38 



G two-day meetings, and 104 consisted of single sessions, i. e., a session would 

 be held in one place in the afternoon and another in an adjoining town or village 

 in the evening. By holding the majority of meetings in the smaller towns and 

 country places nearly every farmer in the province is given an opportunity of 

 attending one or more meetings near his home. The local officers are requested 

 to take part in the discussions and to induce the best farmers of the locality 

 to be present and give their assistance iJi malting the meetings a success. 



The total expenditure by the farmers' and women's institutes amounted to 

 about $40.(X)0. Fourteen thousand nine hundred dollars of this was voted by 

 the legislature of the province, while the balance was secured by special grants 

 from county and township councils, membership fees (2.5 cents per annum), the 

 running of excursions, etc. The proportion of the itrovincial grant used for 

 women's institute work was about .$3.50U, the cost of printing the annual report 

 was $73G, and the !)alance of the Government grant — .$10,GG4 — was devoted to 

 sending out speakers to farmers' institute meetings and defraying the general 

 expenses of the office of the superintendent, including all salaries and wages. 



The number of speakers employed was Go — i3 men and 22 women. For the 

 most i)art the speakers sent out to address farmers' institute meetings are prac- 

 tical farmers who have made a success in their special lines. Each deputation 

 is composed of two speakers — a general farmer and a fruit man. a dairyman 

 and a fruit man. a beef man and an authority on horses, or some other combi- 

 nation of speakers best suited to the district to be visited. The province is 

 divided into sections and speakers selected who are thought to be best able to 

 give the instruction desired in the several localities. 



In sending out lady speakers the aim is to have at least one member of the 

 deputation a person who has had practical experience on the farm and is v/ell 

 acquainted with rural conditions. The other member is usually one who has 

 had training in a school of domestic science. 



It is usual for the institutes to give special attention to some line or lines of 

 work each year. During the past season the subjects of pure seeds and weeds 

 were given prominence, and the good results following the campaign for a bet- 

 ter class of seeds are quite apparent throughout the province. At a number of 

 meetings the spealiers arranged to have representatives of different kinds of 

 live stock brought to the meeting, in order to demonstrate to their audiences the 

 desirable and undesirable points of the animals under examination. It was 

 usual also for those in attendance to be given an opportunity to place the 

 animals in order of merit. The institute delegate woidd then criticise the 

 judgment of his class and give reasons for his placing of the animals. This 

 promises to be a very interesting and instructive feature of institute work. 



The work and influence of the women's in.stitutes has continued to expand, 

 and the interest in the different districts is well maintained. The increase in 

 membership during the past year has been about 20 per cent, while the attend- 

 ance has more than doubled. The number of meetings held throughout the year 

 was 9G0, and there were 1.848 papers read and addresses delivered. Two hun- 

 dred and twenty-one of the meetings were arranged for by the superintendent, 

 while the balance consisted of regular monthly meetings and special sessions ar- 

 ranged for by the officers of the institute concerned. Previous to the summer of 

 1903 the meetings of the women's institutes were held in conjunction with the 

 farmers' institutes, but now it is general to have them entirely separate, except 

 at a few places in the winter season, when joint sessions are held in the even- 

 ing. Some of the more progressi\e of these institutes have an average monthly 

 attendance of from 50 to 60 of their members, and the subjects dealt with 

 embrace any and all subjects which make for the betterment of home conditions. 



