farmers' institutes in the united states. 337 



sisted of two clay coaches fitted with raised platforms for speakers, 

 a baggage car, a diner, and a sleeper. The entu'e train was fm"nished 

 by the railroad companies without cost to the institute management. 

 The train made seventy-five stops in the State, and the attendance 

 upon the lectm-es at these stations numbered 9,127. 



A feature of the institute, as conducted this year, worthy of notice 

 is that of utilizing the spare time before the institute opens in the 

 morning and after it closes in the afternoon in visiting near-by farms 

 and conferring with the farmers respecting the introduction of better 

 methods in their systems of agriculture. In some instances prac- 

 tical demonstrations were given on individual farms. Among these 

 were demonstrations of the method of terracing and draining land. 

 The effect of this intermingling in a social and educational way has 

 been to establish a feeling of confidence among the farmers in the 

 ability of the institute teachers to give practical and useful instruction. 



MISSOURI. 



Institute director. — George B. Ellis, secretary State board of agriculture, Columbia. 



The total number of institutes held in Missouri during the year 

 was 156, an increase of 52 over the previous year, when a technical 

 decision by the State auditor prevented the use of $1,900 of the State 

 appropriation. One huncked of these meetings were for one day, 55 

 for two days, and 1 for three days, making a total of 410 sessions 

 with a total attendance of 36,900, or an average of 90 per session. 

 Twenty-eight lecturers were upon the State institute force, of whom 

 about half were from the agricultural college and the experiment 

 station. 



The three leading topics for discussion were ''Corn improvement," 

 "Better roads for Missouri," and "Dairj^ng." Of these "Corn 

 improvement" was taken up at practically every meeting. 



The funds available were $5,000, entirely derived fi'om State appro- 

 priation. A portion of this amount is available for printing reports 

 of the meetings, the proceedings of which are published in part. 



MONTANA. 



Institute director. — F. B. Linfield, director agricultural experiment station, 

 Bozeman. 



Montana has over 145,000 square miles of territory na had in 

 1900 a population of 243,329. The sparsely settled, condition of the 

 country, its great extent, and the lack of railroads in many sections 

 make the institute problem one of considerable difficulty. The State 

 appropriated $4,000 per year for institute purposes. At least one 

 institute is required to be held in each county each year. For con- 

 venience, the State has been divided into institute districts composed 



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