names and addresses of all those who wish to become members of 

 the Reading-Course, and forward them to ns promptly. When the 

 Lessons are receiv^ed from iis arrange to meet regularly once a fort- 

 night throughout the winter. Meet oftener if you wish, but inter- 

 vals of more than two weeks between meetings are usually undesir- 

 able. N^ot less than two meetings should be devoted to each lesson. 

 Thresh out the whole subject thoroughly. Do not run it over 

 superficially. Conscientious criticism and courteous disagreement 

 are much better than carelessness and indifference. Remember 

 that our main object is to help the farmer to a better understanding 

 of the underlying principles of his calling. There are no fees and no 

 dues. The expense of this work is provided for by State appropria- 

 tion under the provisions of the Agricultural Extension (Nixon) bill. 

 The Farmers' Reading-Course enterprise divides itself into three 

 parts : 



1. Reading. Organization of clubs. Lectures before these clubs 

 by members of the Cornell College of Agriculture. Mutual corre- 

 spondence and help. There are now three series of reading, either 

 one or all of which may be taken up by the club : 



A. The soil and fertility ; plant growth 



B. Dairying and stock feeding. ' 



C. Fruit growing. 



2. J^xperimenting. When a Club iinds that there is some serious 

 agricultural difficulty in its region, arrangements may be made for 

 field experiments on the subject during the summer season. Special 

 attention is now called to a circular on cooperative experiments 

 being carried on with field crops and conunercial fertilizers. 



3. Winter-Course teaching. Beginning early in January, a win- 

 ter-course of 11 weeks will be given by the University Extension 

 Staff of the Colle2:e of Atrriculture. Tliis course is desio^ned to 

 meet the needs of the busy farmer's son. A circular giving explicit 

 information regarding this course may be had on application. 



JOHN CRAIG, 

 Professor of University Extension and 

 Supervisor of Farmers'' Reading- Course. 

 Ithaca, X. Y., .jYqv, 6, 1900. 



34 529 



