46 



QUEBEC. 



By G. A. GiGAULT, Quebec. 



The number of farmers' dubs in the Province, 575; number of members of clubs, 

 51 188- sul)Scrii)tion9 of members, -566,082.23; government <j;rant, $23,ol4; number of 

 lecturers employed during 1904, 15; amount spent by the government for lectures, 

 $8 '^46 



\ farmers' club can be organized in everv parish or township of the Province. To 

 be a member of a club one must pay §1. The minimum of the government grant is 

 $25 and the maximum S50. It is calculated according to the number of niembers. 

 Manv clubs own registered live stock. The law and by-laws of the council ot agri- 

 culture allow them to hold competitions for standing croiis, the best managed farms, 

 a« well as for milch cows yielding the greatest (piantity of milk. Every member of 

 a farmers' club receives gratuitously the Journal of Agriculture and Horticulture, 

 l)ulilished in both languages by the department of agriculture. In order to be entitled 

 to a ^j-rant, a club must have at least one lecture a year. 



Two experts, one on fruit culture and the other on bee keeping, are among the 

 speakers emploved by the department. Besides the lectures given by those speakers, 

 some are also given in the Province: (1) By the professors of the St Hyacinthe 

 Dairy School and speakers emploved by the Dairymen's Association and the Pomo- 

 loo-icalSocietv, at meetings held bv them in the Province; (2) by speakers employed 

 bv the federal government: (3) bv government and syndicates' inspectors who visit 

 the cheese and butter factories, and (4) by priests, members of the Agricultural 

 Missionaries' Association, founded by the Roman Catholic bishops._ 



Lectures are almost always given in the rural centers in the evenings. In the last 

 report of the department of agriculture of Ireland we read the following remark: 

 " Lectures should be arranged to be given in schoolrooms or other suitable public 

 rooms in the evenings, and should be held in rural centers. Towns and the larger 

 villages should be avoided, as experience has shown that the greatest success attends 

 those lectures which are given in the rural parts of a county." We believe that 

 re<^ulation to be excellent and follow it as much as possible. Our reports are notyet 

 complete, but we can safely say that the number of meetings held in the Province 

 during the vear 1904-5 exceeds 900. j • u 



Since those farmers' clubs have been organized the agricultural production tias 

 greatly increased. The last census establishes that during the decade previous thereto 

 the production of cheese and butter has increased in this Province by 341 per cent. 

 Some exporters contend that to-dav Quebec produces more dairy products than any 

 other Province of this Dominion. "That result is largely due to the dissemination of 

 agricultural knowledge by the lecturers and the Journal of Agriculture. 



SOUTH CAROLINA. 



By J. N-. Harper, ('lemson Cnlln/e. 



Last year 22 institutes were held in the northern half of the State. These institutes 

 were conducted bv 7 lecturers. This winter 32 meetings are being held in the south- 

 ern half of the State. At these meetings 12 speakers have already been arranged for, 

 and as these meetings will not close until some time in January, it is probable that 

 other speakers will be secured. This makes a total of 54 institutes between July 19, 

 1905, and the middle of January, 1906. 



I have no means of ascertaining the amount of money spent. It was, however, 

 confined to the actual expenses of the lecturers, who were college or station officers, 

 receiving no extra compensation. There was a slight additional expense for adver- 

 tising and correspondence with the local managers in arranging for the institutes. 



The general plan of the campaign is to have those desiring an institute apply to the 

 director of institutes requesting that one be held. When these applications are in, 

 the dates of the institutes are so arranged as to enable the lecturers to go from place 

 to place with the greatest economy of time. 



Under new lines of work inaugurated aiid carried out there is one item of special 

 interest that I can recall. The Southern Railway has loaned the college and station 

 for institute work a dav coach, which is hauk-d free of cost to the college and wher- 

 ever we wish it to go in the State. This coach has been fitted uj) by the college so 

 as to contain a commissary department, where meals are prepared and served the 

 lecturers; sleeping accommodations also have been installed. The rest of the car 

 space is taken up with agricultural, horticultural, animal husbandry, biological, geo- 

 logical, mechanical, and textile exhibits. In addition to this, arrangements have 



