No. 5. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 13 



TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE BUREAU OF FARM- 

 ERS' INSTITUTES FOR SEASON OF 1913-1914 



To the Hon. N. B. Critchfield, Secretary of Agriculture: 



Sir: — I have the honor to present herewith the Twentieth Annual 

 Report of the Bureau of Farmers' Institutes. 



INSTITUTES AND MOVABLE SCHOOLS 



The institutes for year ending June 1, 1914, have, without doubt, 

 developed a more wide spread interest in agricultural development 

 than any other year from their organization. The adverse weather 

 conditions met with the past winter season, together with the visita- 

 tion of contagious diseases, such as measles, scarlet fever, diphtheria, 

 etc., prevented holding meetings in many parts of the State. One 

 of the encouraging things noticed, as a result of our teachings, is the 

 adoption of well tried and approved methods by our farmei'S in the 

 various branches of farm pursuits within the Commonwealth. The 

 progressive farmer has brought into practice a more profitable sys- 

 tem of rotation of crops, embracing, for the central and southern 

 portion of the State, corn, oats and wheat, with one and not more 

 than two years using same field for hay crop, thus procuring a strong, 

 well established sod for plo wing-in. By such practice the field is 

 supplied with humic matter, adding thereto to the power of holding 

 moisture and increasing the productive powers of the land by so 

 particular method of rotation. 



In the greater portion of northern Pennsylvania the rotation is 

 .shortened by eliminating the wheat crop and seeding the fields to the 

 clovers and grasses, following the oats crop, a method that seems 

 to be practical for that portion of the State. 



Through the efforts of Farmers' Institutes, the dairymen have 

 practically eliminated from their herds the unprofitable cows. This 

 result is accomplished by keeping a daily record of each individual 

 cow in the herd, together with careful feeding and management. 

 Through such method the more skillful dairymen have brought up 

 the yearly production of butter-fat to above 300 pounds per cow. Our 

 horticultural and orchard instructors have, by demonstration and 

 oral instruction, awakened such an interest in this highly attractive 

 branch as to place Pennsylvania as one of the leading states in apple 

 production. The successful apple grower practices an extensive sys- 

 tem of fertilizing, cultivating, pruning and spraying his orchard; he 

 also has a constant watch for such insect enemies as are destructive 

 to the trees if allowed to continue their activities unchecked in his 

 orchard for a considerable length of time, so that today the Penn- 

 sylvania apple is finding its way into not only the markets of our own 

 State but of other states, because of its format-ion, high flavor and 

 free from such diseases as are manifested in fruit from neglected 

 orchards. 



