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culture of the State. It has extended the scope of its work from year to year until now 

 its lecturers cover a large field in their instruction, and their Avork is proving of great 

 benefit to the farming interests of the State. The board has been judicious in the 

 employment of men as lecturers, selecting only those who are experts in the several 

 lines of farming, as stock raising, fruit culture, dairying, sugar making, sanitary 

 farm buildings, etc. 



The work of the board has stimulated the farmers of the State to aim at a much 

 higher grade of farming. Its lecturers have taught them the value of commercial 

 fertilizers and their more economical use, the importance of the exercise of care, and the 

 use of scientific methods in the feedingof animals, the valueo^^ keeping accurate records 

 of milk production, the conservation of moisture in the soil, and the use of various 

 forage crops both as food for animals and as furnishing fertility for the betterment of 

 their farms. In these and numerous other respects the influence and teachings of the 

 board and of the specialists employed as instructors in the institutes have been of 

 untold value to the farming interests of the State. 



In 1904, 48 institutes were held, with an estimated attendance of 10,000 persons. 

 The secretary of the board of agriculture is the superintendent of institutes and has, 

 under the direction of the board, control of the work of fixing the dates and places for 

 the institutes and of arranging the programs. 



VIRGINIA. 



Farmers' institutes seem to have taken definite form in Virginia about the year 1890. 

 In the reports of Thomas Whitehead, commissioner of agriculture for 1888-89, reference 

 is made to the advisability of holding institutes, and quotations are made from the reports 

 of the directors of institute work in some other States. The first meeting was held at 

 Chatswortli Farms, owned by R. B. Chaffin, near the city of Richmond, Septeml:)er 

 25 and 26, 1890. The meeting was well attended and addresses were delivered by a 

 number of prominent farmers and scientists. A summary of the proceedings, together 

 with the papers read, is contained in the report of the State board of agriculture for the 

 year 1890. The expenses of the meeting seem to have aggregated $169.03. It is 

 interesting to note that even at this early date the services of scientific experts were 

 considered of importance, for Professors Massey and Alvord addrest the meeting. 

 Doctor McBryde, president of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute, delivered a number 

 of notable addresses on agricultural education and experimental work at meetings held 

 in lateryears. ^ Sincetheinceptionof the farmers' institute movement, theofficersof the 

 Virginia Experiment Station have been frequently called on to deliver addresses before 

 meetings held in all parts of the State, a service cheerfully rendered on their part. 



The initial meeting was so successful that the State board was encouraged the next 

 year to appropriate the sum of $250 for farmers' institutes to be held in each Con- 

 gressional district of the State upon a written petition signed by 300 farmers in the dis- 

 trict. Under this plan four institutes were held in the year 1891, namely, at Chats- 

 worth, Charlottesville, Bedford, and Pulaski, and the expense incurred for speakers 

 was $890.11. Many of the papers read at these meetings are published as an appendix 

 to the commissioner's report for 1891. On the whole, farmers' institutes seem to have 

 gained ground and to have found favor in the different sections of the State during 

 the year. 



The institute work was continued in the year 1892, meetings being held at Alex- 

 andria, Cape Charles, Grange Camp, Burkeville, and Lynchburg, and $1,425.50 was 

 expended in the work. The meetings seemed to have been highly successful, judging 

 from the commissioner's report, and he calls attention to the value of the meetings and 

 suggeststhe advisability of the State making a special aj)propriat ion for the maintenance 

 of institutes. As heretofore, a number of the best papers read before the institutes 

 were published as a part of the commissioner's report for the year 1892. 



