Hon. Robt. W. Furnas, Sec'y, etc.: MY DEAR SIR-I wish through you, to extend to the State Board of Agriculture, a cordial invitation to visit the University. We meet at 10:25 each morning in chapel, and that would be the most pleasant hour for such visit, but we shall be glad to see the Board, as a body, or individual members, in our museum, laboratories, or lecture rooms, either at this time or whenever they may happen in the city. Very truly yours, I. J. MANATT. Mr. McIntyre offered the following preamble and resolution, which was unanimously adopted: WHEREAS, It appears that preventative inoculation for swine plague has been a practical success, and has every prospect promising beneficial results to the stock interests of the state; therefore be it Resolved, That the Live Stock Sanitary Commission, with the approval of the Governor, be requested to take such steps as will hasten the preparation of swine virus for the benefit of the swine breeders and stock growers of this state, regardless of time and expense. The account of D. H. Wheeler & Co. for rent library room for the year 1885, $60, was presented, allowed and ordered paid. Mr. Brunstetter, President of the Gosper County Agricultural Scciety, stated that the county society he represented had held two fairs. That he had made application to the county clerk for aid contemplated by law, and had been refused. He asked the advice and counsel of the Board. One or two other counties presented the same complaint. The complainants were advised to file the facts of these. complaints with the Secretary of this Board, in writing, and the Secretary instructed, with the papers thus filed, to submit them to the Attorney General of the State, asking from him a decision in the matter. Mr. Hartman presented the claim of Meyer & Co., Omaha, for use of band escorting Gen. B. F. Butler to the fair grounds in 1884, $50. The Secretary stated this bill had been consided before by the Board of Managers and rejected, as this Board had nothing to do with employing a band for that purpose. After several motions and amendments, with discussions following, the whole matter was laid on the table. On motion Mr. Dinsmore, the following preamble and resolution was adopted: WHEREAS, Exhibits of rare merit at our State Fair have, at various times, been passed by the awarding committee, without the necessary written recommendation, whereby the Board of Managers are authorized to make special awards of premiums. By this failure to perform this, their plain duty, on the part of our awarding committees, great injustice has been done to certain exhibitors; therefore be it Resolved, That the Board of Managers be, and are hereby directed to award to T. W. Harvey, as a premium on his magnificent Polled Angus bull, a certificate or diploma of merit. On motion Mr. Wheeler, the actual hotel bills of all members in attendance at this meeting were ordered paid, and the Secretary instructed to draw warrant on the Treasurer for the same. Ordered by vote that the Secretary draw a warrant on the Treasurer in favor of the State Horticultural Society for the money paid as premiums by that Society for the years 1884 and 1885. And that before this board agree to pay any further premiums, the Committee on Premium Lists, for each the State Board and State Horticultural Society, shall have a conference in relation to the premiums of the Horticultural Society, and the manner of their payment, and that the action of said conference committee be submitted to the Board of Managers for their approval or disapproval. On motion Mr. McIntyre, the sum of $500, or so much thereof as may be found necessary, be appropriated to erect a special building for the use of the State Fish Commission in making a fish exhibit at the State Fair. President Barker appointed the following Board of Managers for the current year. The appointment was confirmed by vote of the Board: Ed. McIntyre, Chairman, Seward; J. B. Dinsmore, Sutton; M. Dunham, Omaha; H. B. Nicodemus, Fremont; E. N. Grennell, Ft. Calhoun. It was ordered that $550, or so much thereof as may be necessary, be appropriated for the purpose of erecting a special building for the accommodation of the State Dairyman's Association in making a state exhibit of dairy products at the coming State Fair, and that the whole matter be referred to the Board of Managers, with power to act. On motion, members desiring to return home be given leave of ab sence. The following communication from the American Percheron Horse Breeders' Association was received, and the whole subject matter referred to the Committee on Premium Lists: To the Honorable Members of the State Board of Agriculture of Nebraska : GENTLEMEN-We, the breeders and importers of Percheron horses in the United States, incorporated under the name “American Percheron Horse Breeders' Association," respectfully petition your honorable body, the State Board of Agriculture of Nebraska, to extend to the Percheron breeders the same encouragement and privileges that you accord to other recognized breeds of cattle and horses, by making a separate class for Percherons in your forthcoming premium list. To show that the breeding of Percheron horses in your state has assumed proportions of sufficient magnitude to warrant you in extending this encouragement, we have only to state that there are a larger number of imported and pure-bred Percheron mares, whose purity of blood and pedigrees are attested by their records in the Percheron Stud Books of France and America, than that of any other pure race of horses in your state. Nearly 100 pure-bred Percheron mares, and a large number of pure-bred Percheron stallions, have beon introduced into your state during the past year. We would suggest a classification similar to the enclosed, which is the one that is being adopted by most of the agricultural associations for the coming year. To assure you that the American Percheron Horse Breeders' Association are anxious to encourage the breeders in your state, we place at your disposal a beautiful gold medal, two and a half inches in diameter, to be awarded by you, under the usual rules of competition, to the best pure blood Percheron stallion bred in the state of Nebraska. To prove that the Percheron horse-breeders are entitled to the recognition they are asking of the different states, it is only necessary to state that they represent an ownership of pure-bred mares and stallions, recorded in the Percheron Stud Books of France and America, that will compare favorably in numbers with any other draft horse race in this country. The entries in the seven volumes of the Percheron Stud Books aggregate in numbers about 11,000. The Percheron race is recognized by the highest authorities as being one of the finest draft horse races in Europe. The French government, recognizing its superior value, authorized the compilation of the history of the race by one of its most noted historians, and the government themselves recognize it as the finest race in France, by giving it a prominence in all their catalogues, and by encouraging Percheron breeders in various ways, especially by the giving of prizes by the Minister of Agriculture, at the exhibitions of the Societe Hippique Percheronne, at which exhibitions none but registered Percherons are admitted to competition; and further, the interest which they take in the matter, by delegating the Inspector General of the government studs of France to preside at the awards of these exhibitions; and lastly, by the earnest appeal of Chas. Du Hays, the controller of all the government Stud Books in France, to the American breeders to preserve in its purity the fine Percheron race, and to exclude from registration all animals not recorded in the Percheron Stud Book of France. An extract from a communication received from him by our Society on the 10th of last November reads as follows: "Your Society will feel honored by the presence of the he'd of your department of agriculture at your bi-annual meeting in November next. I have no doubt that under his patronage you will take decided resolutions to persist and continue in the true path which you have taken, and out of which you must never move. "May the friendly relations which have been formed between the Perche and your Society continue and grow stronger and stronger every day. It is absolutely necessary that the two societies should work together in order to preserve the fine Percheron breed in its purity, and to protect it from any alliances with the scrofulous breeds of the north of France. I am aware that your Society is working with that aim, and I wish most heartily you should persist and continue to do so. You must not admit any other animals to registration but that of the stock already registered in the Percheron Stud Book of France, and once admitted into your Stud Book follow the methods already used for thoroughbreds in England and France." Ever since the history of the Percheron race was given to the American people in full, concentrated effort has been rapidly going forward for its establishment in this country on the sound basis of scientific and intelligent breeding principles, which can only be based upon established stud records, for the preservation of genealogy, in order to secure to both breeder and purchaser a certainty of purity of blood. For the encouragement of the breeders of Percheron horses the Association has perfected a plan for holding annual society exhibitions. It is proposed to hold these exhibitions under the auspices of the different State Fair Associations of the Mississippi Valley, to be held in no state twice until the entire circuit is made. The sum of $5,000 has been appropriated to be awarded in prizes at the first of these exhibitions, to take place next fall in whichever state offers the greatest inducements. You will therefore see that the rights of the breeders of Nebraska are being recognized by our Association, and that your state will in the routine receive the benefits of this exhibition. Believing that an industry which promises to be of so much benefit to your people cannot fail to receive the attention and prompt action of your honorable body, W. W. Hoy, A. & C. Tooley, G. H. Reed, L. Johnson, G. W. Stubblefield, G. S. Hanna, M. D. Covell, C. M. Jones, W. M. Baldwin, E. H. Geiger, J. M. Fletcher, L. V. Willetts, Meldrum & Scribner, C. K. Bailey, Geo. Parsons, A. D. Albro, R. W. Stubblefield, Ira Vanderveer, D. F. & W. J. Miller, Capt. Fred Pabst. THIRD DAY. FORENOON. LINCOLN, Jan. 21st, 1886. Board convened pursuant to adjournment. Quorum present. Officers present same as yesterday. By vote of the Board Prof. Chas. Bessey was appointed by the Board State Botanist, with term of service during pleasure of him and the Board, and that an appropriation is hereby made to defray his stationery and postage expense in connection with his duties not to |