50 



A list of tlie officers elected at the annual meeting and a copy or 

 summary of each report and statement presented thereat is required 

 to be transmitted to the department by the secretary on or before the 

 i23d day of December in each year, and in case these particulars are 

 not transmitted from any agricultural society within this date it 

 can not receive any portion of the legislative grant unless the commis- 

 sioner is satisfied by the explanations given that such delay was 

 unavoidable or inadvertent, in which case he may pay the grant after 

 deducting $5 for each week of such delay. 



The institute meetings are usually of one day's duration and often 

 consist of but a single session. There is no regular stall" of lecturers, 

 but the superintendent depends upon securing from time to time the 

 services of such men as he may discover to be available. 



The first institute meetings, 19 in number, were held in 1890. The 

 number has increased until in 1903 there were lOG, and the amount 

 expended for institute purposes for that year was $8,200. 



The methods folloAved by the Territories do not differ materially 

 from those in use in the United States, namely, meetings of farmers 

 to which lecturers are sent by the department, who discuss various 

 .subjects relating to agriculture. The system, however, is Avorthy of 

 the special attention of institute workers from the fact of its coordi- 

 nating the institute work with that of the agricultural society, and 

 also because of the extent of the supervisory poAver exercised by the 

 department over these local societies. This method consolidates the 

 agricultural organizations into a single society in each county or dis- 

 trict and empowers it to be the recipient of Government grants, and 

 at the same time makes it subject to governmental supervision and 

 control by the department of agriculture. 



Instead, therefore, of being weakened by having nuiny societies or 

 a society for each specialty in agriculture, all subjects are included 

 in one organization and recognized in the organization by classifying 

 them and thus securing for each the interest and support of all of the 

 members of the societv, the farmers' institutes having the interest 

 and help of the farmers' associations and the farmers' associations in 

 turn having the aid of the institutes. 



ONTARIO. 



The farmers' institute movement in Ontario w\is organized by Dr. 

 James Mills, president of the Ontario Agricultural College. The 

 first meetings were held in January, 1885. The next year 26 meet- 

 ings were held and the third year there Avere 40 institutes. In 1890 

 the Province was divided for institute purposes into seven districts, 

 and to each institute meeting held in these districts three lecturers- 

 were sent — a professor from the agricultural college, a leading farmer, 



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