252 CANADA 



for women to work in the field, but there is a distinct 

 woman's work in the country and on the farm. . . . One 

 thing we may be if we choose, and that is good farmers'' 

 wives. . . . The young girls who, during the beginning 

 of the new century, shall come to preside over the agricul- 

 tural homesteads of Ontario will be far better fitted to 

 assume the responsibilities than were a majority of their 

 mothers when they came to preside over the new home 

 that marriage gave them. This is especially due to the 

 different educational institutions that have been started in 

 this country. . . . 



Let the farmers and their wives unite in general demand 

 for mutual advantage, and not, as it has been, a one-sided 

 development. With that end in view let us place before 

 ourselves a high ideal and strive to attain it. Develop a 

 fondness for our calling, for what we love to do, and we 

 will do well. 



These extracts may, perhaps, convey a suffi- 

 ciently clear insight into the spirit with which 

 the formation of " Women's Institutes " has 

 been taken up in the Dominion as a sequel to 

 the " Farmers' Institutes," and the combination 

 of the two represents a phase of agricultural 

 progress which, with the other agencies spoken 

 of at the outset, is bringing about the noticeable 

 improvement in the condition and prospects of 

 the Canadian farmer. And this improvement 

 would be advanced still further if the ordinary 

 agricultural societies of Canada could be induced 

 to become less recreative and more practical, by 



