1902.] DISCUSSION, 75 



held. I could understand, perhaps, why so few knew, but 

 when I go into a town where a farmers' institute is to be held, 

 and I go from one man to another and ask where the place is, 

 and they tell me they never heard of it, I realize that the in- 

 stitute has not been advertised. That is a mistake. I know 

 there has been a mix-up somewhere. It reminds me of the 

 man out in Colorado. He undertook to take a trip on an 

 automobile, and the thing broke down, just as it always does. 

 He went to his kit of tools, and he had no wrench. He 

 traveled on foot for half a mile until finally he came to a 

 little house by the side of the road. He knocked at the door, 

 and a Swede woman came to the door, and he said: "My 

 friend, can you tell me where I can find a monkey wrench? " 

 and, pointing, she said: " There is a sheep ranch, and there 

 is a cattle ranch down on the river, but there is no man around 

 here who has been blame fool enough to start a monkey 

 ranch." 



Now just one thing more about the topic: I have dis- 

 cussed the speaker and the audience, and now the topic. Even 

 if you get a good speaker and a good crowd the institute will 

 be a failure unless the topic is one of interest to local farmers. 

 There are people in this world who assume to know what the 

 farmer ought to be told. To my mind treating the American 

 farmer like a child in his A, B, C is perfectly ridiculous. My 

 experience with the American farmer is that he usually has a 

 pretty clear idea of what he wants to know. He is bashful, 

 and at times seems to have a lack of appreciation, but it is be- 

 cause he does not like to come forward with his question. 

 Down in his heart he is all right, and my experience goes to 

 show that he has a clear idea of what he would like to be told. 

 It goes without saying that what he is told should be told in 

 plain language, and so he can understand it. To illustrate 

 W'hat I mean, a farmer listened to a scientific lecture on 

 fertilizers, and afterwards wrote me, and he says : " Please do 

 not publish my letter, but reply to it personally. A man 



