records and all other documents, machinery, appUances or equipment in 

 the possession of the said board shall be delivered to said department. 

 All the present emplo^'^ees of the said board shall continue as temporary 

 appointees to perform their usual duties upon the same terms and condi- 

 tions as heretofore, and shall be eligible for appointment by said depart- 

 ment, or by the commissioner of said department, without further civil 

 service examination. 



Section 2. The state department of agriculture shall consist of a 

 commissioner, to be known as the commissioner of agriculture, and four- 

 teen associate members, to wit: — one from each of the several counties 

 of the commonwealth. The governor with the advice and consent of the 

 council shall appoint four of said associate members for terms of three 

 years, five for two years, and five for one year. The initial terms of said 

 appointees shall begin on the first day of September in the year nineteen 

 hundred and eighteen. As the term of each member expires, the governor 

 shall in like manner appoint his successor for a term of three years, shall 

 fill any vacancy for the unexpired term, and may for cause at any time, 

 with the consent of the council, remove any associate member. At their 

 first meeting after qualification the associate members shall elect the com- 

 missioner for a term of three years beginning with the first day of Septem- 

 ber, nineteen hundred and eighteen, and at the expiration of the term 

 shall elect his successor, and may at any time fill a vacancy in the office 

 for the unexpired term. The associate members may for cause at any 

 time remove the commissioner. The principal vocation of at least eight 

 of the associate members shall be agriculture. 



Section 3. The commissioner shall receive an annual salary of three 

 thousand dollars. The associate members shall receive their actual 

 travelling expenses and ten dollars for each day of actual service. The 

 department shall have suitable quarters in the state house, and shall 

 meet whenever called together by the commissioner, and meetings shall 

 be called at any time upon the request of five or more associate members. 



Section 4. The office of secretary of the state board of agriculture, 

 existing under authority of said chapter eighty-nine and amendments 

 thereof, is hereby aboUshed. All the rights, powers and duties pertain- 

 ing to the said office are hereby transferred to, and shall hereafter be 

 vested in and exercised by the commissioner of agriculture, who shall be 

 the administrative and executive head of the state department of agri- 

 culture. 



Section 5. So much of this act as provides for the appointment of 

 the members of the state department of agriculture, and the election of 

 the commissioner of agriculture, shall take effect upon its passage. The 

 remainder shall take effect on the first day of September in the current 

 year. [Approved May SI, 1918. 



