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but as their own experiment. You put a farmer upon his honor and he feels he 

 is somebody. It lias been stated that cooperative experimental work by the 

 farmers is valueless unless some official is appointed to visit the experimenters 

 and take full charge of the work. 1 say no; that we do not want that. We 

 give them carefully prepared directions, and we want those people to feel that 

 it is their experiment in every case. Suppose the result is not of great scientific 

 value. At least you get that man started to observe. That man then takes his 

 neighbor to his plats, and he says, " I have some varieties of oats that I am 

 experimenting with," and they begin to talk it over. Perhaps the next year 

 another variety of oats will come in the neighborhood, and this same man will 

 say. " Well, I didn't take much interest when I started to experiment last year ; 

 I thought it would I)e difficult to carry it out. But it is not so very difficult after 

 all, and I am going to get some of this new variety of oats. I will put in a 

 plat of this new variety, and also a plat of the variety which gave the best 

 results last year, and another plat of the variety I have been growing for the 

 past ten years." Suppose that this man happens to drop into a farmers' insti- 

 tute meeting and the subject of oats is being discussed. He will be on his feet 

 giving his experience in growing oats before he is aware of it, and will perhaps 

 be in a position to give better infornnition on oats than any other man in the 

 room. This answers as a simple illustration of the beginning of results of one of 

 the very simplest experiments. 



I believe this to be one of the most practicable lines of work which the sta- 

 tions can take up. I know there is a good deal said against it; but this cooper- 

 ative work has been a hobby of mine. Eighteen years ago I had the greatest 

 faith in this work, which I have been at ever since, and the work has been 

 increasing steadily during all this time, and my faith in it is stronger every year. 

 It has the right elements of education in it ; it has the right elements of training 

 iu it; and you will see — mark my words— that the cooperative work will 

 become a very important factor in connection witli the agriculture of North 

 America. You get the farmers interested along these new lines of work, and 

 then they are going to be friendly toward advanced agriculture and have a 

 greater influence in the world. As mentioned a while ago, we are simply on the 

 fringe of this great movement. I do not know very much yet, but I know a 

 great deal more than I did know eighteen years ago, and we want to work 

 together in this, and if we do I am sure it will have a very great influence. We 

 know the influence it has had in Ontario already. Our crops have increased 

 about GO per cent during the last se\en years. What has done it? The cooper- 

 ative experimental work, the experiment station, and the farmers' institutes all 

 working together have certainly exerted a very great influence. The fact that 

 there is so much cooperation in this meeting is why I have enjoyed it so thor- 

 oughly. I think the future should be very bright. 



HOW TO TRAIN THE FARMERS' INSTITUTE WORKER. 



F. E. Dawley, Fayetteville, N. Y. Twenty years ago, when the institute work 

 was new, almost any successful, practical farmer who had ability to express his 

 thoughts and who had convictions made an acceptable institute worker, and 

 to-day in many sections and before many audiences a man of this type furnishes 

 the best of help ; but he must be something more than a practical man who has 

 achieved success. His success must have come from agricultural practice car- 

 ried out along orthodox lines, and Ins oi)inions must be backed by scientific 

 information. 



We have come to a time in the history of the farmers' institute movement 

 when the best work will be done by men and women especially equipped for 



