sary by the board of control for the successful work of such farm, and the initial equipment shall be provided by the county in which the farm is established, together with a sufficient fund to pay the wages of the laborers required to conduct the work of such farm during the first season. The county commissioners shall appropriate for the payment of the wages of laborers employed in the manage ment of such farms as may be established under this act, and for the purpose of supplies and materials necessary to the proper conduct of such farms such sums not exceeding two thousand dollars annually for any farm, as may be agreed upon between such county commissioners and the board of control.

SEC. 1177-5. The management of all county experiment farms established under authority of this act shall be vested in the director of the Ohio agricultural experiment station, who shall appoint all employes and plan and execute the work to be carried on, in such manner as in his judgment will most effectively serve the agricultural interests of the county in which such farm may be located, the director and all employes being governed by the general rules and regulations of the board of control.

SEC. 1177-6. Before entering upon any line of investigation or demonstration upon any of the county experi ment farms established under this act, the director of the experiment station shall submit a written plan of such contemplated work to an advisory board, consisting of the county agricultural society of the county in which such experiment farm may be located, or if there be no county agricultural society, then the board of county commissioners of such county, and if such plan is not approved by such advisory board, then the work shall not be undertaken.

SEC. 1177-7. The county commissioners of any county may equip and assign to the board of control such portion of any farm now owned by the county as may be mutually

agreed upon between the county commissioners and the board of control, the land thus assigned to be occupied and used by the experiment station for the purpose specified in this act and under the management of the director of the station.

SEC. 1177-8. The produce of each county experiment farm as may be established under this act, over and above that required for the support of the teams and live stock kept on the farm, shall be sold and the proceeds applied to the payment of the labor and to the purchase of the supplies and materials required for the proper manage ment of the farm as contemplated by this act, and for the maintenance of its equipment. Any surplus beyond these requirements shall be covered into the county treasury and placed to the credit of the general fund of the county, except in the case of the use of farms already belonging to the county, in which case the proceeds shall be placed to the credit of such fund as the county commissioners may designate.

SEC. 1177-9. In case the experiment station shall cease to use for the purposes herein specified any county experiment farm established under this act, such farm and its equipment shall be sold at public auction to the highest bidder after notice of such proposed sale shall have been published for four consecutive weeks in two newspapers of opposite politics, once a week, published in and having the largest circulation in the county within which the farm is located, and the proceeds of such sale shall be covered into the county treasury, the sums thus covered to be placed to the credit of the school funds of the county.

SEC. 1177-10. The board of control shall carefully inquire into the character and extent of the forests of the state, the causes of their waste and decay, and methods for their preservation and development. It shall conduct investigations in the several sections of the state, determine the species of valuable trees best suited to grow on

the various kinds of soil, and ascertain the best methods and cost of the propagation, planting and cultivation of wood lots and plantations. It shall determine the average rate of growth of the various species of trees and the relative values of different kinds of timber for domestic and commercial purposes, and conduct experiments for the purposes of increasing durability of the various kinds of wood; determine the kind of trees and shrubs best suited to different localities for wind-breaks and shelter, and for beautifying grounds, and ascertain the best methods of planting and managing them.

SEC. 1177-11. The board of control may cooperate with the department of agriculture of the United States in conducting such portion of the work mentioned in section 1177-10 of the General Code, as may be agreed upon by the board of control and such department of agriculture.

SECTION 10. That said original sections 1174 to 1177 inclusive and 1177-1 to 1177-11 inclusive of the General Code be and the same are hereby repealed.

CHARLES D. Conover,

Speaker of the House of Representatives.

JOHN H. ARNOLD,

Passed April 6, 1915.

President of the Senate.

Approved April 8, 1915.

FRANK B. WILLIS, Governor.

Filed in office of Secretary of State April 8, 1915.

FARMERS' INSTITUTES AND COUNTY AGRICULTURAL

AGENTS.

(House Bill No. 251.)

AN ACT

To amend sections 9916, 9917, 9918, 9919, 9920 and 9921 of the General Code, relating to farmers' institutes, and to supplement said section 9921 by sections to be known as 9921-1, 9921-2, 9921-3, 9921-4, 9921-5, creating the office of agricultural agent in the several counties of the state.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Ohio: SECTION 1. That sections 9916, 9917, 9918, 9919, 9920, and 9921 of the General Code, be amended to read as follows:

SEC. 9916. When twenty or m more persons, residents of a county, organize themselves into a farmers' institute society, for the purpose of teaching better methods of farming, stock raising, fruit culture, and business connected with agriculture, and adopt a constitution and by-laws conforming to rules and regulations furnished by the trus- . tees of the Ohio state university, and when such society has elected proper officers and performed such other acts as are required by the rules of the trustees of the Ohio state university, it shall be a body corporate.

SEC. 9917. Not to exceed five farmers' institute societies so organized shall hold annual meetings under the auspices of the trustees of the Ohio state university in any one county. The trustees of the Ohio state university may determine the number, and name the times and places for holding such institute meetings.

SEC. 9918. When a society so organized has held annual farmers' institute meetings in accordance with the rules of the trustees of the Ohio state university, the dean of the college of agriculture shall issue certificates, one to the president of the farmers' institute society and one to the county auditor, setting forth such facts. On the presentation of such certificates to the county auditor, he, each year, shall draw orders on the treasurer of the county as follows: One in favor of the dean of the college of agriculture of Ohio state university for one hundred and seventy-five dollars and one in favor of the president of each farmers' institute society in the county holding meetings under the auspices and by the direction of the trustees of the Ohio state university for the amount of the actual expenses and not to exceed twenty-five dollars to pay necessary local expenses, and when such expenses have been itemized and certified to by the president of an institute and submitted to the dean of the college of agriculture of the Ohio state university, he shall authorize the auditor to issue a warrant, and the treasurer of the county shall pay them from the county fund. But in no county shall the total annual sum exceed three hundred dollars, nor shall the payment to the farmers' institute society exceed the expenses, as per detailed statement provided in the following section.

SEC. 9919. With each certificate of the dean of the college of agriculture of the Ohio state university to the county auditor, which certificate shall show the number of societies organized in the county and holding meetings by direction of the trustees of the Ohio state university, and before he issues his order on the treasurer, there shall be filed with the auditor a detailed statement of the expenses of the institute for the current year, no part of which shall be for salaries of officers of the institute society. This provision does not apply to the order in favor