106 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



WEDNESDAY EVENING. 



THE FARM HOME READING CIRCLE. 



H. W. MUMFORD, AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE. 



In December, 1892, the Michigan Agricultural College, believing that 

 it would be for the interest of the farmers of this State to organize what 

 was known as the Farm Home Reading Circle, prepared a course of read- 

 ing which would be suitable and adapted to the needs of the farmers and 

 fruit growers of this State. Not only were the faculty consulted in this 

 matter, but practical farmers and fruit growers, as to what books would 

 be best for this kind of work. To those acquainted with agricultural lit- 

 erature, it is known that there are few reliable agricultural books pub- 

 lished today. There are so many men, too, writing for agricultural 

 papers, who are not practical men. They write simply as a pastime or a 

 matter of business. We cannot overlook the fact, however, that there 

 are men who do write from a practical experience, and so far as possible, 

 the management has selected the best possible writers on the different 

 lines of work. 



Since the organization of the Farm Home Reading Circle, it has stead- 

 ily grown. While perhaps the farmers have not taken up the matter and 

 pushed it as we had hoped, yet it has had a steady and healthy growth, 

 and we feel very much encouraged for the future. 



There are five classes of reading offered. Soils and Crops; Live Stock; 

 Garden and Orchard; Home making; and Political Science. We have 

 these five classes in order to accommodate all classes of farmers, garden- 

 ers, and stock breeders; some would be most interested in the class, ''Soils 

 and Crops," others in the class of ''Live Stock," or "Orchard and Garden." 

 Not only this, but it was thought advisable to include a class on "Home 

 Making," which would be especially adapted to the ladies of the farm; 

 and another on Political Science. Any member may select any three of 

 these classes, and after finishing the reading of all three of the classes, he 

 has completed the course. 



In class one, "Soils and Crops," there are offered five books, the first 

 one being "First Principles of Agriculture." This is an elementary work 

 on agriculture and takes up some of the simplest and most easily under- 

 stood scientific principles of farming and applies them to practical every 

 day life. This is followed by a book on "Soils and Crops," which is some- 

 what more advanced; we have attempted, so far as posible, to arrange 

 these books in a progressive manner, just as is done in the schools. The 

 third book is denominated "Practical Farm Chemistry." This is simply 

 a treatise on fertilizing and keeping up the condition of the land. It 

 treats on the subject of plant growth, the needs of the plant and its 

 proper food — the same as a book on stock feeding. Another book is 

 "Silos and Silage," by Prof. A. J. Cook. This is a practical work that 

 treats of the building of silos, and the advantage of silage as a stock food. 



