THE FABJMERS' INSTITUTES IN THE UNITED STATES. 39S 



superintendent of the women's auxiliaries visits the associations in 

 the various counties at the expense of the State institute department^ 

 organizes new county associations and local clubs, and keeps in corre-^ 

 spondence with these auxiliaries during the year. 



FAIR ASSOCIATIONS. 



A recent investigation by the institute specialist into the condition 

 of the county fair associations shows that there are over 1,200 ot 

 these societies in the United States with a registered membership 

 of approximately 250,000. Their gross receipts for the year 1909 

 amounted to about $6,500,000 and their expenditures for premiums 

 to about $2,500,000. These societies are incorporated under the laws 

 of their respective States and so have continuous existence and in 

 many cases have an assured income for their support. That they 

 have not been utilized by agricultural educators in the past as they 

 should is quite evident to those who have studied their capabilities* 



A strong, local organization is needed in every county to form a 

 center to which rural people in the country can look for information 

 and assistance in carrying on their work. The agricultural colleges 

 also, now that they are undertaking extension work in agriculture^ 

 need an organized body of men in each county to act as their agents 

 in disseminating information and for attending to local matters that 

 require the presence of some one on the ground familiar with local 

 conditions. The State departments of agriculture, likewise, are 

 interested in having a representative in each county as a corre- 

 spondent to gather information and to report periodically the condi- 

 tion of the crops, the state of the markets, the presence of contagious 

 diseases among animals, of injurious insect pests, or fungus diseases 

 among plants. In these and many other directions a fair association 

 can be useful to the community in which it is located and to the 

 country at large. The agricultural colleges are already using these 

 societies for making known their work and for disseminating infor- 

 mation useful to farming people. Forty-eight colleges and stations 

 exhibited at 101 county and State fairs in 1908, and every one reports 

 that it was greatly to their advantage. 



Most of these societies need redirecting — to be given a new and 

 enlarged view of their position and responsibility. A start has been 

 made in this by the institute office through correspondence and by 

 collecting information respecting the workings of the fair associa- 

 tions throughout the country for the benefit of those who are engaged 

 in the management of these societies. 



The field of opportunity that this opens up in the way of dissemi- 

 nating agricultural information is very large. The energy and ad- 

 vantage that these societies possess have hitherto been largely 



