XIX. THE HORSE - By Dr. C. L. MARTIN.. XX. LOCAL AGRICULTURAL SOCIETIES.... CONSTITUTION. ARTICLE I. OF THE NAME AND OBJECT OF THE SOCIETY. This society shall be known as the "Wisconsin State Agricultural Society." It objects shall be to promote the advancement of agriculture, horticulture, and the mechanical and household arts. ARTICLE II. OF THE MEMBERS. The society shall consist of life members, who shall pay, on subscribing, twenty dollars, and of honorary and corresponding members, who shall be elected by a two-thirds vote of all the members of the executive board, at any regular meeting. The presidents of county agricultural societies shall be members ex-officio, entitled to the same privileges as life members, and, together, shall be known as the general committee of the society. ARTICLE III. OF THE OFFICERS. The officers of the society shall consist of a president, one vice president for each congressional district of the state, a secretary, a treasurer, and seven additional members, who shall hold their respective offices for the term of one year from the first day of January next succeeding the date of their election, and until their successors shall have been elected; and all of whom, together with the ex-president latest in office, and the president and general secretary of the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters, shall con. stitute the executive board. ARTICLE IV. OF THE POWERS AND DUTIES OF OFFICERS. The presidents and vice presidents shall perform such duties as are com mon to such officers in like associations, as may be required by the executive board. The secretary shall keep the minutes of all meetings, and have immediate charge of the books, papers, library, and collections, and other property of the society. He shall also attend to its correspondence, and prepare and superintend the publication of the annual report of the society, required by law. The treasurer shall keep the funds of the society and disburse the same on the order of the president, or a vice president, countersigned by the secretary, and shall make report of all receipts and expenditures at the regular meeting of the society in December. The executive board shall have power to make suitable by laws to govern the action of the several members thereof. They shall have general charge of all the property and interests of the society, aud make such arrangements for the holding and management of general and special exhibitions as the welfare of the society and the interests of industry shall seem to require. The general committee shall be charged with the interests of the society in the several counties where they respectively reside, and constitute a medium of communication between the executive board and the public at large. ARTICLE V. OF MEETINGS AND ELECTIONS. The annual meeting of the society for the transaction of general business, shall be held in its rooms in Madison, on the first Wednesday in December, at nine o'clock A. M., in each year, and ten days' notice thereof shall be given by the secretary, in one or more papers printed in the city of Madison. The election of officers of the society shall be held each year during and at the general exhibition, and the exact time and place of the election shall be notified by the secretary in the official list of premiums, and in all the general programmes of the exhibition. Special meetings of the society will be called by order of the executive board, on giving twenty days' notice in at least three newspapers of general circulation in the state, of the time, place and object of such meetings. At any and all meetings of the society, ten members shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business, though a less number may adjourn from time to time. ARTICLE VI. OF AMENDMENTS. This constitution may be amended by a vote of two-thirds of the members attending any annual meeting; all amendments having been first submitted in writing at the previous annual meeting, recorded in the minutes of the proceedings, and read by the secretary in the next succeeding meeting for the election of officers. All amendments proposed shall be subject to amendment by a majority vote at the meeting when presented, but not thereafter. BY-LAWS. SECTION I. OF OFFICERS. The officers of the society shall, ex-officio, fill the corresponding offices in the executive committee. SECTION II. OF THE DUTIES AND POWERS OF OFFICERS. The duties of the President, in addition to those defined by the constitution and the by-laws regulating the duties of the permanent committee, shall be as follows, to wit: 1. To inspect the fair grounds after they shall have been prepared for the annual exhibition by the special committee of arrangements, appointed for that purpose, and suggest such modifications or further preparations as he may deem necessary. 2. To formally open the annual fair of the society, at such time as the executive committee may prescribe, with an appropriate address. 3. As the executive bead of the society, to have a general supervision and control of the entire exhibition, subject only to the authority of the executive committee. The duties of the Secretary, more specifically defined than in the constitution, shall be as follows: 1. To make a faithful record of each meeting of the executive committee, and keep such record in a condition for the convenient reference of any member thereof, at any time; also to make a record of every order drawn on the treasurer, and delivered to parties in whose favor they were so drawn — separately entering and numbering the orders drawn to pay premiums and those to pay general expenses, and so defining them - and of all moneys due the society; in all cases holding the parties so indebted responsible therefor until they shall have presented him a certificate from the treasurer, showing that the same has been paid. 2. To open and carry on such correspondence as may be advantageous to the society or to the common cause of agricultural improvement, not only with individual agriculturists and eminent practical and scientific men of other industrial pursuits, but also with other societies or associations whose objects are kindred to ours, whether in this country or in foreign lands, and to preserve a journal of such correspondence in the archives of the society. 3. To collect and arrange for convenient examination, standard agricultural works and periodical publications, together with such models, machines and implements as may be donated to, or otherwise acquired by the society. 4. To investigate, as far as practicable, the nature of fertilizers, indigenous and cultivated plants, insects injurious to vegetation, etc., and to collect and preserve such specimens thereof as will illustrate the natural history and agricultural resources, condition and progress of the state. 5. To institute, and collect reports therefrom, needed experiments relative to the preparation of the various soils of the state for economical culture, the cultivation of different grains, fruits and garden vegetables, the breeding and raising of stock, etc. 6. To visit, by the advice of the executive committee, or as his own judg ment may direct, the various portions of the state, and tɔ give lectures on the science and practice of agriculture, wherever and whenever they may be deemed most necessary or desirable. 7. To co-operate with the superintendent of public instruction and the agent of the normal school board, for the introduction and use in the schools of Wisconsin, of standard works on agriculture and the other industrial arts and sciences. 8. To attend as many as possible of the industrial exhibitions of this country, particularly the county fairs of Wisconsin; to co-operate with the president and special committee of arrangements, for the judicious preparation and management of our state exhibition; and to have the sole supervision and control of the office of entry thereat. 9. To carefully prepare and superintend the publication of the annual report of the society to the governor of the state, embodying therein the proceedings of the State Agricultural Society, an abstract of the reports of the incorporated county agricultural societies of the state, and such reports, essays and addresses, or other matter of information, as may be calculated to enhance the value of said report. Finally, it shall be his duty, not only by the means above named, but also through such other instrumentalities as he may devise, and the committee approve, to devote himself faithfully and unreservedly to the promotion of the industrial interests of the state. It shall be the duty of the Treasurer — 1. To receive primarily and exclusively all moneys due the society, from whatever source. 2. To keep a full and faithful record of all receipts of moneys coming into his hands, and of the sources whence derived, in a book specially furnished by and belonging to the society, and to have the same open at all reasonable times, to the inspection of any person or persons authorized by the executive committee to make such examination. |