432 REPORT OF OFFICE OF EXPERIMENT STATIONS. 



better seed, the manufacture and improvement of butter, the estab- 

 lishment of cooperative dairies, the feeding and raising of stock, 

 the creation of pastures, the improvement of stables, and the estab- 

 lishment of agricultural societies, etc. Of 2,000 vv^ritten requests 

 for information received by the supervisors, practically all came 

 from large cultivators or proprietors of estates, the small farmer not 

 availing himself of this method. The supervisors were able to reach 

 a great many small farmers and render them assistance by visiting 

 the markets and talking with them regarding their products dis- 

 played for sale. In some regions the farmers even now do not invite 

 the supervisors to visit their farms, while in other regions they do 

 so quite generally and write for them to come and look over their 

 jjremises and make suggestions. 



The experiment and demonstration fields in the Province of 

 Antwerp number 750 and have been, together with the conferences, 

 the principal factors for agricultural progress. 



In order to prepare the cultivators for a better understanding of 

 the conferences, to create a desire for information and improvement, 

 to hasten the dissemination of scientific agricultural information, the 

 Government organized, under the direction of the supervisors, courses 

 in general agriculture for adults, consisting of from 15 to 30 sessions 

 each. The instruction is given during the winter, usually in the 

 evening, by agricultural engineers or other agriculturists holding the 

 proper certificate of proficiency. The lessons are illustrated as far 

 as possible by lantern slides, simple chemical operations, etc. Since 

 1889 there have been held in the Province of Antwerp 504 such 

 courses, consisting of a total of 6,587 sessions, with an average attend- 

 ance of 50. 



During the past 10 years there have also been held in the Province 

 of Antwerp 66 courses designed especially for the daughters and 

 wives of cultivators, which comprised 273 sessions, with an average 

 attendance of from 70 to 80 ; also 185 courses in horticulture, consist- 

 ing of 1,860 sessions, with 30 to 50 people in attendance at each ses- 

 sion; 101 courses in truck gardening, consisting of 969 sessions, with 

 from 20 to 40 in attendance ; 15 courses in floriculture, with 110 ses- 

 sions; 147 courses in apiculture, comprising 601 sessions, with an 

 average of 40 in attendance; 56 courses in aviculture, with 203 ses- 

 sions; and special course in agriculture for soldiers, consisting of 47 

 courses of 30 sessions each. 



Many different kinds of associations of farmers have been estab- 

 lished throughout the Province, such as cooperative dairy associa- 

 tions, associations for the insurance of the lives of horses and cattle, 

 associations for the benefit of sugar-beet producers, associations for 

 mutual relief, associations of credit, and associations for purchasing. 

 The creation of the first associations was difficult, but from the 



