No. 7; DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 289 



MR. DAVIS: Mr. Chairman, I am not a public spealior but I am an 

 awful worker. We have in this county an agricultural society which 

 I was president of, and we held twenty-four days of institutes in this 

 county, and 1 believe they were all a success. We have in our con- 

 stitution of our county organization or agricultural society a clause 

 that 25 cents makes a member for one year. We districted our 

 county into twelve districts with the idea of holding twelve insti- 

 tutes of two days each but we held only ten. I said to them that if 

 you will raise a minimum of seven dollars and a half by 25 cent 

 membership fees, we will take that |1U0 to the Commissioners and 

 have it duplicated, and it gave us |200 to run the twelve institutes 

 which we accomplished last year very successfully. Brother Mar- 

 tin was with us for two or three days, and Brother Northup for 

 two weeks; outside of that we did the whole work with our local 

 help; the State did not supply us with one speaker; we can do excel- 

 lent work among the farmers with our local help. I always feel 

 that the local help should be encouraged, because it is cheaper than 

 to get this foreign help. That is about all I have to say. 



Time being limited, several members of the Institute had no op- 

 portunity of expressing their opinions in the general conference. 

 Two members, however, have submitted their ideas in the two fol- 

 lowing papers: 



ADDRESS. 



By \V. H. STOUT, Pinetrore. Pa. 



Not long since a delegation of farmers from my neighborhood went 

 on an errand of investigation to see the home practice of a number 

 of the State speakers who made rather extravagant statements 

 at institutes of their practices and successes, and if I might repeat 

 what was reported in detail, it would not make a very creditable 

 showing. The conclusion arrived at was that they would not go 

 any distance to learn from them, having more practical and better 

 work near them in various lines of farming. 



Pennsylvania farmers have the reputation of being leaders in their 

 pursuit, and anticipating Horace Greeley, numbers went West early, 

 in Couestoga wagons, across to Ohio, where they introduced their 

 thrifty and industrious habits, so that our border state has some very 

 good farmers, taught by farmers from the "Keystone" State of agri- 

 culture, and it is not the one state only, but many others all the 

 way to the Pacific Ocean, and the Southern states as well, received 

 lessons and inspiration from the sons and daughters from the farms 

 of this State. 



As westward the empire made its way, the East was neglected so 

 we hear and read of abandoned farms, and neglected agriculture 

 in some of the Eastern states. 



As educators too, we lead, as evidenced by the fact that our in- 

 stitute speakers are in demand in New Jersey, New York, Mary- 

 land, Virginia and Ohio, showing conclusively that we are entitled to 

 the credit, justly merited, of being at the head of the procession. 



Possibly rate regulation has an influence in getting up railroad 

 19—7—1906. 



