^ 



THE GENESEE FAKMEK. 



obtain information from such countries ; to point out tlie advantage of introJucing any new staples, 

 seeds, and plants; to obtain, so far aa practicalile, annual statistical returns of the ooudition of agri- 

 culture tiirougliout the different States — all whieh information shall be published by said Society, and 

 form part of it« transactions. 



Tlie Executive Committee shall transact the general business of the Society. It shall consist of five 

 persons, who shall designate the time and place for exJiibitions, regulate the expenditures, and take 

 such supervisory charge of the business of the Society as may best promote its interests. . This body 

 shall elect its own chairman. Three members shall constitute a quorum. 



The Treasurer shall keep an account of all moneys, and shall pay bills only after they have been 

 audited by the Corresponding and Recording Secretaries, and a member of the Executive Committee, 

 and countersigned by the President of the Society or the Chairman of the Executive Committee. 



Corresponding Secretary. — The duty of this officer shall be to correspond with persons interested 

 in agriculture ; at each stated meeting lie shall read such portions of his correspondence as may be of 

 general interest; and it shall be his duty to carry out and advoaite the views of the Board of Agri- 

 culture, in obtaining, arranging, and publishing any information they may desire to have laid before 

 the agricultural commimity. 



Tlie Recording Secretary shall keep a record of the minutes of the Society, and of its Executive 

 Committee. 



Sec. 4 The annual meetings of this Society shall be held at the city of "Washington, on the first 

 Wednesday of February in each year, wlien all the officers of the Society for the ensuing year shall 

 be elected by ballot. The Kxecutive Committee, however, shall be competent, with the approbation 

 of the Society, to appoint occasional meetings, to be held at other points. Fifteen membere shall 

 constitute a quorum for business. 



Sec 5. Tliis Constitution may be altered at any annual meeting, by a vote of two-thirds of the 

 members in attendance, provided not less than fifty be present. 



The question of applying to Congress to establish a Bureau, or Department of Agri- 

 culture, was ably discussed in convention ; but the friends of governmental aid in that 

 direction unfortunately divided among themselves — some insisting that the great farm- 

 ing interest demands a cabinet minister far more than either the army, navy, or post 

 office department ; while others would go no further than Presidents Taylor and Fill- 

 more had recommended — i. e., create a clerkship under the Secretary of the Interior, 

 to be called an Agricultural Bureau. Both schemes were opposed by Gov. Steele, of 

 New Hampshire; Senator Douglas, of Illinois; Robinson, of Indiana; Thompson, of 

 Mississippi ; and many others. The following resolution, offered by Mr. John A. King, 

 of New York, was finally adopted : 



Resolved, That this Convention respectfully request Congress to take action upon the subject of 

 agriculture, and afford such efficient aid as in theur wisdom shall be best calculated to advance the 

 great interests of that branch of industry. 



This resolution, insisting on the duty of Congress to do something that shall " aftbrd 

 efficient aid to agriculture," passed unanimously — leaving it to the wisdom of the law- 

 making power to determine the way in which such assistance shall be rendered. 



So soon as all S-tate, County, and other agricultural societies, unite their streiigth, 

 they will command both Congress and State Legislatures, in a way not to be resisted, 

 to do all that ought to be done in behalf of the agricultural interest, which pays three- 

 fourths of all National and State taxes. It is only by a wise co-operation that the friends 

 of agriculture can do anytliing against the leaden rule of General Apathy. Let the 

 300 associations for the advancement of agriculture confederate under a federal head, 

 having a National Board of Agriculture, as provided in the Constitution, and their 

 success will be alike certain and brilliant. This will be a glorious achievement, and one 

 worthy of a nation of farmers who own the soil which they cultivate. To say that one 

 or two hundred thousand farmers in this free and happy country can not act harmoni- 

 ously together to promote the honor and increase the profits of their noble calling, is to 

 assail both their patriotism and their self-respect. Agriculturists Jove their profession, 

 and are ready to combine their individual efforts to elevate it, until there shall be at 

 least as many farmers in Congress as lawyers. Why not ? The youth in every rural 

 district in the United States greatly need good text-books on agricultural physiology, 



