42 



pursued during the two preceding years. A much larger number of institutes have 

 been held, more institute lecturers have been secured from among the farmers of the 

 State, and for the lirst time lecturers from outside of the State have been used to a 

 considerable extent. 



NORTH DAKOTA. 

 By E. E. K.\UFMA.\, Bv^marck. 



Last year we held 61 institutes — 1 of four days, 13 of two days, 18 of one day, and 

 29 in wliich but one session each was held, making the total nninl)er of sessions 140. 

 Figured on the basis suggested by this association, the total attendance was 12,838, or 

 91^7 per session. The amount of money spent for institute v.ork was §3,948. 1 7, which 

 amount covers the cost of publishing the annual, salaries of speakers, etc. The nurn- 

 ber of speakers employed regularly was four, although the number appearing at insti- 

 tutes during the year was twelve. No chanjze was made in the general plan of 

 carrying on the institute work. The conductor has entire charge of the corps while 

 in thelieldand plans the programme at each institute to suit the needs and conditions 

 in that particular locality. The only new line of work inaugurated was the operation 

 of a special seed train for one week" over the line of the Minneapolis, St. Paul and 

 Sault Ste. .Marie Railroad in the State. The railway management furnished the train, 

 and all other expenses were met from the institute fund. Twenty-seven stops, at 

 intervals of aV)out 20 miles, were made in live days. At each stop of one hour and 

 thirty minutes the farmers gathered into a large passenger coach or, as was more 

 often the case, in a hall, and talks were given on selecting, grading, and testing seed 

 grain, with the treatment of same with formaldehyde to prevent smut. Speakers 

 from the experiment station who were thoroughly cognizant of the conditions pre- 

 vailing in theterritorv covered accompanied the train, and the results obtained were 

 highly satisfactory to the railway company and the institute management. The 

 smallest number at anv stop was To, and at three places more than 500 were in attend- 

 ance. Bv actual count the total number meeting this train was 5,555. or an average 

 of over 200 for each stop. Five leaflets or circulars were handed each farmer on leav- 

 ing the car or hall. These circulars gave a resume of each talk and would serve to 

 refresh the memory of the farmer when preparing his seed grain for the spring 

 seeding. . , . o j 



North Dakota is and will continue to be for years a gram-producing State, and 

 while not in any manner neglecting live stock, dairy husbandry, horticulture, etc., 

 the institute management l)elieves it is the part of wisdom to pay special attention to 

 grain raising. The object of the special train, of course, is to Cover as much territory 

 as possilile and therebv reach the largest number of farmers possible in a short space of 

 time. The railroads are benefited 1 jy the increased amount of grain they are required 

 to haul, provided there is any increase. All three of the leading railway companies 

 will furnish a train to the institute management next March, and it is planned to 

 devote a week's time to each road. It will cost the institute board nearly $1,000, 

 but judging from past experience over 15,000 farmers will receive instruction relative 

 to seed grain. 



NOVA SCOTIA. 

 By B. :M. C'hii'max, IlaJijax. 



I now^ beg to report that instead of what is called institutes in Ontario we use our 

 agricultural societies for the purpose of holding meetings and lectures. We have 

 now fairly well distributed over the 18 counties of Nova Scotia 16(5 agricultural 

 societies, with a meml)ership of 8,426. These societies are organized in the princi])al 

 farming districts through the province, and we think, considering the fact that our 

 land sintable for agricultural jmrposes does not embrace much more than one-half of 

 the province, the either l)eing timber lands on a njcky soil with many barren stretches, 

 and that but little more than o:ie-half of our population de])ends on agriculture, the 

 remainder being engaged in mining, hnnbering, and fishing, that our work among the 

 agriculturists extends perhaps as far in prt)portion to cultivated lands and popula- 

 ti7)ns as most of the other eastern provinces. We have been holding institute meet- 

 ings among these societies, more or less, for the last ten years. Aliout 190 meetings 

 have beenlield during the past year, with an attendance of 8,062, and in addition to 

 this we have two traveling dairv schools going through the principal farming districts. 

 These dairy schools held a total of 384 meetings, with a total attendance of 15,891. 



