farmers' INSTITtJTtS. 657 



In 1S80 or 1881, and as a member of the State Board of Agriculture. You 

 will, I think, find the matter in tlie reports of the Board of about those 

 dates. 



"The State lioard undertook to inaugurate farmers' Institutes, and my 

 husband attendtxi several. 1 can only recall Columbus detinitely as one 

 of the joints." [Capt. Henry C. Meredith also attended the Farmers' 

 Institute held at Crawfordsville in 1882.— Superintendent Farmers' Insti- 

 tutes.] 



Character of Early Institutes,— In character these earlj^ institutes were 

 a little more formal and less like a school than the farmers' institutes of 

 the present day. In some instances there was an extended and formal 

 address of welcome by the Mayor, judge, or some other prominent person. 

 At times speakers were escorted to prominent places of interest in the city 

 before the opening of the institute. Most of the speakers on programs 

 read papers. These papers were discussed in much the same way as 

 in the farmers' institutes at the present time. 



The following are some of the subjects discussed at these early insti- 

 tutes: "Mutual Dependence of all Branches of Industry;" "Source and 

 Value of Statistics;" "Sanitary Measures;" "Commercial Fei'tilizers;" 

 "Breeding and Feeding;" "Farm Drainage;" "Industrial Education;" "The 

 Growth of Sorghum Cane and the Manufacture of Sugar and Syrup 

 Therefrom;" "How to Promote the True Dignity and Standing of the 

 Farmers;" "Our Common Insect Pests;" "The Relation of Geology and 

 Agriculture;" "The Selection of Seeds as a Means of Improving Crops;" 

 "Our Highways;" "Some Thoughts on Ensilage;" "The Fence of the 

 Future;" "Desirable New Potatoes;" "What Horse the Farmer Should 

 liaise;" "Dairy Farming;" "Our Kitchen Interests;" "The Orchard and 

 Fruit-Lot;" "Milk and Milk Tests;" "The Farmers' Relation to Swine 

 Breeding," etc. 



Although held in an irregular, somewhat spasmodic and very incom- 

 plete waj% these early institutes doubtless did very much to interest the 

 people of the State in practical discussions on topics of everyday interest 

 to farmers. With no puljlic funds to draw upon, with no aiithorized and 

 centralized control of the Avork, and dependent almost wholly upon local 

 initiative, only a few favored localities could be expected to take an 

 interest, and conse(iuently, receive the benefits of the work. Good seed 

 though was being sown in fruitful soil, however, and although the 

 writer has been unable to trace the relation between the earlier farmers' 

 institutes and the enactment of a law making special provision for this 

 work, it is undoubtedly true that they exercised an important iuHueuce 

 on State legislation. 



4a-Agri. 



