FARMERS' INSTITUTES 99 



uon is bureaucracy; but in institute work, if 

 .management fails to provide for local needs, 

 ~ to furnish acceptable speakers, vigorous 

 A sts soon correct the aberration. 

 •I-Jias been stated that in America we have 

 .jiucational system — that spontaneity is the 

 ainant feature of American education. This 

 is ^rtainly true of farmers' institutes. So it 

 h. transpired that numerous special features 

 h n ^x come in to use in various states — features of 

 vane and interest. It may be worth while to 

 suggest some of the more characteristic of these 

 features, without attempting an exact category. 

 Formerly the only way in which women were 

 recognized at the institutes was by home and 

 social topics on the programme, though women 

 h. g| always attended the meetings freely. Some 

 years ago Minnesota and Wisconsin added 

 women speakers to their list of state speakers, 

 and in the case of Wisconsin, at least, held a 

 separate session for > women, simultaneously with 

 one or two sessions of the regular institute, with 

 demonstration lectures in cooking as the chief 

 features. Michigan holds "women's sections" 

 in connection with institutes, but general topics 

 are taken up. In Ontario separate women's 

 institutes have been organized. In Illinois a 



