272 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



their source in the great Divine mind, and can you not readily see 

 that the mind that is finite will never be able to fathom the depths 

 which we must search after in order to arrive at the best conclu- 

 sions and the best practice upon the farms of Pennsylvania. This 

 gives us some idea and enables us to some extent to appreciate the 

 high and the vast work in which we are engaged, and in order to be 

 more direct, I have thought and now fully believe, that in the 

 history of farmers' institutes in Pennsylvania, that we ought to 

 have more compact county and township farmers' organizations; 

 that we ought to have in every county in Pennsylvania, a permanent 

 organization of farmers known b}' some* appropriate name, organized 

 as a continuous body in order that we may carry on this work more 

 efficiently in conjunction with the Department of Agriculture, and 

 to uphold and sustain the hands of the county chairmen of insti- 

 tntes. With that object in view, we have prepared and arranged 

 a constitution for county farmers' institute-societies providing for 

 the organization of such a society in every county in the State. We 

 have had this printed. We want the county chairmen of institutes 

 and all others to get a copy, and if some one will please distri- 

 bute those now among the audience, I shall be obliged. 



The need of such an organization is imperative. To-day there is 

 just one organization in Pennsylvania which gives you, as the chair- 

 men of institutes, the right to ask a man to serve and aid in this 

 work, the county society, and if he chooses to serve, we recognize 

 him as county chairman of institutes. 



Now there has grown up in Pennsylvania many organizations of 

 farmers. We have farmers' clubs, farmers' alliances, farmers' 

 unions, local granges, Pomona granges, those in all or nearl}' all 

 of the counties of the State, and these various organizations are 

 organized voluntarily and thus they help you along. 



Now if you will examine this constitution you will see that it 

 provides — that out of these organizations, they can elect a com- 

 mittee, they can elect a representative from all these organizations, 

 and they will form the executive committee who will make arrange- 

 ments to help along with the local work of these farmers' insti- 

 tutes. 



What we want to do, in my judgment, is to so arrange matters 

 that we will have in every county and township in Pennsylvania an 

 organization of men devoted to this work. There is just a little 

 more about that yet. It is my duty and it has been my work for sev- 

 eral years to collect from the agricultural societies of Pennsyl- 

 vania the statistics of their fairs, and exhibitions, the moneys ex- 

 pended, and I am in particularly close touch v\ith them. I find that 

 probably more than a half of these county fairs do not really rep- 

 resent a real agricultural fair or agricultural exhibit. 



Now what do we want as farmers? In my judgment, to get an 

 organization of bona fide farmers who have at heart this work. 

 There is an Act of Assembly under which some of the county chair- 

 men of institutes have been acting very wisely; even this county of 

 Clearfield has availed itself of it; the county of Lackav.anna, where 

 Mr. Northup has had charge, has availed itself of these aids; so 

 I say we want county farmers' organizations and agricultural so- 

 cieties that will raise funds to the amount of a hundred doi- 



