256 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



Let us stand by these schools. Let us build them up and 

 strengthen thera and support them, so that the future of our great 

 Commonwealth will be even greater than the past, and greater than 

 the present. 



Adjourned until to-morrow morning at 9 o'clock. 



Memorial Hall, West Chester, Pa., 

 Thursday, 9 A. M., May 25, 1905. 



Watson T. Davis, of Ivyland, Pa., in the Chair. 



The meeting was called to order at 9 o'clock. 



The CHAIR: The first number on the program is "Methods of 

 Institute Work," by Prof. M. S. McDowell, State College. 



Prof. McDowell's paper is as follows: 



METHODS OF INSTITUTE WORK. 



By Prof. M. S. McDowell, State College. Pa. 



It is with diffidence that I approach the subject which has been 

 assigned me by the Director of Farmers' Institutes. The discussion 

 of this question may seemingly place me in the position of a critic, 

 but such an attitude I do not wish to be understood as assuming. I 

 fully appreciate the difficulties which confront the institute worker 

 in the presentation of his subject matter and I also appreciate the 

 fact that "Those who live in glass houses should not throw stones." 

 What may be said is not in any manner to be construed as criticism 

 of any individual engaged in institute work. I shall endeavor, in the 

 few minutes at our disposal, to speak of a few things which have 

 appealed to me as a result of seven or eight seasons' experience and 

 observation in farmers' institute work. 



We have passed the day when it was believed that farming did 

 not require special preparation and a high degree of intelligence 

 and that no scientific problems were involved. 



The great industries of the country have passed or are passing 

 through a transformation and their operations are or are coming 

 to be based largely upon a knowledge of the scientific principles 

 underlying. This does not mean that the men who operate the 

 great mills and factories are scientists but it does mean that they 

 are taking advantage of the practical application of the develop- 

 ments of the scientist. In this connection we should be careful 



