34 



engaged by our department to visit such schools, assigned by the county school 

 board, within a dav's walk of the countv town. This work is progressing very sat- 

 isfactorilv and preparations are being made to start a garden adjoining each school 

 during the spring term. Some assistance has been ren(h're(l indei)endent institutes 

 for the colored people bv personally attending, accompanied by others. The attend- 

 ance and interest liave been gratifying, and we are impressed witli the belief that our 

 department should do more to help thi-se people to l)ecome better farmers and farm 



laborers. , , , , .■ , i 



It is a pleasure to acknowledge in this report the help and support treely and 

 gratuitously given to our department by members of the staff of both college and sta- 

 tion. Such help has l)een an important factor in the success we are assured has 

 attended our efforts to help our farmers and aid in the agricultural development of 



the State. . , , , . , j ^ j 



Under the class of new work I will mention that just closed, which was conducted 

 by our dei)artment cooiieratmg with the experiment station in its exhibition work at 

 county fairs. An equipment was purchased, consisting of a tent with dark lining, a 

 moving-picture camera, a stereopticon with moving-j)icture attachment, with which 

 the work of exhibiting products and methods of producing them, with educational 

 variations, was done at eight fairs with varied success. But much experience, we 

 believe, will enable us to re])ort sometliing of interest next season. 



The number of meetings held during the season of 1904-5 was 23, not counting 

 special corn work nor fair work. Amount of money spent was $4,000; number of 

 speakers employed, 20. 



MASSACHUSETTS. 



By J. L. Ellsworth, Boston. 



The institute work of Massachusetts for the year 1904, which is the last for which 

 figures are available, was remarkably successful. One hundred and fourteen meet- 

 ings were held, with a total attendance of 12,426, or an average of 109 at a meeting, 

 the largest total and average attendance since these figures have been kept. The total 

 expense of these meetings was §1,454.64, an average of $12.76 per meeting. We are 

 able to keep the expense down to a low figure, as the agricultural societies stand all 

 the expense for halls, advertising, heat, lights, etc., the only charge to the State being 

 that for the speaker and his expenses. We pay our speakers SIO per meeting and 

 expenses, and owing to the short distances traveled in our little State, the fourth 

 smallest in the United States in area, we are able to keep the expenses at a minimum. 

 Probably the average expense for these meetings, where expenses were paid, is con- 

 siderably in excess of that indicated by the figures given; but as there are a number 

 of meetings, properly included as institutes, which cost the State nothing for speak- 

 ers, we are enabled to keep the average down. .... 

 Our appropriation for institute work comes under the head of "Dissemination of 

 useful information in agriculture," and amounts to $3,000 for this year. Only about 

 half this sum can be spent in the institute work proper, as we must pay from this 

 source the expen.ses of jirinting crop rejjorts, bulletins, nature leaflets, extracts from 

 the annual reports of the ])oard, and also the exjjenses of our demonstration work, 

 though this is jierhaps practically in line with the institute work. 



Dulring the year now closing, the institute work has been very successful, and though 

 I am not yet in a position to quote figures in regard to it, I feel sure that all records 

 have been broken, both in number of meetings and total and average attendance. 

 We are constantly endeavoring to improve the list of sjjcakers which we employ, to 

 cut out the dead wood, and to secure gi lod live men on the various subjects of interest 

 to our farmers, and we feel that we have been successful in this, as evidenced by the 

 increased interest manifested in the meetings from year to year. 



During the winter of 1905 we employed the following speakers, J. W. Sanborn, ot 

 New Hampshire; J. L. Hills, of Vennont; C. S. Phelps, of Connecticut, and John 

 Craig, of Ithaca, X. Y., on circuits of institutes, securing an option on their services 

 for a^-eek each, and arranging a greater or less number of institutes for each of them 

 in accordance with the calls received from the agricultural societies. This modification 

 of the system in vogue in many of the other States worked very well with us, and a 

 number of interesting and valuable meetings were held under this plan, at a less 

 total cost than would have been the ca.se had these gentlemen come on from their 

 respective States for each meeting. 



As the societies have to bear a large share of the expense of these meetings witti 

 us we do not feel that we can take all the arrangements out of their hands, but allow 

 them to select their speakers from a list juvpared and jjublished by the board, also 

 dates and places of meetings. This works very well with us, as it stimulates the 



