()<)2 iiEroirr ok office of kxi'p:rimknt stations. 



ers' institutes in each county iinniially, and as nianj^ more as the 

 ap]ir()pri:iti()Ji thorofor will allow/' 'riiroo thousand dollars is annu- 

 ally appropriated for the institute work, Duiino- the year 40 institutes 

 were held, composed of 83 sessions; 5,840 persons were in attendance. 

 Nine lecturers arc upon the State force. Abstracts of the proceed- 

 ings are prepared by the conunissioner and are included in his amuial 

 report, of which G,()0() copies arc printed. The conunissioner is 

 appointed by tli(> lej^'islature and holds office for two yeai's. The loca- 

 tion of th'' county meetinj^s is made b}' the county aj^ents, and the 

 dates and pro<>rannnes are planned by the State director of insti- 

 tutes. The asj^ricultural colle<,M^ and experiment station officei's par- 

 ticipated in the lecture work whenever desired and at times that did 

 not conllict with their other duties. 



MARYLAND. 



Population 1,1SS,044. Total number of homes 242,331. Number of farm homes 

 47,08i). IVr cent of faiiu honiew 19.4. Approximate population in farm homes 

 2.30,480. 



Director of institutes. — W. L. Amo.ss, College Park. 



Under the State law the farmers' institute director of Mar3dand is 

 appointed by the trustees of the Maryland Aj^ricultural College, and 

 at least " one institute is required to be held in each year in each 

 county of the State, and an additional one in each county if deemed 

 necessary and desirable." The institute under this act was made a 

 department of the Mar3dand Aj*-ricultural College. Fort}^ institutes 

 were held last .year, consisting of 116 sessions; 11,222 persons were in 

 attendance. There were 7 lecturers upon the State force. The mem- 

 bers of the agricultural college faculty^ and of the experiment station 

 devoted 56 days of their time to assisting in the institute work. The 

 work in the several counties is conducted b}" a local committee, or 

 count}" organization wherever they exist, or through a local corre- 

 spondent appointed b}- the director of institutes. Reports of the insti- 

 tutes are furnished to the county papers, and enough of these are 

 secured by the director to supply his mailing list. The advertising 

 of the meetings is effected through the newspapers of the State by 

 sending to each a programme about four weeks before the institute in 

 the county in which the newspaper is published is held. Four thou- 

 sand dollars was appropriated last year for institute expenses. The 

 director each year plans a visit of representatives of the institutes in 

 the several counties to some place of special interest outside of the 

 State, as a farm, canning factor}^ city market, or educational institu- 

 tion, each delegate being expected to write a report of what he has 

 observed during his visit, and present this before the next institute 

 meeting. The results from this method of verifying information have 

 been ver}" satisfactory'. 



