HISTORY OF FARMERS' IXSTFrUTES IN THE 

 UNITED states; 



INTRODUCTION. 



Tlie fanners' institute movement in the United States has now 

 reached a (k'*rree of importance and development that phices it along- 

 side of the leading institutions of the country organized in the interest 

 of industrial education. Forty-five States and Territories held insti- 

 tutes in 1905, aggregating 10,555 half-day sessions, which were at- 

 tended by 995,192 persons, chieily adults. 



The teaching force in the employ of the State directors numbered 

 995. The personal history of 791 of these lecturers shows that 386 

 hold college degrees, 159 had taken partial college courses, 130 had 

 normal or high-school certificates, and 1 1 (> had common-school train- 

 ing. In addition to this force, the local managers of the several coun- 

 ties in 28 States reporting employed 3,331 local lecturers who read 

 papers or delivered addresses in the institute meetings. 



The ap])ropriations for institute purposes by the several States in 

 1905 amounte^l to $225,738.89. This development has taken place 

 within about thirty years, and the greater part of it within the past 

 fifteen years. 



The marvelous growth of this form of agricultural instruction in so 

 short a period is accounted for by the fact that about the time that 

 this movement began agricultural lands in many States were begin- 

 ning to show the injurious effects of constant cropping without restora- 

 tion of the fertilizing elements thus abstracted, and the majority of 

 their owners were coming to realize that the restoration of their lands 

 to profitable production was a problem for the solution of which they 

 needed the assistance of experts who had made special study of this 

 subject. 



Meetings were called by the farmers of the various communities for 

 conference and interchange of opinion respecting the difficulties that 

 they were encountering. To these meetings successful farmers were 

 invited and given opportunity to explain the methods by which they 



«Additional publications on this subject: Annals of Horticulture, 1891, p. 137, ff.; 

 Ann. Rpt. Penn. Dept. Agr. 1895, p. 97, ff.; U. S. Dept. Agr., Experiment Station 

 Record, vol. 7, p. 635, ff.; U. S. Dept. Agr., Office of Experiment Stations Bui. 79. 



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