330 REPORT OF OFFICE OF EXPERIMENT STATIONS. 



Twenty thousand copies of reports of the farmers' institute pro- 

 ceedings are pubhshed and distributed each year. 



INDIANA. 



Institute director — W. C. Latta, professor of agriculture, Purdue University, Lafayette. 



That the institutes in Indiana are making substantial progress is 

 shown to some extent at least by the fact that the number of ses- 

 sions has increased from 883 in the year ended June 30, 1905, to 918 

 in the ji'ear ended June 30, 1906. The average attendance at each 

 session in 1906 was 141, and the amount appropriated for institute 

 purposes was SI 2,500. 



A conference of the institute workers held each year at Purdue 

 University has materially aided in advancing the institute work. 

 At the conference held in October, 1905, special attention was given 

 to the consideration of methods for interesting boys and girls in the 

 institutes. In several counties the county superintendents of schools 

 in cooperation with the county chairman of the farmers' institutes 

 organized boys' and girls' clubs for growing corn, making bread, etc., 

 the products to be exhibited at the institute in competition. Pre- 

 miums were offered by the business men of the districts interested 

 and many boys were induced to enter in competition. 



In compliance with numerous requests by county chairmen a 

 trained domestic-science teacher was emploj-ed last year for the 

 entire institute season to lecture upon food, household management, 

 home making, and kindred topics. Seventy-two institutes were 

 attended by tliis instructor, and the lectures were received with great 

 interest by almost every locality visited hj the domestic-science 

 teacher. This year requests have been sent in to the State director 

 for similar instruction in the future. 



A number of independent institutes were held with a reported 

 attendance of about 100 in each. Women's meetings were also held, 

 usually in connection with the regular institutes. About 20 separate 

 sessions and a like number of special sessions were conducted by 

 women. 



The agricultural college and experiment station furnished 5 lec- 

 turers, who ";ave twentv-scven davs of their time to the institutes. 

 In addition to these there were 44 other lecturers in the employ of 

 the State director and about 50 local essayists and speakers. About 

 1,000 copies of the annual report of the institute work are printed 

 and distributed each year. The reports do not give the proceedings 

 at the several institute meetings, but present statistical information 

 showing the condition and progress of the institute work for the 

 preceding year. 



