Proceedings of the Fourth Annual Meeting, at Middlebury

The fourth annual meeting of the Vermont Merino Sheep-Shearing Association was held at the Addison House in Middlebury, on Wednesday. At the beginning of the year there were 228 members of the Association, and during the year there were a few additions to the rolls. Hiram Rutolph of Middlebury, the president, called the meeting to order and the secretary, Harrison F. Dean of Cornwall, read his report, from which it appears that there were 116 sheep sheared at the third annual public shearing in April last, which was a gain of 20 over the second shearing. The secretary's report was accepted and adopted.

The treasurer's report was next submitted by Lester L. Moore of Shoreham, the treasurer. The amount received during the year from all sources was $153. The expenditures were $123. The debt of the association is now $86.90 and, less $21 cash in the treasury, leaves the actual indebtedness $88.35 [rough figures as reported]. The old complaint was made of the failure of members to pay their membership fees, only 77 of the membership fees having been paid last year. This part of the report gave rise to considerable discussion. The report was accepted and adopted.

Albert Chapman of Middlebury moved that the secretary be instructed to report to the board of directors the names of all delinquents in the matter of annual fees for such action as the board might see fit to take. The motion was unanimously carried.

The election of officers was next in order. Mr. Dean declining to serve longer as secretary, Charles A. Chapman was chosen in his place. Mr. Rutolph was unanimously re-elected president. He asked to be excused, and, persisting, a motion to excuse him was made, put and lost. Mr. Rutolph then consented to act as president for another year.

Lester L. Moore of Shoreham was re-elected treasurer, but he also asked to be excused from further service, and he was excused. Virgilan Rich of Shoreham was then elected treasurer.

The old board of directors was re-elected in a body, as follows: Milo H. Williamson of Middlebury, Dr. D. W. Prime of Brandon, Charles B. Witherell of Cornwall, J. T. Stickney of Shoreham, L. S. Burwell of Bridport, John H. Mead of West Rutland and George Hammond of Middlebury. Virgilan Wells of Shoreham and A. H. Hubbard of Whiting were re-elected vice-presidents.

It has been the practice of the association in past years, in cases where the owners of sheep could not conveniently get their animals to the public shearing, for the executive committee to appoint a committee to go and oversee the shearing of such sheep at private shearings and then admit the records of these sheep into the annual reports of the association on equal terms with those of the sheep shorn at the regular annual public shearings. Ely N. Bissell of Shoreham strongly opposed this practice and said that its continuance would be likely to ultimately destroy the association. Mr. Bissell made the following motion: That no sheep be admitted to the records of the association unless shorn at the annual public shearing, and that no committee be appointed to supervise outside shearing except those held in the summer or fall in cases where the sheep are shorn twice in the year.

Albert Chapman spoke at length in opposition to the motion, which was also opposed by H. F. Dean. On a vote being taken the motion was lost.

Mr. Chapman then moved that a committee might be appointed by the executive committee to supervise the shearing of sheep sheared at private shearings and that the records of sheep so shorn should be printed in the annual reports separately from the record of those shorn at the public shearing. This motion was carried.