FARMERS' INSTITUTES. 9 



upon the topics proposed for discussion. ♦ * * The members of the 

 Board will also take part in the proceedings, and members of the College 

 Faculty will take part if so desired. 



WHO ARE INVITED? 



"Every one who tills the soil or is interested in agriculture. Farmers 

 and their wives and families are especially invited; also all who honor or 

 would benefit the noblest of all industries. 



OBJECTS. 



'M. It is not the design to secure mere rhetorical efforts, but to meet 

 and talk over, in a common sense way, matters of vital interest to the 

 farmer. 



"2. One object to be secured is to bring the farmers, the Board and the 

 Faculty of the Agricultural College in closer relation to each other in 

 hope of mutual benefit. 



"3. One very important object to be secured is to gather up and pre- 

 serve in permanent form the results of agricultural experience and views 

 of leading farmers in different parts of the State. 



"4. Finally, to give a broader scope to the instruction at the Agricul- 

 tural College, and to make it more fully than ever before the exponent 

 of the most progressive and advanced agriculture of our State. 



"Farmers of Michigan! Will you 'meet the Board half way' in this 

 effort for mutual benefit?" 



The faculty realized the nature of the burden placed on their shoul- 

 ders, and they went forward to this new work hopeful^ yet anxious. 

 President Abbot's strongest expression was "I hope they will succeed." 

 When I look back twenty years upon this time of doubt and uncer- 

 tainty and recall the grand success of these first Institutes, the words of 

 the Psalmist come to my mind, "He that goeth forth weeping, bearing 

 precious seed, shall doubtless come again rejoicing, bringing his sheaves 

 with him." 



The Institutes were a complete success. The meetings were crowded, 

 the farmers full of interest, and the cordial invitation "Come again," 

 showed that the College had done well in this new departure. Two 

 Institutes were held on the same date, Jan. 11 and 12, 1896, one at 

 Armada and the other at Allegan. Mr. Phillips kept his word and made 

 his Institute a success in the largest sense. At Allegan the Institute, 

 under the charge of Gen. Pritchard as president, and E. C. Reid as secre- 

 tary, could not fail to be a success. The next Institute at Decatur with 

 A. B. Copley to direct affairs and Capt. Hendryx to push it along, suc- 

 ceeded to our hearts' content. At the same date, Jan. 13 and 14, a suc- 

 cessful Institute was carried on in Rochester. The Adrian Institute, 

 Jan. 18, had the efficient services of Thomas F. Moore as chairman, and 

 was a good meeting. 



The Institute Jan. 20, at Coldwater, was presided over by Hon. Cyrus . 

 G. Luce, who threw himself heart and soul into the work and has been a 

 staunch champion of the College and the Farmers' Institutes from that 

 day onward. 



Such was the beginning of a great work for Michigan, and its benefits 

 have spread to other states. 

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