FARM CREDITS 



2137 



FARNESE 



at the age of seven, this privilege being granted 

 for his thorough knowledge of the Cate- 

 chism. In 1860 his family emigrated to 

 America, and he entered the college of Saint 

 John in Fordham, N. Y., from which he was 

 graduated in 

 1866; afterward 

 he studied at 

 Saint Joseph's in 

 Troy. His ordi- 

 nation took place 

 in 1870 at the 

 American College 

 in Rome, where 

 he had gone to 

 complete his 

 theological 

 Studies. CARDINAL FARLEY 



After his return to America he became sec- 

 retary to Cardinal McCloskey, and in 1884 

 was appointed private chamberlain, or official 

 to regulate the Vatican ceremonies, for Pope 

 Leo XIII, and was given the title Monsignore. 

 In 1891 he was appointed vicar-general of the 

 New York archdiocese and in 1895 was made 

 assistant to the archbishop. In 1902, he be- 

 came the fourth archbishop of New York. At 

 the consistory in Rome in 1911 he was one of 

 the three American archbishops to receive the 

 appointment of cardinal, the others being 

 Diomede Falconio and William Henry O'Con- 

 nell. He is the author of several historical 

 and controversial works, including a Lije oj 

 Cardinal McCloskey and a History oj Saint 

 Patrick's Cathedral. 



FARM CREDITS. See RURAL CREDITS. 



FARMERS' ALLIANCE. See POPULIST 

 PARTY. 



FARMERS' INSTITUTE, a meeting of 

 farmers for their mutual benefit and improve- 

 ment, developed on the general plan of teach- 

 ers' institutes. In one form or another, usually 

 under the auspices of local agricultural so- 

 cieties, such meetings were held in the United 

 States over a century ago, but it was not until 

 the years following the passage of the Morrill 

 Act of 1862 that they began to take the present 

 name and to receive the support of the states 

 or of the state agricultural colleges. The Mas- 

 sachusetts State Board of Agriculture held a 

 four-day meeting, the first open to the public, 

 in 1862, and four years later the Connecticut 

 State Board of Agriculture held its first farmers' 

 convention. In 1871 the Massachusetts board 

 requested the numerous agricultural societies 

 of the state to hold annual meetings, to be 



called the Farmers' Institutes of Massachu- 

 setts; this seems to have been the first use of 

 the name. 



Since 1871 the farmers' institute has spread 

 to nearly every state in the Union and to 

 several of the Canadian provinces. A feature 

 of the Canadian system, in the Western prov- 

 inces, is the use of a special train to convey 

 the institute conductors and their exhibits to 

 every corner of the land reached by the rail- 

 roads. In the United States, the farmers' insti- 

 tutes are usually under the direct management 

 of the state agricultural colleges or of the 

 boards of agriculture. Wisconsin and a few 

 other states have a special officer, called the 

 superintendent of farmers' institutes, to plan 

 and manage them. It has been estimated that 

 at least 8,000 institutes are held in the United 

 States alone each year. 



Among this large number there is necessarily 

 much variety in the character of the meetings. 

 They may last but a day or even half a day, 

 or may continue for several days. The tend- 

 ency is to shorten the meetings and to have 

 them frequently. The winter, when the far- 

 mer's work is lightest, is the season for most 

 institutes, but very successful meetings have 

 been held at other times. The programs are 

 always arranged to give the members abundant 

 opportunity for informal discussion, in addition 

 to addresses delivered by specialists or suc- 

 cessful farmers whose reputation is more than 

 local. At the longer meetings it is customary 

 to provide music and other exercises. Young 

 people's institutes and courses of instruction 

 by correspondence are newer developments in 

 the instruction of farmers. W.F.Z. 



FARNESE, jahrna'sa, the name of an 

 ancient Italian family whose wonderful palace 

 in Rome, built by Pope Paul III, was a treasure 

 house of art. Many beautiful pieces of stat- 

 uary, such as the Farnese Bull, Juno and Her- 

 cules, which were in the palace, have been 

 moved to the National Museum at Naples, and 

 now only a few classic works remain in its 

 halls. 



The family was prominent in the thirteenth 

 century, and in 1534 ALESSANDRO FARNESE, who 

 was then a cardinal, became Pope Paul III. 

 His grandson, Alessandro (1547-1592), after 

 being educated at the royal court at Madrid, 

 became a great general in the Spanish service 

 and, although severe in discipline, was wor- 

 shiped by his soldiers. He was the famous 

 Duke of Parma, who fought in the Nether- 

 lands. In 1714 ELIZABETH FARNESE married 



