78 



REPORT OF THE SCOTTISH COMMISSION 



Women's Institutes 



It has been said that the Farmers' Institutes have been of more 

 benefit to the agricultural communities than any other organisation, 

 but it is held by some that the Women's Institutes, which were 

 established eleven or twelve years ago on the same lines, will be 

 even more successful. These institutes are the creation of the 

 Department of Agriculture, and receive grants from the government. 

 Their objects are — the dissemination of knowledge relating to 

 Domestic Economy, including household architecture, with special 

 attention to home sanitation ; a better understanding of the 

 economic and hygienic value of foods, clothing, and fuel, and a more 

 scientific care and training of children with a view to raising the 

 standard of health and morals of the people ; and the carrying on 

 of any line of work, which has for its object the uplifting of the home, 

 or the betterment of conditions surrounding rural life. Their official 

 publication is the Home Journal, and, judging from the reports of 

 work in progress, their effect upon the homes of the people of 

 Ontario must, in time, be productive of incalculable good. 



In taking a wide view of the educational work in Canada in 

 assistance of agriculture, two or three impressions bite deep upon 

 the mind of the inquisitor : it is plain, that the Federal and Pro- 

 vincial Governments are alive to the actual cash profit ensuing to 

 the country from technical education, that private individuals of 

 great wealth are remarkably liberal givers to educational objects, 

 and that all literature likely to be useful to the dweller upon the soil 

 is distributed to almost every occupier of land. 



STUMP FENCE AND COKN FIELD 



