33 



In consiHiuonco of the work that had Ix'on begun in 1882 the general assem])ly of 

 1889 past an act which had been presented liy Hon. W. W. Rol)ins, representative 

 from Miami, known as house bill No. 430, organizing the fanners' institute under 

 State control and appropriating $5,000 per year for institute support. The l)ill was 

 approved by the governor Maich 9, 1889.a 



In the autumn of that same year, 1889, the farmers' institute work was begun under 

 State control. In order to comply with the institute act which required the holding 

 of an institute annually in each county of the State, an effort was made to get the work 

 oi-ganized in all of the counties the fii-st year. This Wius found to be impossible, owing 

 to lack of information and indifference on the part of the people in many localities. 

 Institutes, however, were held in 50 counties the first seitson, 1889-90; in 41 of the 

 remaining 42 counties the second season; in the third season, 1891-92, institutes were 

 held in 90 counties, and in the fourth year in 89. Beginning with the fifth season, 

 1893-94, and continuing since, at least one institute has been held annually in each 

 of the 92 counties of the State. At first the institutes were held almost exclusively 

 at the county seats, altho in a few counties the plan has been from the first to hold 

 the meetings successively at different points. 



Beginning with 1898 a conference of in.stitute oflicers and workers has been hekl in 

 October of each year. In 1901 the general assembly increased the appropriation for 

 farmers' institutes from $5,000 to $10,000 per annum. In the autumn of the same 

 year, 1901, a women's conference was held for the purpose of considering what farmers' 

 institutes might do for the women of the farm. 



Beginning with 1901 two-day district farmers' institutes have been held annually 

 in the month of August. The increased appropriation which became available in 

 1901 added largely to the number of institutes that were held, and from that time 

 approximately half of the meetings have l)een held at outlying points near county 

 l)oundaries. 



For the purpose of carrying out the provisions of the institute act the board of trus- 

 tees appointed a joint committee on institutes consisting of the president of the univer- 

 sity, the director of the State experiment station, and the professor of agriculture of 

 the university. This committee has direct charge of the institute work. The last- 

 mentioned officer is the superintendent of institutes, and formulates plans for the 

 approval of the committee and has immediate supervision of the work. 



When the work was first organized under State control the members of the State 

 board of agriculture were invited to take charge of the institute arrangements in their 

 respective districts. Those who were willing to act were appointed to assist the general 

 management in holding meetings in the several counties in their respective districts. 

 Altho several members of the board of agriculture cooperated acceptably and 

 effectively it was Soon found desirable to appoint a suitable person within each county 

 to take the local supervision of the work in charge. It became apparent that some 

 form of local organization within each county was necessary to give standing and per- 

 manence to the work. Accordingly granges, agricultural societies, farmers' clubs, 

 etc., were invited to take local supervision of the institute. Further experience demon- 

 strated the necessity for having some form of local organization for the single purpose 

 of holding farmers' institutes. Each institute was therefore requested to elect a chair- 

 man, who might be recognized by the general committee as the one having charge of 

 the work in the county. A secretary was also elected and a little later a number of 

 the counties elected or appointed vice-presidents for the several townships. 



These local organizations, varying in character and not well knit together and often 

 with no written or definite constitution, nevertheless answered the purpose very well 

 for a number of years. With the increased appropriation of 1901 and the consequent 



a U. S. Dept. Agr., Oflace of Experiment Stations Bui. 135 (Revised), p. 15. 



11797— No. 174—06 3 



