EDITORIAL. 303 



farm is generally not so much a matter of money expenditure as of 

 sympathetic thoug-ht and discussion on these subjects." 



Last year more than eleven thousand farmers' institute sessions 

 •were held in the several States of the Union, Avhich were attended by 

 approximately a million and a half people. More than a quarter of a 

 million dollars annually is now expended in this line of work. These 

 facts indicate the present extent of this movement. 



But while the farmers' institute is an effective means' of reaching 

 the farmer as far as it goes, it has serious limitations in its present 

 form. One of these is the short institute season, which makes it diffi- 

 cult to secure good workers. Professor Burnett urged that this cam- 

 paign for the instruction of the farmers should continue throughout 

 the 3'ear, and should be expanded into some form of extension work 

 which would employ a body of trained men, whose work would in- 

 clude the carrying on of short courses in localities where they could 

 be easily reached by the farmers. Such local short courses have been 

 tried in a few States with marked success, and j^lans for movable 

 schools have been presented by the institute specialist of this Office. 

 More experiments of this kind will be made the present season. 



Another phase of this practical assistance to the man in the field is 

 that relating to new settlers. These constitute a special class whose 

 needs are of a different kind from those of the established farmers. 

 In a country like ours they are a class to be taken account of in a 

 comprehensive scheme of oral or individual instruction. 



There is a constant movement of people from the older settled 

 parts of the countiy to the North, the South, and the West, to occupy 

 ncAv lands and assist in the development of new territory. These 

 people come into a new environment which presents entirely different 

 phases of farming from those to which they have been accustomed. 

 Much can be done to assist them in conquering these new conditions 

 and establishing prosperous farms. Aside from these, more than a 

 million immigrants are now being brought to our shores annually, 

 many of whom seek homes on the newer lands where the crops, the 

 culture, and the system of management are entirely strange to them. 

 How are the needs of these people to be met, and how is this influx to 

 be made more efficient ? 



In a recent address before the National Irrigation Congress, Prof. 

 Samuel Fortier presented figures showing that next year (1908) there 

 will be thrown open to settlement in the irrigated region of this 

 country about five million acres of unimproved land. Its occupation 

 will mean one hundred thousand new settlers with their families, and 

 to them will be presented the problem of preparing the desert for 

 irrigation, the construction of ditches, selection and planting of crops, 

 and proper cultivation and irrigation. Before any harvest can be 



