REORGANIZATION OF THE COLLEGE.

[Act No. 188, Laws 1861.]

AN ACT to reorganize the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, and to establish a State Board of Agriculture.

SECTION 1. The People of the State of Michigan enact, That a board is hereby constituted and established, which shall be known under the name and style of "the State Board of Agriculture." It shall consist of six members, besides the Governor of the State, and the president of the State Agricultural College, who shall be ex-officio members of the board. At their annual meetings in the fall of the year eighteen hundred and sixtytwo, and every second year thereafter, each county agricultural society in the State may nominate a person for member of the board, and from the persons so nominated, the Governor, by and with the consent of the Senate, on or before the third Wednesday of January of each biennial session, shall appoint two members of the board to fill the vacancies that shall next occur. The certificate of the president and secretary of any county agricultural society, that such society is legally organized and has held at least two annual fairs, shall be evidence to the Governor of their right to nominate a member for the board. Any other legally organized agricultural society that embraces at least ten townships of land, shall be entitled to the provisions of this act.

Sec 2. The State Board of Agriculture shall be a body corporate, capable in law of suing and being sued, of taking, holding and selling personal and real estate, of contracting and being contracted with, of having and using a corporate seal, and of causing to be done all things necessary to carry out the provisions of this act.

Sec. 3. Any vacancy in the said Board, caused by death, resignation or removal from the State, may be filled by a majority of the members. A majority shall be a quorum for the transaction of business. The members of the board shall receive no per diem compensation for their services, but shall be paid their traveling and other expenses while employed on the business of the Board.

Sec. 4. They shall meet quarterly, at the State Agricultural College, viz: on the last Wednesdays of February, May, August and November, of each year, and may meet at such other times and places as they may determine.

Sec. 5. At their first meeting the members shall choose one of their number as President of their own Board.

Sec. 6. At their first meeting, or as soon after as a competent and suitable person can be obtained, they shall choose a Secretary of the Board. If chosen from their own number, a vacancy shall be thus created in the Board. A treasurer shall also be chosen, at their first meeting, who may or may not be from the members of their Board, as they shall determine. They shall take such bonds from the Secretary and Treasurer as shall be deemed adequate to secure the faithful performance of their duties by those respective officers. The Secretary and Treasurer shall be chosen biennially, and shall hold their offices for two years from the last Wednesday of February, or till their successors are chosen.

Sec. 7. The Board shall direct the disposition of any moneys appropriated to the State Agricultural College.

Sec. 8. The Secretary of the Board shall reside at or near the Agricultural College, and keep his office at the city of Lansing, in the State buildings, or at the institution, as the Board shall direct. It shall be his duty to keep a record of the transactions of the State Board of Agriculture, and of the State Agricultural College and farms, which shall be open at all times to the inspection of any citizens of this State. He shall also have the custody of all books, papers, documents and other property which may be deposited in his office, including specimens of the

vegetable and animal kingdoms of the State or counties; also, keep and file all reports which may be made from time to time by county and State agricultural and horticultural societies, and all correspondence of the office from other persons and societies appertaining to the general business of husbandry; address circulars to societies, and the best practical farmers in the State and elsewhere, with the view of eliciting information upon the newest and best mode of culture of those products, vegetables, trees, &c., adapted to the soil and climate of this State; also, on all subjects connected with field culture, horticulture, stock-raising and the dairy. He shall encourage the formation of agricultural societies throughout the State, and purchase, receive and distribute such rare and valuable seeds, plants, shrubbery and trees, as it may be in his power to procure from the general government and other sources as may be adapted to our climate and soils. He shall also encourage the importation of improved breeds of horses, cattle, sheep, hogs, and other live stock, and the invention and improvement of labor saving implements of husbandry, and diffuse information in relation to the same. He shall encourage such domestic industry and household arts as are calculated to promote the general thrift, wealth and resources of the State. To effect these objects he shall correspond with the patent office at Washington, and representatives of our national government abroad, and if possible procure valuable contributions to agriculture from these sources. He shall aid, as far as possible, in obtaining contributions to the museums and the library of the State Agricultural College, and thus aid in the promotion of agriculture, science and literature.

Sec. 9. The seeds, plants, trees and shrubbery received by the Secretary, and not needed by the College, shall be, so far as possible, distributed equally throughout the State, and placed in the hands of those farmers and others who will agree to cultivate them properly, and return to the Secretary's office a reasonable proportion of the products thereof, with a full statement of the mode of cultivation, and such other information as may

be necessary to ascertain their value for general cultivation in the State. Information in regard to agriculture may be published by him, from time to time, in the newspapers of the State, provided it does not involve any expense to the State.

Sec. 10. The Secretary shall report to the Legislature, at every regular session thereof, and to the Governor on the first Wednesday in January, in each year, when the Legislature is not in session, which report shall embrace all such statements, accounts, statistics, prize essays, and other information relative to agriculture in general, proceedings of the State Board of Agriculture, of the State Agricultural College and farm, and of the State Agricultural Society, and county societies, to be approved of by the Board.

Sec. 11. The Secretary shall receive, as a compensation for his services, a salary of one thousand dollars per annum, to be paid quarterly from the State treasury, in the same manner as is provided by law for the payment of the salaries of State officers.

Sec. 12. The sum of twelve hundred dollars per annum, for the years eighteen hundred and sixty-one and eighteen hundred and sixty-two, or so much thereof as may be esteemed necessary by the State Board of Agriculture, is also hereby appropriated, to meet the expenses which may be incurred in the purchase and transportation of seeds, postage, and the other contingent expenses of the office of the Secretary, and also necessary to pay the expenses of the Board in attendance upon their duties.

Sec. 13. The State Agricultural School, established by act number one hundred and thirty, session laws of eighteen hundred and fifty-five, in obedience to section eleven, of article thirteen, of the constitution, shall be known by the name and style of "the State Agricultural College;" the design of the institution, in fulfillment of the injunction of the constitution, is to afford thorough instruction in agriculture, and the natural sciences connected therewith; to effect that object most completely, the institution shall combine physical with intellectual education, and shall be a high seminary of learning, in which