82 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



have attained these courses, are their best advertisement. They are 

 growing more and more useful to the state and are becoming one of the 

 important features of the college week. 



C. D. SMITH, 

 Dean. 

 Michigan Agricultural College, June 30, 1907. 



EEPORT OF THE SUPERINTENDENT OF FARMERS' INSTI- 

 TUTES, 1906-7. 



■^■> 



To the President: 



gir: — The farmers' institutes held during the past year have shown 

 an increased interest in such gatherings in nearly all of the counties. 

 The number of the so-called County Institutes has been seventy. This 

 provided one for nearly every county of the Lower Peninsula and for 

 ten of the counties of the Upper Peninsula. 



Although the winter season as a whole was quite favorable to the 

 securing of a large attendance, severe storms and bad roads consider- 

 ably reduced the attendance in quite a number of counties and it so hap- 

 pened that these unfavorable conditions prevailed during one or two 

 weeks in which the largest number of meetings were held. For a num- 

 ber of years the meetings in the more southern counties have, for the 

 most part, been held during the month of February, but as for several 

 seasons the weather was very unpleasant during the early part of the 

 month, a desire was expressed for meetings to be held the latter part 

 of January. It so happened this year that the weather at that time 

 was much more stormy than during February and the change not only 

 resulted in reducing the attendance, but it made it impossible to give as 

 good satisfaction in the way of speakers as would have been the case 

 had the meetings been extended over a longer period. Fully one-third 

 of the county institutes were held during the last ten days in January 

 and as a large number of one-day institutes were scheduled for the same 

 time, it was not possible to furnish speakers asked for by many of these 

 counties, as certain ones were desired upon the same day by half a dozen 

 or more counties. 



With few exceptions these institutes have lasted for two days each 

 but in a number of cases, including Manistee, Barry, Berrien and Oak- 

 land, three day institutes were held, while in other counties it was pre- 

 ferred to hold the meetings only one day for the county institute and 

 thus secure an increased number of regular one-day institutes. 



The number of one-day institutes has been two hundred fifty-nine, 

 which is two greater than the previous year and the number would 

 have been fully three hundred had it been possible to grant the numer- 

 ous requests for an increased number of institutes assigned to the 

 county. 



The success of both local and county institutes was due largely to 

 the attention given by the ofScers of the county institute societies in 

 whose hands local arrangements were placed. On the other hand, in 



