LAWS. REVISED STATUTES-CHAPTER 82. SECTION 1. The Treasurer of the State is hereby authorized and directed to pay to the Treasurer of any Agricultural Society or any Agricultural or Horticultural Society, whenever any such Treasurer shall apply for the same, a sum equal to that which said Society may have raised and actually received by subscription or otherwise, within the next preceding year; all of which sums shall be appropriated to the purposes, specified in the charter of said Society. SECT. 2. If there be three such Societies in a County, the payment from the State Treasury shall not exceed one hundred dollars to each of them; if two and only two, one hundred and fifty dollars to each of them; and if there be only one such Society the payment thereto shall not exceed three hundred dollars. SECT. 3. None of the aforesaid payments shall be made, till the Treasurer of such Society shall file with the State Treasurer, a certificate on oath, therein specifying the amount raised and actually paid in, to said Society. SECT. 4. Every Society, availing itself of the benefit of this chapter, shall, at their discretion, annually and publicly, offer premiums for introducing, or improving any breed of useful cattle or animals, or any tools or implements of husbandry or manufacture; introducing, raising or preserving any valuable trees, shrubs, or plants; or, in any way, encouraging or advancing any of the branches or departments of agriculture, horticulture or manufactures: And no such Society by their by-laws, shall confine such premiums to their own members, but shall bestow them on any person, residing within the limits of such Society, who shall produce the best specimens. SECT. 5. Such Society shall be held to apply to some or all of the purposes, mentioned in the preceding section, a sum in each year, equal at least to that received from the State; and shall, annually, in the month of January, transmit to the Secretary of State an official statement of its expenditures, expressing the object for which premiums have been awarded, and to whom paid, accompanied by such general observations as may be deemed useful. SECT. 6. Any person to whom a premium shall be awarded, for raising the greatest crop on any given quantity of land, of at least one acre, if the crop be of corn or grain, shall, before receiving the premium, deliver to the Society a statement in writing, specifying the kind and quantity of dressing put upon the land, the course pursued in cultivating the same, and the kind of soil cultivated, with such other circumstances as may be considered useful. SECT. 7. If the premium be awarded for introducing or improving the breed of any cattle, horses, or other animals, he shall, before receiving the same, make a similar statement of the breed or stock, and of the advantages thereof for labor, the dairy or fattening or any other purposes, together with the mode and expense of rearing or treating the same, as compared with the usual methods, and any other useful remarks. SECT. 8. The Secretary of State shall, annually, on or before the first day of February, lay said official statements before the Legislature, to be submitted to a committee on agriculture, who may publish extracts therefrom, and such essays, |