50 



Among the special features that might be mentioned is what Ave term schools of 

 agriculture for the farmers. Two of the.«e t^chools have been held during the year in two 

 different counties, instead of the regular annual iufititute. In one county the school 

 was held for six consecutive days, and the instruction imparted consisted of various 

 subjects of interest to farmers. The other was held in a community where more 

 attention is given to dairying by the farmers, and five days were devoted to special 

 instruction in dairying. 



Where these schools have been held great interest has been manifested and the 

 farmers have asked for a continuance of the school rather than hold a two-day uisti- 

 tute. Tlie board furnishes two instructors and the average cost of eai'h institute, and 

 tile farmers attending the school pay for any additional instructors they may wish to 

 have. 



The work of the superintendent of institutes has been mostly confined to the office, 

 but it is proposed that hereafter he shall devote a part of his time to field work, in 

 order to establish better local organizations, for herein lies to a very great extent the 

 success or failure of the farmers' institute. 



WISCONSIN. 

 By George McKerrow, Madison. 



During the past year we held 81 meetings lasting two days each and 1 meeting 

 lasting three days. The number of speakers employed was about thirty. Our plan 

 of campaign was to cover the State as evenly as possible, so that each farmer in the 

 State could reach a meeting without having to travel too far. No new lines of work 

 were followed, but some of the old lines were enlarged upon, especially such as law- 

 ful milk, cleanliness in dairy products and their manufacture, tlie growing of alfalfa 

 and sugar beets, and sheep husbandry. The old topics, such as all phases of dairy- 

 ing, liorse breeding, swine breeding, horticulture, road building, production of poultry 

 products, health of our animals, especially as it deals with the question of tubercu- 

 losis, home life, domestic science as it relates to the cooking of foods, agricultural 

 education, and the rural schools, and in fact all of the topics that we have been able 

 to think of in relation to improving the farm home, the best farming and the devel- 

 opment of the farmer and his familv, have been discussed. We have issued and dis- 

 tributed the annual Wisconsin Farmers' Institute Bulletin, 60,000 copies of a 320- 

 page handbook of agriculture, covering the above-mentioned topics as discussed at 

 the farmers' institutes, with a full report of talks, questions, answers, and discussions 

 at the three-day closing institute meeting. 



REPORT OF THE FARMERS' INSTITUTE SPECIALIST OF THE U. S. 

 DEPARTINIENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



By John Hamilton, WaifJungton, D. C. 



Institutes have been held during the year ended June 30, 1905, in all of the States 

 and Territories of the United States, excepting five — two States (Florida and South 

 Dakota) and three Territories (Alaska, Indian Territory, and Porto Rico). 



Reports for the year, giving the condition of the farmers' institute work, have 

 been received from all of the States and Territories holding institutes, except four — 

 Missouri, Tennessee, Rhode Island, and Vermont. 



Forty-two States and Territories report 1,714 one-day institutes, 1,262 two-day insti- 

 tutes, and 120 three-day institutes— a total of 3,096 institutes, composed of 10,153 

 sessions. 



Forty-one States and Territories report a total attendance of 977,082. Thirty-seven 

 States and Territories report appropriations by the State and Territorial governments 

 for institute purposes amounting to $197,082.13. Appropriations for the year from 

 other sources amounted to $20,056. 76. The total cost of the institutes was $204,975.79. 

 The appropriations for the coming year (1905-6) as reported by thirty-six States, 

 amount to $208,907.62. 



Forty-five States and Territories report 992 State lecturers upon the State teaching 

 force. ' Three hundred and thirty-eight of this number were from the faculties ot 

 the agricultural colleges and the "staffs of the experiment stations. These officials 

 contributed 2,622 days of time to teaching in institute meetings. The whole num- 

 ber of days of institutes reported is 4,598. 



Assuming that the four States that have not yet reported have held their own in 

 all respects, we have by adding the items in their reports for the year ending June 



