Cooperative Work with Columbia University 375 



the agitator of a " forward " or " back-to-the-farm " movement. 

 In being the expositor of practical farming, its distinct tendency 

 is to dampen the enthusiasm for farming that too often charac- 

 terizes the city man with a hob])y for farming. It has a wholesome 

 tendency to prevent suicidal plunging into farming by the " tired- 

 of-city-life " man or woman, through its frequent reference to the 

 scientific knowledge and experience requisite to the successful 

 management of a farm of reasonable acreage, diversification, and 

 capital. 



We have distributed about 2,000 farm subject bulletins during 

 the year. These have been willingly contributed by the New 

 York State Department of Agriculture, the New York State 

 College of Agriculture, the New York Experiment Station, the 

 U. S. Department of Agriculture, etc. 



We have set apart a small, but convenient, conference room for 

 the institute. Last year there seemed to be some call for such a 

 place. Experience this year indicates that generally there is little 

 need for such accommodations, as most inquirers are better satis- 

 fied with the brief replies to their questions made at the close of the 

 lectures and with the correspondence resulting from the plan out- 

 lined in the next paragraph. 



Through a simple blank calling for address and sul)ject of 

 inquiry, it has been possible to help many persons attending the 

 institute in a very definite way. The work of answering the 400 

 to 500 inquiries resulting from the blank has fallen on the 

 cooperating ofiice at Columbia University. This phase of the work 

 seems to do more than supplant the confereuce room with its 

 demand for attention one day a week during the course of the 

 institute. 



The approximate attendance for each lecture and the total is 

 given below : 



Date 

 1915 Subject and Speaker Attendance 



Dec. 3 " Abandoned Farms and the City Man's Opportuni- 

 ties in Farming " — E. van Alstyne, Director of 

 Farmers' Institutes, Albany, N. Y 135 



Dec. 10 " Building Up the Dairy Herd Through Breeding " — 



Dr. O. C. Bowes, Columbia University 65 



Dec. 17 " Peach Growing in the East " — A. T. Henry, Walling- 



ford, Conn 45 



