FOURTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK — PART VIII. 605 



I'or a number of bulletins sent out from that Department. I do not know 

 whether the supply is limited, but I do my best. to induce the secre- 

 taries to send for these, not for general distribution, but to be kept on 

 hand. When a subject that sounds rather formidable is assigned to 

 someone who has not made a study of it, and she is asked to prepare 

 a paper upon it, she may at first be afraid to undertake it; but then we 

 will find it well to say, "Here is this bulletin of the Agricultural De- 

 partment; just read it over, and as you do so, see how far your own 

 experience corresponds with it, and in writing your composition put in 

 it, so far as possible, your own ideas." We find that in this way the 

 members can prepare very good papers, and, of course, by assigning the 

 subject to one member the information is imparted to all the other 

 members. After a short time the members are able to select their own 

 subjects. 



The membership fee is twenty-five cents a year. This is used simply 

 for local work, as the superintendent thinks that any woman who is not 

 interested enough to pay twenty-five cents a year is hardly Interested 

 enough to read any literature that might be sent her. The hand'book 

 issued by the Department, as well as the annual report and similar 

 literature, will be found to embrace a number of topics that will be suffi- 

 cient to cover one or two years' work. So there is no difliculty in carry- 

 ing on the work from the beginning. 



In the new organization there are of course women who have nevei- 

 been in the habit of conducting meetings or appearing in public, and 

 who are at first nervous; but on visiting them, say a year afterwards. I 

 find that outside help is really unnecessary. 



But, while these methods may all be very well at the beginning, to 

 excite interest, to induce the girls to take part in the work, should not 

 the ultimate aim of our women's institutes be to develop in our women 

 more originality of thought? In our different meetings in Ontario we 

 have had under consideration the subject of foods, their relations to the 

 body; the chemistry of food, cooking and serving and judging. We 

 have found much useful matter in the report of the meeting of this asso- 

 ciation held at Washington last year. The same line of work has been 

 observed in the different States of the Union. 



But, while we all recognize and admit that the subject of foods, their 

 relations to the body, their chemistry and preparation and serving, is 

 one of the most important topics that can be taken up, because it so 

 largely affects the comfort, the health, the happiness of the members of 

 the home, yet, in view of the extent to which that subject has been 

 developed, is it not now time to pay some attention at least to the 

 higher culture and refinement of the home? This may be done in a 

 great many ways. I have not time tonight to mention more than two. 



HOME PROBLEMS. 



I should like to speak, first, of home decoration. If the members 

 of this association could go with me into many of the homes that I have 

 visited in the rural districts of the province, I think they would agree 

 with me that there is some necessity for developing the tastes and cul- 



