FARMERS' INSTITUTES. 



CONFERENCE OF INSTITUTE WORKERS AND DELEGATES. 



On Tuesday afternoon the first session of the Institute was called 

 to order by Hon. Charles F. Moore, of St. Clair, chairman of the Farmers' 

 Institute Committee of the State Board of Agriculture. After brief 

 remarks, in which he spoke of the value of the institutes to the farmers 

 of Michigan and the benefits that were hoped for from the bringing 

 together of the institute lecturers and officers of the county institute 

 societies, Mr. Moore called for a report of the institute work done dur- 

 ing the last year from the superintendent. This was in substance as 

 given in the opening pages of this report. Brief reports followed upon 

 the work (1) in the northern peninsula by A. P. Gray, (2) in the 

 northern counties by N. K. Potter, (3) in the central counties by M. L. 

 Dean, and (4) in the southern counties by George E. Rowe. Reports 

 upon the one-day institutes were then made by N. P. Hull and W. F. 

 Raven. In nearly all of the counties the reports show that the interest 

 has been well sustained, although in a few instances, especially in the 

 case of the one-day institutes, several partial failures were reported, 

 owing to the fact that the county secretary, or the local manager in 

 whose hands the arrangements for the meetings had been placed, failed 

 to properly advertise the meeting. Several speakers advocated holding 

 no meetings except upon the petition of five to seven farmers residing 

 in the vicinity. A round table discussion upon various topics relating 

 to the locating of institutes followed. 



At five p. m. the conference adjourned to attend a demonstration 

 lecture upon the X-ray by Professor L. G. Holbrook at the physical 

 laboratory. 



The evening session was called to order by Hon. Robert D. Graham, 

 Grand Rapids, vice-president of the State Board of Agriculture. The 

 topics presented were, "The Ideal Institute Worker," by Prof. C. D. 

 Smith; "The Ideal Institute Program," by Colon C. Lillie; "The Ideal 

 Methods of Advertising," by N. I. Moore; "The Ideal Methods of illus- 

 tration," by L. W. Oviatt; "The Ideal Women's Section," by Mrs. F. 

 D. Saunders and Mrs. C. M. Partch. 



The round table discussion which followed took up, among other 

 subjects, the number of speakers that should be furnished for each 

 county institute, the length of time they s'hould speak, and topics for 

 an evening program. 

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