98 STATE BOARD OP AGRICULTURE. 



ooveries and developments in agricultural science along their resi^ective 

 lines. As the lecturers during the summer months have been engaged in 

 their farm and home duties, it would hardly be expected that they would 

 keep fully up-to-date, and the opportunity afforded by the Normal In 

 stitute to "brush up" along their respective lines was not only eagerly wel- 

 comed by them but the benefits from the meeting were very noticeable in 

 their work throughout the institute season. 



The regular institutes held under the auspices of the county institute 

 societies, were for the most part held between November 10th and March 

 ]st, closing with the Eound-up Institute at Mt. Pleasant. With few ex- 

 ceptions, the county institutes lasted two days with five sessions, but in 

 some instances, a three-day institute was arranged at which the last three 

 sessions were joint meetings with the county teachers' institute. At nearly 

 all of the county institutes the attendance was unusually large and, at 

 several places, it would have been considerably increased had the capac- 

 ity of the largest hall not been overtaxed. From several counties the 

 report came to me that fully as many failed to get inside of the building 

 as were actually accommodated. 



The largest total attendance, aside from the Kouud-up Institute, was 

 at the Ionia county institute at Ionia where the number present at the 

 eight sessions was slightly over 4,800, or 600 for each session, but the 

 Lenawee county institute shoAved an attendance of 3,843 at five sessions, 

 or an average of 769 per session. Aside from the Adrian institute, the 

 largest attendance per session was at St. Louis where the average for the 

 six sessions was 703 with a total of 4,217, or nearly 400 more than were 

 present at Adrian. At these meetings in particular the secretary and 

 local managers had taken unusual pains to have the institutes thoroughly 

 advertised and acknowledgment is hereby made to the local papers which 

 made the above results i)ossible. The county papers throughout Michi- 

 gan are evidently taking increased interest in institute work and the gen- 

 eral improvement in the attendance noted has in a majority of cases been 

 due to the notices of the meetings which have been freely given. 



The general increase in the interest taken by the farmera of the state 

 in institute work led to there being far more calls for one-day institutes 

 than it was possible to supply, but by carefully arranging the meetings 

 so as to economize in the time and travel of the speakers, the number of 

 institutes was considerably increased at a slight addition to the expense 

 in previous years. The cost of holding the institutes has also been ma- 

 terially decreased by the entertainment and transportation furnished 

 the speakers by the officers and members of the county institute societies. 

 In this way it has been possible to hold five or six institutes in a county 

 where there could have been but three or four had it been necessary to 

 pay hotel and livery bills for the lecturers. 



Although thei'e has been a large increase in the number of institutes 

 and in the total attendance at the one-day institutes, the increase in the 

 attendance per session has not been in proportion. Many of the meetings 

 were held in school houses or grange halls in spai*sely settled communities 

 and in this Avay it was possible to reach many farmers who had not been 

 in the habit of attending institutes. 



As has been the case for a number of years, considerable attention was 

 given at all of the institutes to the improvement and care of corn and 

 at several of the institutes what might be termed corn schools were held. 



