254 ANNUAL REPORT. OF THEJ Off. Doc. 



Iii<^li soiindinj:; soiitences and phrases for common-place truths that 

 might sink into the hearts of their audiences and bring forth fruit. 



The long-winded speaker is probably one of the greatest detri- 

 ments to good work at our institutes and, as a consequence, has a bad 

 influence. The president of a theological institute in addressing a 

 graduating class of young ministers, told them that thirty minutes 

 was plenty long enough for a good sermon and entirely too long for a 

 poor one. This can be aptly applied to an institute talk. A man 

 who has a message to deliver and cannot get to the point inside of 

 a reasonable time should go into training under some one who can 

 reduce his record. There may be times and places for long drawn- 

 out speeches, but it is not at farmers' institutes. The} will have a 

 bad effect upon the work. 



The man with a repertory of subjects, as long as the wine list of a 

 French cafe, is another man to be avoided. Life is too short for any 

 one to be authority on all subjects. It is evidence in itself of egotism, 

 or of ignorance. A man who can talk on every subject seldom 

 talks well on one. The old saying: "Beware of the man with but one 

 book," applies here. 



A bore at the institute is the man who is prosy and does not put 

 enough life into his talk to keep his hearers interested or awake. 

 Henry Ward Beecher once told his sexton that whenever he found 

 a man in his audience asleep he should come around and waken him 

 (Beecher) up. An audience will never go to sleep or lose interest as 

 long as the speaker keeps awake and is full of interest. Whenever 

 he fails to interest he should stop. 



Using a common, but very expressive phrase, the institute worker 

 who is continually "butting in" has a very bad influence on an 

 audience. It is commendable to be ready to help out when occasion 

 requires, to stir up things when interest is lagging, and possibly 

 correct some one when he is in error, but the greatest care should be 

 used in how and when it is done. An institute can be killed quicker 

 by wrangling over unimportant matters than in any other way, and 

 the professional "butter in" is the one who generally starts discus- 

 sions over trivial things, or, as a rule, he is unable to discuss topics 

 of much depth. 



We should take off our hats to the scientific man, self-made man, 

 for what he has done for agriculture and agricultural pursuits; yet 

 there are men of the deepest knowledge who are worse than useless 

 before an audience of farmers. Such men are often mere theorists. 

 Their work should be to translate from the terms of the scientists 

 the grains of golden knowledge in such simple language that the 

 man whose opportunities to drink at the fountain of knowledge has 

 been neglected can understand and believe. When scientific men 

 work along these lines their usefulness is beyond question and their 



