Page:Kansas A Cyclopedia of State History vol 1.djvu/54

 board's proceedings, the substance of the monthly statements, an outline of the agricultural history of the state, a review of the work of the agricultural college, a statistical and industrial exhibit, a diagram showing the rainfall in various sections of the state, an outline map of Kansas, and a sectional map of each county, showing townships, villages, etc. At that time the outstanding indebtedness of the board, for the years 1871-72-73, was $6,585.42. To pay this indebtedness and publish the annual report along the comprehensive lines contemplated, it was resolved to ask the legislature for an appropriation. By the act of March 4, 1874, the sum of $16,735.42 was appropriated to liquidate the indebtedness, pay the current expenses of the board, and publish the report. This was the first considerable appropriation ever made for the benefit of the board, and the precedent thus established has been followed by subsequent legislatures, which course has kept the Kansas State Board of Agriculture fully abreast of similar organizations in the most progressive states of the Union.

The annual report for 1875 was the best issued up to that time. In fact, it embodied so much useful and valuable information regarding the agriculture, mechanical and educational institutions of the state that the legislature, by the act of March 4, 1876, appropriated $8,625, or so much thereof as might be necessary, for the publication and distribution of a second edition.

Since 1877, when the constitutional amendment making the legislative sessions biennial went into effect, the reports of the board have been made biennially instead of annually, and efforts have always been made to keep the character of the report up to the high standard established in 1875. The first biennial report embraced the years 1877-78. For a number of years the annual appropriation for the board has been in the neighborhood of $10,000, and special appropriations for certain specified work have been made from time to time. By the act of March 5, 1901, the secretary was ordered to print and distribute 7,500 copes of the report for 1899-1900, in addition to the 15,000 previously printed, and appropriated $10,550 to defray the expenses of the extra edition. The act also provided for the publication of 20,000 copies of the report thereafter. The legislature of 1903 made a special appropriation of $300 to gather data to make tests of sugar beets.

Following is a list of the presidents of the board, with the years in which they served: H. J. Strickler, 1872; E. S. Niccolls, 1873; George T. Anthony, 1874 to 1876, inclusive; John Kelly, 1877-78; R. W. Jenkins, 1879 to 1884, inclusive; Joshua Wheeler, 1885-86; William Sims, 1887-88; A. W. Smith, 1889 to 1892, inclusive; Thomas M. Potter, 1893 to 1896, inclusive; George W. Glick, 1897-98; T. A. Hubbard, 1899-1900; Edwin Taylor, 1901-02; J. H. Churchill, 1903-04; J. W. Robison, 1905-06; A. L. Sponsler, 1907-08; Charles E. Sutton, 1909-10; I. L. Diesem, 1911-.

Alfred Gray served as secretary from the organization of the board to 1879, when J. K. Hudson was elected to succeed him. Hudson 