* FARMERS^ INSTITUTES. 675 



The attendance at the several conferences, as well as the number of 

 counties repeseuted each j-ear, appears in the accompanying table: 



1898 counties represented, 51; number registered delegates, 115 



1899 counties represented, G3; number registered delegates* 1U6 



1900 counties represented, 53; number registered delegates, 147 



1901 counties represented, Gl; number registered delegates, 1G8 



1902 counties represented, 8G; number registered delegates, 245 



1903 counties represented, 81; number registered delegates, 205 



Exhibits and Judging at the Institutes— Exhibits of culinary, dairy 

 and cereal products, notably corn, are becoming increasingly common 

 features of the farmers' institutes. These exhibits add greatly to the 

 interest of the meeting, when properly conducted, and they have gen- 

 erally been made truly educational in character as the reasons for the 

 markings have been clearly set forth by the judges who passed upon the 

 articles exhibited. 



Judging corn and live stock by the score card are frequent and highly 

 profitable features of the institutes in recent years. Two methods of 

 judging are in vogue: (1) An object lesson given by the instructor, who 

 with the corn or the animal before him. marks the several points noted 

 in the score card, giving reasons for the cuts made from the standard in 

 each instance; (2) a class exercise in which several persons judge by the 

 score card, the instructor reviewing the several scores and explaining 

 his reasons for revising the judgment of the members of the class. This 

 exercise is not only profitable for those who take part in the judging, 

 but for all who are spectators as well, because the attention is riveted 

 upon each point of excellence or demerit. In one county. Rush, a score 

 card has been devised and adopted for judging farms. For the past iwo 

 or three years farms in Rush County have been entered in this contest 

 and passed upon by a competent judge in the late summer, who later 

 reviewed his work before the annual institute. In conse(iuence, many 

 farms have been tidied up, the attractiveness of the country increased 

 and pride in rural surroundings stimulated. 



Score Cards Used at Institutes.— The several kinds of score cards that 

 have been used by institute instructors are given below. With the 

 exception of the first score card for judging farms, which has been 

 adopted by the Rush County Farmers' Institute Association, these score 

 cards are in regular use with the students of the School of Agriculture 

 of Purdue University. They are used at institutes, without material 

 change, by members of the faculty as they go out to attend these mett- 

 ings. 



