The Bulletin. 81 



venture to say that there is a large proportion of farming done from whicli 

 no profit is secured. With SO per cent of our people engaged in agriculture, it 

 can be seen at a glance that the farmer must be prosperous in order that all 

 other classes may prosper. 



INSTITUTE WOEK. 



Our present methods of institute work have been of great value to the farmer, 

 but must we be content? Shall we not strive for larger things and better 

 methods? Is the time not opportune when we shall plan to do greater work 

 carrying the gospel of better farming to every farmhouse in Noith Carolina? 

 Should we not establish a department of cooperation and marketing of farm 

 produce? Should we not make an agricultural survey of North Carolina, 

 making a thoroughgoing siudy of the exact agricultural status of every county? 

 To do successful institute work we must know the needs of each locality in 

 which an institute is held. 



Do we not need a country life survey? The most valuable product of the 

 farm is our boys and girls. We make our farms profitable (from a financial 

 standpoint), but if we do not make farmhouses attractive, and the rural 

 communities good communities in which to raise boys and girls to manhood 

 and womanhood, our w^ork may be called a failure. A rural life survey should 

 go hand in hand with the farm practice, farm management, and rural 

 economic survey. 



THE RURAL CHURCH. 



There is a great possibility (largely undeveloped) of the country church 

 as an instrument to help solve the rural problem, especially in developing rural 

 communities and rural leadership. There are no statistics available as to 

 the progress of the country church in North Carolina, but it is a question 

 whether she is measuring up to the full standard expected in the development 

 of the rural community. 



Shall we go forward with our institute work, hoist the flag of agricultural 

 progi'ess with new methods, better organization, and blaze the way for other 

 Southern States? 



COOPERATION. 



There is no better illustration of the gains of small farming and of coopera- 

 tion among producers than those found in the experiences of the farmers of 

 Denmark. 



After the fortunes of war had robbed them of their provinces and had taken 

 away their markets on the continent, the Danes sank rapidly into a condition 

 of extreme poverty ; necessity drove them to new methods. After half a 

 century of scientific farming, they are now the wealthiest farmers per capita 

 in the world. This remarkable development is attributed directly to the 

 improvement of agriculture through educational methods and its increased 

 gains through cooperation. 



The Danes have developed scientific dairying, and stock raising in all its 

 branches. The Government employs many experts to instruct the people in 

 the breeding of live stock. If a group of farmers wish to purchase a bull, for 

 example, for its cooperative society, it just consults the Government man. 

 These experts furnish their services free to the farmer who asks for them. 

 The result of this has been tlie rapid improvement of live stock, and a steady 

 increase in the quantity and quality of the milk and in the character of all 

 dairy products. In many herds the quantity of milk given by each cow has 

 been increased over 100 gallons per year. The Danes attribute much of this 

 success to scientific milking as well as to breeding. The creameries impose 

 certain rules upon the farmers as to the methods of feeding and of handling 

 the milk, and the loyalty of the men to their organizations is remarkable. 



The Danish trade" in butter alone (and their butter is considered the best 

 that reaches the London market) has multiplied ten times in twenty years. 



Severe economy is practiced in all the sections with remarkable results. 

 This economy extends even to the cows, which are tethered and required to 

 graze a portion until it is eaten clean. They milk three times a day. Milk 

 tests are systematically applied, and the cows with poor records are discarded, 

 while the calves from good mothers are kept for the farm. 



6— December 



