xvi BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



literature and specific information. To meet this demand it 

 has been necessary to employ much additional office help during 

 the year, and this we have done to the full extent which our 

 funds would allow. 



We were very unfortunate this year in the loss of our first 

 clerk and of our assistant librarian. Mr. Howard N. Legate 

 died very suddenly on March 28, and Miss Grace C. Hall 

 passed away soon after that date. Mr. H. Linwood White, 

 second clerk, was promoted to the position of first clerk shortly 

 afterward, and Mr. Erwin H. Forbush was secured to fill the 

 position of second clerk, being under provisional appointment 

 by the civil service, until an eligible list should be established. 

 A competitive examination for this position was assigned by 

 the civil service for August 1, which Mr. Forbush passed, and 

 his permanent appointment followed. A similar procedure was 

 necessary in the case of the assistant librarian, and Miss May 

 A. Connerney now fills that position. In addition to the regular 

 office force it has been found necessary to procure additional 

 help very frequently, and two stenographers have been reg- 

 ularly employed during the last three months of the fiscal year. 

 Much work has been done upon the library, and the informa- 

 tion which it contains has thus been made available to a much 

 greater degree. This is a very important feature and should 

 have the entire attention of at least one individual. A recom- 

 mendation has been made for an increase in the appropriation 

 for extra clerical assistance which I trust will be favorably con- 

 sidered, and I would urge that the Board instruct its committee 

 on legislation to do everything possible to secure the favorable 

 action of the Legislature on this increase. This will provide 

 funds for the employment of a permanent stenographer, which, 

 with the intermittent employment of extra assistance, will be 

 sufficient for the present, although, if the work continues to 

 increase at the same rate which it has done during the last few 

 years, it will soon be necessary to have more office help. During 

 the year a new desk has been secured and the chief deputy 

 nursery inspector is now permanently located in the office, thus 

 greatly facilitating the nursery inspection work, but at the same 

 time further handicapping us for space in the office. This 

 fact, coupled with the loss of the private office of the secretary, 



