REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 141 



farmers' institutes. 



The work of the department in aid of farmers' institutes has con- 

 tinued under the direction of the Office of Experiment Stations. The 

 reports of the several States show that during the year 5,712 regular 

 institutes were held, consisting of 16,578 half -day and evening ses- 

 sions, with an attendance of 2,094,155. Special institutes, movable 

 schools, railroad specials, and other forms of agricultural extension 

 had an attendance of 1,323,793, making the total attendance upon 

 all forms of institute activity 3,417,948, an increase of 484,704 over 

 that of the previous 3'ear. 



THE depart:\[ent's insular agricultural experiment stations. 



An eminently successful year has been reported by the stations 

 maintained by the department in Alaska, Hawaii, Porto Rico, and 

 Guam. The energies of these stations continue to be directed toward 

 the diversification and improvement of the agriculture of their re- 

 spective regions. These represent the widest extremes of agricul- 

 tural conditions, from the arctic agriculture of Alaska to the tropical 

 conditions of Hawaii, Porto Rico, and Guam, and present agricul- 

 tural possibilities of the greatest diversity. That these stations are 

 growing in the esteem and confidence of the people for whom they 

 are maintained is shown by the rapid growth in correspondence, in 

 the demand for publications, and in individual requests for advice 

 as well as in the readiness to engage in cooperative work of all sorts 

 and the increasingly generous private and community contributions 

 of funds. The scientific work of these stations is attracting wide 

 attention; their publications are noted in the principal scientific 

 review journals of the world, and in not a few instances have been 

 republished in foreign countries. 



Through local contributions several additions have been made to 

 the cooperative demonstration farms maintained by some of the sta- 

 tions. These farms will furnish the means of demonstrating the 

 more practical results of the stations' work, while the more technical 

 experiments are carried out at the station proper. 



THE ALASKA STATIONS. 



The work at the agricultural experiment stations in Alaska has 

 been carried out during the year in accordance with the plans out- 

 lined in former reports. At Sitka horticultural and plant-breeding 

 work is given prominence. At Rampart the principal work is in 

 testing and breeding varieties of grain and in experiments with 

 potatoes and hardy leguminous plants. Farming on a commercial 

 scale as it must be practiced by settlers is carried on at Fairbanks, 

 and at Kodiak breeding and care of live stock are the principal in- 



