LXXX REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE. 



to our farmers' institutes are held in other countries. In some Euro- 

 pean countries in particular itinerant instruction for farmers is very 

 thoroughly organized. 



While in some of our States the farmers' institutes are quite 

 thoroughly organized, have liberal financial support, and reach the 

 farmers quite widely, in many of the States and in the Territories 

 the movement is yet in a comparatively weak condition and the organi- 

 zation and means for this work are inadequate. Moreover, even in 

 the States where the institutes are most thoroughly organized and 

 have had the greatest success, new problems relating to their manage- 

 ment have arisen with the growth of the movement. For example, 

 there is increasing difficulty in some States in securing workers 

 thoroughly qualified for this kind of service who can attract large 

 audiences of farmers and hold their attention throughout the meetings. 



It is a common experience that after the institutes have been held 

 for a number of years in a given locality the farmers are not so ready 

 to listen to local speakers or those who have nothing to give them 

 except what has come within the range of their own limited personal 

 experience. They demand that the institute workers shall have a 

 wide range of knowledge regarding the science and practice of agri- 

 culture, and particularly up-to-date information regarding the prog- 

 ress that is being made throughout the world in studying problems 

 in agriculture both at the experiment stations and on the farm. This 

 has led to a demand on the officers of our agricultural colleges and 

 experiment stations for service at the farmers' institutes far beyond 

 their ability to meet. There is, therefore, need of developing a class 

 of institute workers who shall combine successful practical experience 

 and scientific knowledge of agriculture with the ability to address 

 large audiences of farmers in a way not only to hold their attention 

 but also to impart to them definite information and instruction. 

 Another problem of increasing importance relates to the ways and 

 means of reaching the masses of our farmers through the institutes. 

 On the supposition that 500,000 farmers now annually attend the insti- 

 tutes, it will be seen that out of 10,000,000 farm workers in the United 

 States only 1 in 20 is directly reached by the institutes. These are, 

 without doubt, in the main the most intelligent men in the business, 

 and whatever good they receive from the institutes is disseminated to 

 a considerable extent among their less aggressive and more careless 

 associates. But the institutes should directly reach a far greater pro- 

 portion of our farmers. To do this various expedients will have to be 

 adopted to adapt the institutes to the needs of the different classes of 

 our agricultural population. 



These examples of institute problems have been given to illustrate 

 the fact that this movement has now reached such a stage of its 

 development that the comparatively simple methods hitherto followed 



