95 



Scheme oi Instruction in Bee Keepinc; for Itinerant Schools oe Aorktl- 

 tlRe in the ("ointv of Kii.dare, IREJ.ANI). 



All instructor in bcc Ivccjiinj,'. \vli<) must satisfy the (U'i);irtinont as to his 

 qualifications, shall he appointed hy the county committee, with the approval of 

 the department, rreference shall he given to local bee keepers if qualitied. 



A sum of £27 has been set aside for this purpose. 



DUTIES OF THE INSTRUCTOR. 



Ilis duties shall lie : 



(1) To give instruction on the principles and practice of modern bee keeping 

 by means of lectures and demonstrations at any center where application is 

 made for his services. 



{'J) To deal with bee diseases. 



(o) To give advice generally and to assist in the promotion of the industry 

 in such a manner as the county committee, with the approval of the department, 

 may direct. 



The examples given shoAv the methods in operation in conducting 

 itinerant schools. It is manifest that the scheme may be extended 

 and adapted to include other agricultural specialties as rapidly as 

 the mone}' and teachers necessary can be secured for the ]>urpose. 



The system as outlined is a distinct advance upon the method of 

 holding a few meetings in each county, in which a number of lecturers 

 are emploj^ed to appear and deliver lectures of thirty to forty min- 

 utes, each lecture treating of a different topic. The new plan aiuis 

 to do a fcAv tilings Avell rather than many in a superficial and indif- 

 ferent way. Each endeavors to develop the educational feature of 

 the farmers' institute, so as to make it of permanent and of direct and 

 immediate use to the farming population in improving their practice. 



Provision is also made for the profitable employment of the insti- 

 tute instructors during the entire year by making it their duty, in 

 connection with their work as teachers, to select and recommend loca- 

 tions for the carrying on of demonstration experiments throughout 

 the several counties in which they work. When the individuals 

 who are to conduct these experiments are selected by the county com- 

 mittee and haA'e been approved by the department, the lecturer is 

 expected to take charge of the work of organizing these experiment 

 plats, to visit them from time to time and give advice as to their 

 management, to keep records of their progress, and to report to the 

 county committee the residts. 



The experiment plats are each one-twentieth of an acre in extent. 

 Subjects and methods of experiment are prescribed by the depart- 

 ment. Some of these subjects experimented upon in V.H)-2 were oats, 

 barley, potatoes, cheese making, calf feeding, seed testing, tobacco 

 growing, flax growing, turnip growing, hay and i)asture grasses, 

 vegetable and fruit preserving, etc. 



The experiments in crops were chiefly mamirial and variety tests, 

 except that those conducted with reference to hay and pastures in- 



