146 THE FUTURE OF OUR AGRICULTURE. 



the same as in men's Colleges. But the subjects arc different. 

 And the teaching is markedly different, in order to suit the 

 feminine temperament. There are schools and " courses " 

 of the kind in Colorado, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Min- 

 nesota, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New York, 

 North Carolina, North and South Dakota, Pennsylvania, 

 Tennessee, Western Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. 

 And the movement is reported to be spreading in other 

 states, several of which have begun with the formation 

 of local centres. 



The United States had in 1910 rural women's schools 

 in eighteen different states — by this time probably in 

 more — with the Illinois " State Association of Domestic 

 Science," as the originator of the movement, at their 

 head. And Ontario, as observed, has at least 600 

 Women's Institutes. In Ontario the movement is assisted 

 by the Provincial Department of Agriculture, which sends 

 lecturers to meetings, and contributes £1,500 to £2,000 

 annually towards the expense. However, the main cost 

 is defrayed from the shilling contribution of women members. 

 The effect of the teaching upon the conduct of farmers is 

 said to be very marked. Hence " we have benefited very 

 largely in a social way," so writes Mr. Putnam, already 

 quoted. 



" In all communities there were societies of women, more 

 especially in connection with church work, but each denomina- 

 tion worked apart, and it has been the work of the Women's 

 Institutes to bring them all together as one harmonious whole 

 on common ground, the good oj the home. The Women's Institute 

 cannot measure success by dollars and cents, nor yet by numbers, 

 but by the spirit of helpfulness, sociability, sympathy and sister- 

 hood, which it has engendered throughout the entire township. 

 To fully grasp the effect upon the individual members, the 

 families and the community, it is necessary to have been a 

 member of a branch and to have noted carefully from month to 

 month and from year to year the improvement on the individual, 

 the home and the community, brought about by the regular 

 monthly meetings of this congress of women, with politics and 

 religion brushed aside, and with one object only in view, the 

 betterment and uplifting of the home and the country in which 

 we live." 



