The Legislature
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MAINE STATE LEGISLATURE The following document is provided by the LAW AND LEGISLATIVE DIGITAL LIBRARY at the Maine State Law and Legislative Reference Library http://legislature.maine.gov/lawlib Reproduced from scanned originals with text recognition applied (searchable text may contain some errors and/or omissions) ----- :oocu~IENTS PRINTED BY ORDER OP THE LEGISLATURE OJ' TBll STATE OF ¥AINE, A. D. 1858. AUGUSTA: STEVENS .Ii SAYWARD, PRINTERS TO TllB STATE, 1858. SHORT HORN BULL "DUKE OF GLO'STER.'' (11,382,) For pedigree, see English Herd ·Book, volume 10th, page 58.-Imported by L. G. Morris and N. J.. Becar in 1854 ; now the property of Samuel Thorne, of Thornedale, Washington Hollow, Duchess·Co., N. Y. SECOND ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE MAINE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE, 18 57. AUGUSTA: STEVENS & SAYWARD, PRINTERS TO THE STATE, 1858. 130ARD OF AGRICULTURE-1857. STATUTE MEMBERS: Trrn GOVERNOR AND SECRETARY OF STATE, MEMBERS Ex-OFFICIIS. Society. Name. Androscoggin, ROBERT MARTIN. Aroostook, . JOSEPH D. PIKE. Cumberland, E. G. BUXTON. Franklin, J OSEPII KEITH. Kennebec, . IIoRACE PARLIN. Lincoln, EBENEZER COBB. Oxford, DARIUS FORBES. Penobscot, . E. F. CRANE. Piscataquis, CALVIN 0HA1\IBERLAIN. Sagadahoc, . CHARLES J. GILMAN. Somerset, . THOMAS FULLER. Washington, NATHAN p ATTANGALL. Waldo, THOMAS w. CUNNINGHAM. York, s. L. GOODALE. HONORARY MEMBERS: Bangor Horticultural, HENRY LITTLE. Maine Pomological, D. A. FAIRBANKS. North Penobscot, WILLIAM R. HERSEY. North Franklin, SEWARD DILL. North Kennebec, ISAAC W. BRITTON, South Kennebec, NATHAN FOSTER. Penobscot and Aroostook Union, 1\foRGAN L. GERRY, West Somerset, . w. B. SNOW. S. L. GOODALE, Secretary. STATE OF MAINE. An act to amend an act entitled "An act to establish a. Board of Agriculture." Be it enacted by the Senate and Ilouse of Representatives in Legislature assembled, as follows: SEcTJO;'( 1. The memhers of the Board of Agriculture, and the secretary thereof, shall continue in office until the expirntion of the term for which they were elected. SECT. 2. 'l'he State Board of Agriculture shall, after the expiration of the term of office of the present members, consist of members who shall be elected and chssiaed, as follows: one member may be elected by each incorporated agricultural and hort1cultuml society in the state, which maintains an annual exhibition, and expends not lc~s than one hundred and fifty dolhtrs in premiums for the encouragement of agriculture, horticulture and the arts connected therewith. Said members shall bold their office for the term of three years from the day of the anr,u,11 meeting of the board, next after their election, except as hereirn1fter provided, and slw,ll b0 elected 'Jy b,tllot at the annual meetings or fairs of such societies, or at any regular meeting thereof called for such purpose; and they shall receive :ind produce as evidence of membership, a certificate of election signed by tbe president and secretary of such society, and also acer tific,1te from the treasurer of the society, signed and sworn to, before a justice of the peace, that the society which he represents has actually expended during the previous year not less than one hundred and fifty dollars, as above re quired: prot'idcd, however, that if the annual exhibition ofsueh society shall have been, by the advice of the B,mrd of Agriculture, merged in that of the State Agricultural Society, the last named certificate shall not be required; and in case of any vacancy occurring in the representation of any society, the same may be filled by appomtmen t, by the president and secretary of such aociety. SECT. 3. At the next annual meeting of the Board of Agriculture, the members shall be divided as equally as m,1y be, into three classes. 'l'he term of office of the first class shall expire at the end of one year, of the second class at the end of two years, the members of each cl.tss to be designated by lot. SECT. 4. The Board of Agriculture shall meet at the State lfouse in Au gusta, anmnlly, ou the t,hird Wednesday of January, and they are hereby 6 DOARD OF AGIUCULTURE. empowered each year to elect a suitable person to act as secretary of the board, and to prescribe and determine his duties, and in case of vacancy by death or otherwise, the governor with advice of his council, is hereby empowered to fill the same. And all reports and returns required by law to be made by said societies, shall be made and returned to the secretary of said board. The compensation of the secretary shall be eight hundred dollars per annum, and such necessary traveling and incidental expenses as shall accrue in the dis-· charge of l1is duties, an account thereof being first audited and allowed by the governor and council. And the compensation of the members of the board shall be the s:tme as that of members of the legislature, for a term not exceed ing ten days, provided that if a member of the board shall also be a member or officer of the legislature, he shall receive compensation in but one capacity. SEcT. 5. It shall be the duty of s:,id board to investigate all such subjects relating to a6rieulture, horticulture and the arts connected therewith, in this state, as they nu1y think proper; and it is hereby empowered to take, hold in trust, and exercise control ovttrany donation or bequests that may.be made to it for promoting agricultural education, or the general interests of husbandr.Y; and the said board shall annually, on or before the first ·Wednesday of Janu ary, by ilJ secretary, submit to the legisfature a detailed report of its de,ings, together v;ith an abstract or digest of the returns of the several agricultural and horticultural societies and of such statistics as he may be able to collect, with such recommendations and suggestions as the interest of agriculture may be deemed to reqnire, and cause to be printed under his direction and control not more than t;;u thousand copies of the same, one thousand copies thereof being for the use of the lrg,islature, and the remainder for distribution under tlie direction o[ the board among the people of t11e state. SECT. G. Tho governor shall, from time to time, draw his warrant on the treasurer for :uch sums of money as may he necessary to defray the salaries and expenses provided for hy this act, an account thereof having buen first rendered by tho secretary of the. board, and audited by the executive council; and a sum 1ot exceeding one thousand seven hundred dollars annually is hereby "l·: iopriated to meet such expenses. Slier. 7. 1\ll ncts and parts of acts inconsistent with this act arc hereby repenJed. SECT. 8, This act shall take effect from and after ts approval by the governor. [Approved April 6, 1857.J REPORT. To the Senate and House of Representatives: PROMINENT among the duties of my office, is that of annually submitting a report, in part* embodying "such recommendations and suggestions as the interests of agriculture may be deemed to require." In the one which I had the honor to submit to you last year, after remarking upon the importance of agriculture, sketching the history of early efforts and of legislation in its behalf, and noticing some of its wants, the attempt was made to treat of its present condition and prospects among us. In viewing my field of labor for ~he present year, two paths seemed to invite attention; the one regard~ng the improvement of agriculture as it exists in the older parts of the State, the other having to do with the development of the agricultural resources and capabilities of such portions as are not yet settled. Of the urgent necessity of the former there can be no doubt, and equally certain is it, that such was the principal end aimed at in the establishment of this Board; yet in view of the fact that the State is possessed of a large extent of what is almost an unbroken wilderness, portions of which are reported to be rich and fortile in a high degree, but of which very little definite and reliable information seems to be gen erally diffused among our citizens, and or one of the signs of the times, to wit; that the tide of emigration westward, which for years past has operated so disastrously in draining our State of brains, money and muscles, is now partially stayed, and so a favorable "'The report of the doings of the Board at its last session, January, 1857, and which is also required, was prepared in season to be printed in connection with the " Abstract of Returns'' from the various agricultural societies in the State for 1850, which returns were received by me in December preceding, and it is consequently omitted here. 8 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. opportunity presented to invite anew, a candid and critical examina tion of the inducements offered by a judicious selection of virgin soil within our own borders, I do not feel at liberty to neglect the latter path, and accordingly propose herewith, first, to present such facts and considerations regarding a part of our newer territory, as I have been able to gather by personal observation and by inquiries instituted on the spot, and afterwards, to resume the consideration of agriculture in the State at large, viewed specially with regard to its defects and available modes of improvement. The portion of our unsettled territory which is believed at this time to present the greatest inducements to immigration, is what is known as the Valley of the Aroostook, together with a tract fifty miles, more or less, south of this, embracing the five easternmost ranges of townships, and which is drained in part by other tributa ries of the St.