94 CHAPTERS IN RURAL PROGRESS 



one-day meetings have grown in favor; in some 

 states local speakers take little part; in some 

 institutes a question-box is a very prominent 

 feature, in others it is omitted altogether; in 

 some cases the evening programme is made up 

 of educational topics, or of home topics, or is 

 even arranged largely for amusement; in other 

 instances the evening session is omitted. In 

 most institutes women are recognized through 

 programme topics of special interest to them. 



It is not important to trace the early history 

 of the farmers' institute movement, and indeed 

 it is not very easy to say precisely when and 

 where the modern institute originated. Farm- 

 ers' meetings of various sorts were held early 

 in the century. As far back as 1853 the secre- 

 tary of the Massachusetts Board of Agriculture 

 recommended that farmers' institutes be made 

 an established means of agricultural education. 

 By 1 87 1 Illinois and Iowa held meetings called 

 farmers' institutes, itinerant in character, and 

 designed to call together both experts and 

 farmers, but neither state kept up the work sys- 

 tematically. Both Vermont and New Hamp- 

 shire have held institutes annually since 1871, 

 though they did not bear that name in the early 

 years. Michigan has a unique record, having 



