268 ANNUAL REPORT OP THE Off. Doc. 



MR. SHUEY: I have a point that I would ask the Department to 

 look after for the coming year; that is the clover question. Now we 

 all know that we are lacking in growing clover as we used to twenty 

 years ago and 1 have asked some of the lecturers that have been to 

 niy county on that very point and they would not give me the answer 

 I wanted. They claimed that clover froze out. But it don't. There is 

 something the matter Avith the clover, sometliing working with the 

 roots and it is dying olf in the fields. I would like if the Department 

 would get someone at work to examine that and in the next winter's 

 lectures to have some competent persons to explain that and whether 

 it could be prevented or not. That is one of our important points that 

 we need in Pennsylvania, to keep clover more than one year. 



And as the advancement that is made in the institutes in the coun- 

 ties, I must say for our small county that since these farmers' insti- 

 tutes are started — I guess I was one of the first that attended institute 

 in our county. I know we held institute with six persons present 

 when we started in first. Now it is sometimes difficult to get a hall 

 large enough, especially in the evening, to hold the people all. And 

 there is a great advancement made in every part of the agricultural 

 lins in Lebanon county and especially in the fruit lines. We have 

 some few persons that took hold of it that I don't think can be beat 

 in the State of Pennsylvania. They bring the best (juality of fruit 

 and make it their business to study up and have the scientific fruit 

 put in the market. ' 



MR. STOUT : I want to answer the question that he brings up in 

 regard to this clover. ^Ve had that discussion up at our institute last 

 winter. There is a little insect called the clover root borer. I gathered 

 some and exhibited them up in Blair county and I found them at 

 home earlier in Ihe season. About this time the^' have escaped and 

 are laying their fresh brood on the young clover now growing and 

 they practically destroy the clover crop that has stood for one year, 

 and it is a question whether it is a benefit to have it destroyed, because 

 T think it is better to have it plowed down for the coming year. 



MR. J. ALDUS HERR: I have a few suggestions for our county. 

 While our institutes have grown and are growing rapidly, yet the 

 needs of our county I think are different from those of most of the 

 counties in the State. What we would like to have would be persons 

 who come here as speakers to be practical men, men who are practical 

 cattle feeders. That is one of the main objects. We as a county feed 

 cattle, what we call stockers, ready for the block. We want practical 

 tobacco men. We have some but we need more. And we want more 

 good men who are practical corn growers. These are essentials which 

 right in our county confront all of us as farmers, and unless the men 

 or speakers can appear before the audience and give their practical 

 experiences and results I am afraid their labors will be futile here, 

 with all due despect to the men whom you have sent here. We have 

 nmde advances and if you go out over our fields you will find we are 

 trying to improve as fast as we can, but we want practical men. 



Another thing that is growing here within the last four years when 

 we had our first exhibits at our institutes. Last winter we had over 

 1,250 exhibits. At one of the meetings we had* to hire an adjoining 



