134 ANNUAL REPORT OF l^HE oft. L)oc. 



and di'partment of it embraciug the soil, the vegetable, the fruit, 

 the animal and all the material things with which we have to deal, 

 and handle upon these farms of ours. 



The program is in your hands. You have no doubt studied it some- 

 what and our intention is to carry it out just as far as circumstances 

 will permit. It is intended that we shall all become one school, 

 studying these questions in order that, in about six weeks, when as 

 institute instructors we go up and down the valleys and through the 

 counties of the great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, our voices will 

 be as the voice of one man, proclaiming the lessons which experience 

 and science and practice have revealed to us are true and good, and 

 thus holding up the standard of agriculture and making it not only 

 as honored as any other occupation, but making it, as by right it 

 should be, the most honored of all occupations, because those en- 

 gaged in it have the best equipped minds, the best equipped physical 

 conditions; they breathe the pure air of heaven and turn their faces 

 to every wind that blows, and every condition that meets them, as 

 men equipped to carry on this great occupation to the finishing 

 point; and after all we shall have done, my friends, we will only have 

 begun to delve a little into the mysteries of these great laws with 

 which we have to do. My friends, these laws are as high as the 

 Heaven above us; they are as deep as the fathoms of the earth be- 

 neath us, because they have been planted by a Divine Mind, and we 

 are called to bring these laws into submission, and have dominion 

 over them. This gives us only a slight conception of the w^ork we 

 have in hand this week, and without a continuation of these remarks, 

 which are intended to be expressive of the gratitude we feel as a 

 Department of Agriculture to the men and women who have taken 

 up this work throughout the State, I must hasten to a conclusion. 

 Your presence here to day in such numbers manifests the lively in- 

 terest you have in the great work, and so, without further remarks, 

 we shall at once proceed to enter upon the program. Our intention 

 is to hold the day meetings as far as possible at State College. An- 

 nouncement will be made of the time at which the train leaves for 

 and returns from State College. 



We have prepared tablets and pencils, and we know we shall not 

 be disappointed in this, that all lecturers and county chairmen, as 

 far as possible, will go into these classes and note the points and the 

 facts in the lessons. You know our memories are just a little 

 treacherous sometimes, and in that way you can carry home the in- 

 formation that we are here to obtain, so that when you go to work 

 in the different counties with your assignments, whatever of import- 

 ance is taught here, you will have that not only in your minds, but 

 have the written record to refer to; hence these tablets will be dis- 

 tributed so that you may take notes. We have question blanks 



