10 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE OS. Doc. 



The report of the Director of Farmers' Institutes and Farm Ad- 

 visers, finds its proper place in this Annual Report, and the reader 

 is referred to the valuable information therein contained. As stated 

 by the Director, during the season, ending July 15, 1915, there were 

 held in regular institutes and movable schools 1,162 sessions, with 

 an attendance of 183,400. There were in attendance at special in- 

 stitutes 18,118; harvest home picnics for which State lectures were 

 furnished by the Department, 32,600, making a grand total of 216,- 

 000. 



FARM ADVISERS 



This important line of work for the imparting of agricultural 

 education is comparatively a new feature of the Department, and is 

 under the supervision of the Director of Institutes, the report of 

 which is a part of the general report of the Director, wherein a brief 

 resume is given of the work accomplished by the corps of ten ad- 

 visers, especialh^ employed in their various lines but nine months 

 of the year; the balance of the time being given directly to institute 

 work. 



A perusal of the report gives but a slight idea of the good accom- 

 plished by these experts of the Department. The results of their 

 personal visitations to the farms and homes of the State cannot be 

 estimated ; and, coming as they do in direct touch with the individual, 

 the instruction they impart is invaluable. 



The co-operative feature brought to the people by the expert 

 on Co-operation in Farming has been of untold benefit to the 30,000 

 and more who were addressed at the 161 public meetings and 50 pri- 

 vate gatherings. The farmers of the State are awakening to the neces- 

 sity of co-operation, not only in the buying of equipments required 

 in carrying on the farm industry, thereby saving thousands of dol- 

 lars to the tens of thousands of farmers directly and indirectly in- 

 terested, but in the sale and marketing of farm products, thereby 

 bringing in a net return of more than can be realized by the ordinary 

 methods of disposing of the proceeds of the garden and farm. 



The farmers of the State are awakening to the needs of proper sys- 

 tem of drainage, and many inquiries come to the Department as to 

 what methods to adopt to best benefit low and swampy lands. The 

 expert on Drainage and Water Supply visited 269 farms, giving 

 suggestions as to methods to adopt, and much commendation of his 

 work has reached the office by letter and otherwise. Reference to 

 the report gives a brief outline of the conditions that exist in the 

 State. 



The two branches, market gardening and fruits, within the past ten 

 years, has taken a prominent place in the agricultural life of the 

 Commonwealth. The demands for the services of the expert, there- 

 fore, on Market Gardening and Fruits has been unusually great. 

 In all, he visited 550 farms, attended fifty agricultural meetings and 

 demonstrations and came in contact with 22,000 persons, delivering 

 addresses along the lines in which he is specially engaged. 



The remarkable interest taken in Poultry Husbandry in Pennsyl- 

 vania is unprecedented in the history of the State and the unusual 

 number of requests coming to the Department for information on 



