No. 123.] RErORT OF COMMISSIONER. 29 



Agricultural Fairs and Societies. 



The tremendous effort on war drives, relief work and in- 

 creased production, put forth by our public during the war, 

 consumed much of the resources normally expended on educa- 

 tional and encouragement work embodied in such institutions 

 as agricultural societies. In addition to this mobilization of 

 effort, the influenza epidemic constituted a further influence to 

 lessen attendance and interest. In fact, five agricultural so- 

 cieties were forced to cancel their shows. However, with the 

 return of peace a marked renewal of interest and enthusiasm 

 was exhibited by the public. I regret that I cannot state that 

 the same degree of enthusiasm was shown in the exhibits of live 

 stock and farm products. Markedly is this true of many of the 

 old-line societies. I do not hesitate to state that the small fair 

 situation constitutes a problem which is demanding our atten- 

 tion. The work is to be taken over by the director of the re- 

 cently established Division of Reclamation, Soil Survey and 

 Fairs, I look forward to a new era of co-operation and inti- 

 mate association with the agricultural societies, by which we 

 may be of greater service in the assistance and encouragement 

 of agriculture in our State. 



The amount of allotment made through the agricultural so- 

 cieties was determined for 1919 from the data and the reports 

 submitted by the inspectors in 1918. It is regretted that the 

 scoring of these societies cannot be completed by a single indi- 

 vidual, thus ensuring uniformity and an equitable criticism 

 brought about by a single point of view. It is obviously im- 

 possible to accomplish this, as the societies are widely distrib- 

 uted and their dates in many instances conflict. With the pur- 

 pose of obtaining, as far as possible, a single point of view, the 

 inspection of the agricultural societies was made largely by 

 members of the Department, making up the Committee on 

 Agricultural Prizes. A score card was drafted by members of 

 this committee, and through their intimate relationship a high 

 degree of uniformity was obtained, to the end that an equitable 

 distribution of the agricultural prize money is established for 

 1920. Much delay is entailed in our present system of pay- 

 ment of agricultural prize money. The Anti-Aid Amendment 



