DEPARTMENT REPORTS. 103 



plan for the program has been used, but it has been customary to send 

 at least three state speakers, one of whom has generall}^ been a woman. 

 This made it possible to furnish a speaker for nearly every topic on 

 the program, especially as the force has been supplemented in nearly 

 every county by speakers upon "Good Roads" and "Education." 



For this help I wish to acknowledge the hearty and helpful coopera- 

 tion of Highway Commissioner Earle who devoted almost his entire 

 time from the first of December to the first of March to attending the 

 farmers' institutes, and as Deputy Commissioner F. F. Rogers or some 

 of the assistants were also in the field for several weeks, it made it 

 possible to have a talk by a "Good Roads" expert at nearly all of the 

 county and a part of the one-day institutes. 



At all the meetings where it was possible for him to be present in 

 the evening, Commissioner Earle also gave an address, "Individuality," 

 which was enjoyed by all and cannot fail to be helpful and inspiring 

 to young people. 



Through the kindness of the State Librarian, Mrs. Mary C. Spencer 

 and the State Library Commission, it was made possible for Professor 

 R. D. Bailey of Gaylord, for many years school commissioner of Otsego 

 county to attend some forty of the institutes and present the plan 

 arranged by the Library Commission for the loan of traveling libraries. 

 Professor Bailey also spoke at a large number of meetings upon educa- 

 tion for the young, using "Schools out of School" as the topic of his 

 address. 



Valuable assistance was also furnished by the State Department of 

 Public Instruction and the Normal Schools. 



A considerable amount of work has also been done by the members 

 of the College faculty and Experiment Station staff although pre- 

 vented by their college duties from making extended trips. Among those 

 who took part in the work were President J. L. Snyder, Professor C. 

 D. Smith. Professor R. S. Shaw, Professor J. A. JefferV, Dr. L. M. Hurt, 

 Dr. T. C. Blaisdell, Prof. J. Fred Baker, Prof. R. H. Pettit, Miss Pearl 

 MacDonald, Mr. J. G. Halpin and Mr. F. H. Sanford. 



Mr. L. M. Geismar, superintendent of the Upper Peninsula Experi- 

 ment Station has attended most of the meetings in the LTpT>er Peninsula 

 and Prof. J. F. Wojta, principal of the Menominee Agricultural School, 

 kindly conducted a one-day institute in Delta county. Mr. F. A. Wilken. 

 superintendent of the South Haven Experiment Station attended a 

 considerable number of institutes along the "Fruit Belt." 



For the two weeks during the latter part of January, we were fortu- 

 nate in securing the services of Mr. J. P. Davis of Sheridan. Indiana. 

 Mr. Davis spent two weeks in institute work in Michigan in 1907, and 

 the reports were so generally favorable that it was felt that no mis- 

 take could be made in securing him for this year. While Mr. Davis is 

 especially at home upon matters relating to corn culture, he has also 

 proven a very acceptable speaker upon quite a number of farm topics 

 anfl during both years has given the very best of satisfaction. 



For a number of years there has been a growing interest in the sub- 

 ject of commercial fertilizers but for the most part speakers who had 

 made use of them and were prepared to talk from a practical stand- 

 point were not competent to handle the scientific side of the question. 

 This season, however, we were very fortunate in being able to secure 



