94 



Tho institute committoo is appointod by the l)oard, and consists of two members 

 of the board and the superintendent of institutes. The committee examines and con- 

 siders each petition and arranges the places and dates into divisions. The committee 

 also selects the institute instructors who are to have charge of the different divisions. 

 When this work is completed, a list of topics is furnished the local committee of each 

 society, from which topics for the program are selected and returned to the office of 

 the superintendent of institutes, who has them printed and Returned, together with 

 printed posters to be used for advertising the meetings. It is urged that due notice of 

 the meetings be published in the local papers. Circular letters are also mailed to indi- 

 vidual farmers in the community where the institute is to l^e held, signed by the 

 in.structor who is to have charge, and printed postal cards are furni.shed the secretaries, 

 to be used in a similar manner. 



This plan systematically carried out has been more successful than any other which 

 has yet been tried. From 80 to 90 institutes are held each year in the 55 counties of the 

 State. 



WISCONSIN. 



In Wisconsin the State Agricultural Society, the Northern W'isconsin Agi-icultural 

 Society, the Dairymen's Association, and the Horticultural Society all were holding 

 meetings of an institute nature, and Doctor Henry, of the agricultural college, had held 

 farmers' meetings at different points in the State long before the State system of farmers' 

 institutes was thought of, and it is more than probable that the effects of these agri- 

 cultural meetings, or institutes, and the good they were doing, had much to do in 

 bringing about the establishment of an organized State system. 



The law establishing a system of farmers' institutes for Wisconsin was introduced into 

 the Wisconsin legislature of 1884-85 by C. E. Estabrook, of Milwaukee. 



The bill introduced by Mr. Estabrook past the Wisconsin legislature in 1885. The 

 act carried with it an annual appropriation of $5,000. Two years later it was amended 

 and the appropriation was increased to $12,000 per annum. o 



The amended act gave authority to the board of regents of the State University to 

 hold farmers' institutes and empowered the board to make such rules for their regula- 

 tion as it might deem proper. 



The farm committee of the university board of regents selected the late W. H. Morri- 

 son as the first superintendent, with an office room in the capitol building, and gave 

 him almost absolute power in organizing and perfecting the institute system. Since 

 1894 the present superintendent has conducted the work. 



Mr. Morrison had experience as a farmer, county superintendent of schools, and sec- 

 retary of the well-known Walworth County Agi-icultural Society, whose annual fairs 

 have become celebrated thruout the State and country. His good judgment and 

 remarkable organizing ability rapidly brought the Wisconsin system of institutes into 

 such good working order that other States and Provinces, formulating systems for them- 

 selves, drew upon llr. Morrison very largely for their plans. An average of 44 meetings 

 were held during the first two years with the $5,000 appropriation. During the next 

 seven years an average of 70 meetings were held, and in the past ten years an average 

 of 112 have been held annually, with 11 cooking schools additional, each season during 

 the past eight years. For the past ten years the aggregate attendance has been about 

 50,000 per year. 



The Wisconsin institutes are what the name indicates — genuine farmers' institutes, 

 being actually held by the farmers themselves. The superintendents of the work 

 both have been practical farmers, and the workers are chosen from the best farmers in 

 the State, those whose live stock and farm products have won prizes at the greatest 

 shows in the country and have topt the best markets for farm products; men who 

 had a reputation, not only in their own localities but thruout the State, as its best 



a See IT. S. Dept. Agr., Office of Experiment Stations Bui. 135 (Revised), p. 34. 



