FARMERS' INSTITUTES. 625 



THE WOMEN'S SECTION 



The Women's Section was continued in about the same lines as the 

 previous season. The chief change in plans was to request each County 

 Institute Society to appoint a committee of women to take charge of the 

 Women's Section. We secured the name and address of the Chairman 

 of this committee, and corresponded directly with her in regard to the 

 details of the Section. There is no question but this was a wise move. 

 Details were much better looked after than ever before; the women felt 

 that they were responsible for the success of the Section; and, besides 

 that, we had a better means of knowing the exact feeling of the women 

 themselves as to the needs of the Women's Section. 



A report was secured from each Chairman. From these reports it ap- 

 pears that about GO per cent of the women attending these Women's 

 Sections were farm women. It is not to be regretted in the least that the 

 proportion of town and village women was so large as 40 per cent, for we 

 feel certain that one great work that the Women's Section is doing is the 

 bringing together of the town and country women on an intellectual and 

 social equality. If the Women's Section does no more than this it will 

 be justified. 



DO THE WOMEN WANT THE WOMEN'S SECTION? 



Both the State speaker sent to the Women's Section and the Chairman 

 of the same were asked the question: "Do the women of this locality wish 

 the Women's Section continued?" In most cases an actual vote was 

 taken. An examination of the replies to this question shows that out of 

 all the counties where Women's Sections were held last winter only two 

 report that the women do not wish the Section continued. In all the 

 other counties, the replies indicated that the women voted decidedly in the 

 affirmative for the continuance of the Women's Section, and in many 

 cases the vote for it was unanimous and enthusiastic. We do not wish to 

 force Women's Sections upon any Institute, but so long as the women 

 themselves desire these meetings they can have them. When the ma- 

 jority of the women express a wish that the Women's Section be omitted, 

 it will be time to consider its discontinuance. But we have every reason 

 to believe that the Women's Section in Michigan Institute work has 

 come to stay, that it has a valid excuse, and that it is doing a work that 

 not only could not be done in any other way in the Institutes, but also a 

 work that is not being done by any other means in existence at present. 



Following is a table showing the places where meetings were held, 

 and the attendance. The attendance is slightly in excess of the attend- 

 ance at Women's Sections a year ago. Conductors report that about 30 

 per cent of the attendance at the regular sessions of the County Institutes 

 was composed of women: 



