()88 KKPOKl" OF OKKIOK (>K KXI'KKIMKNT STATIONS. 



and !i Itcttcr approciation and knowlcdo-o of farm operations, and that 

 will lead (licin to the aj4"ric'ultural college tor the infoi'niation wliicli 

 the\' need. One means that has ))oen found oti'ective in seeuriiii'- the 

 results indicated is that of prescri})in^ some simple experiments in 

 the <>Towin«;' of crops, to be conducted by country children, upon 

 which each is to report to a subsecfuent institute and su])mit .also a 

 samjjle of the product in competition for some prize or other award 

 in recognition of its merits. The close attention demanded by the care 

 of a jirowin*^ crop during- the season develops powers of observation 

 that Ix'come more discriminatino- and acute each year, and leads 

 eventually to the desire for and the careful study of literature which 

 explains the scientitic phenomena involved in the operations which 

 they have conducted. The principle which this method of developing 

 interest involves is capable of api)lication in a great variet}' of wa}s, 

 and is the lever that must be used if the children of farmers are to be 

 lifted out of the monotony and drudger}^ of the old farm routine. 



INTEREST INCREASING. 



The interest manifested in the farmers' institutes is seen in the 

 action of the legislatures of the several States and of the officers hav- 

 ing control of the work in making appropriations for their support. 

 Amounts varying from $35 in the Territory of Hawaii to $20,000 in 

 the State of New York show the extremes, the aggregate for the 45 

 States and Territories reporting being $187,220, The appropriations 

 for the coming season, as shown by the reports of 40 States and Ter- 

 ritories, amounts to $210,975. If the States not reporting appropriate 

 sums equal to those of last year, the total for the coming season w'ill 

 reach $214,729, or $27,503 more than w^as appropriated for the 3^ear 

 just closed. It ma}^ be of interest to know that where the institutes 

 have been longest in operation the appropriations are correspondingly 

 large. New York $20,000; Pennsylvania $15,000 for the past sea- 

 son and for the next year $17,500; Ohio $16,981; Wisconsin $12,000; 

 Illinois $18,150; Indiana $10,000; Minnesota $10,500; Michigan 

 $7,500. Other States with smaller agricultural population have been 

 equally liberal: West Virginia $5,451; Vermont $5,000; Maryland 

 $4,000; Maine $3,000; Florida $2,500, and California $4,000. 



Institutes were held in all of the 52 States and Territories excepting 

 6 — 3 States and 3 Territories. The attendance has been increased over 

 that of last year, the reports showing 904,654 for this 3^ear as against 

 819,999 for the previous year. The real advance numericall}^ is greater 

 than these figures indicate. The method of computing averages for 

 the attendance was changed this year upon the recommendation of 

 the American Association of Farmers' Institute Workers, with the 

 result of reducing the number reported in the four States of Pennsyl- 



