotit of ciiltiviiting the 

 crop or feeding or fattening the animal." Our 

 sttilut;- establishing Agriciilttiral Societies tmd 

 gr:mting to them pectniiary aid, makes no 

 provisioti for the collee-ting of infonntition on 

 these points, rerhaps it was thought that 

 the Trustees of these Societies would secure 

 the iiccoiniili.shinent of the object, so far as it 

 might be deemed de>irable, by reguhilions of 

 their own. And we iind. in fact, that several 

 of the Societies, at least, do retjuire accurate 

 statements of this description from claimaJiU 



