No. 7. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 319 



take the next speaker and we go over his subjects and we all have 

 a say in the selection of the subjects they want at this particular 

 place. I say v/e will now have the chicken man, Mr. Wittman — 

 probably we are fond of raising poultry. We also have the scientific 

 fellow, JProf. Mair. So we select the subjects and all have a chance 

 and a say in the arrangement of the program. Now we do some- 

 thing more right at that meeting. 1 say to tliose present: Now, 

 gentlemen, we intend to send out about 100 postal cards. We will 

 commence right here to select names and we will make a circle all 

 around the section where the institute is held for a radius of four, 

 five or six miles. I say, now if there is any person here handy with 

 the pencil they will set down and take these names down. There is 

 always some one who will do that. So w^e commence to go around 

 this whole section and they will mention names as fast as the sec- 

 retary can write them down. So every man has a name to suggest. 

 Send this man a card, the other fellow a card, and those present 

 have all been doing something and been thoroughly interested. Now 

 this is the card (showing). These cards are sent out independent of 

 the cards sent me from the Department. They seem more original. 

 There is always inspiration in numbers and I take it that the success- 

 ful institute must certainly, in the first place, be well attended 

 and this is what I am at, to get a well attended institute. (Reads) : 



"Dear Sir: 



You and your family are cordially invited to attend the Farmers' 

 Institute, to be held at Eeading, Pa., on Friday and Saturday, Feb- 

 ruary 19th and 20th, 1910. Speakers will be present from various 

 parts of the State to talk along agricultural and horticultural lines. 

 Farmers this is your meeting. Come and hear the various subjects 

 discussed, relating to dairymen, potato culture, fruit raising, poul- 

 try, etc." (Signed by the local Chairman in that community.) 



All nicely printed. That makes the local chairman feel good and 

 personally interested. 



At that meeting we do something more. We create what we call 

 an executive committee. I take this chairman, who was made chair- 

 man of the local committee at our meeting where the institutes were 

 named, as chairman. We place five men on that committee. Then 

 we have a larger local committee. That committee may be increased 

 probably to 12, 15 or even more. We name the query committee at 

 that time. In fact, we pretty nearly make the entire program. Now 

 when the meeting is pretlijr nearly over, and by this we have had 

 quite a nice little time together. I now unwrap these bills I have 

 there. We have a nice showy type — a finished bill — no blue pencil 

 mark or anything of that kind that looks cheap. That is not attrac- 

 tive. You all can do that. The Department is doing all they can in 

 this way, but the printer only charges a small sum for making ad- 

 ditional type and that goes along with your expenses. I say: Gen- 

 tlemen you will distribute these bills as much as you possibly can, 

 covering all the ground. Now, I told you we have 25 bills and 

 almost every man goes away with a bill, some with two bills, some 

 with three. And they will discuss these and they will say: I will 

 take this bill to this place and this bill to that place. We have all 



