FARMERS' INSTITUTES 101 



suitable state speakers is an interesting phase. 

 As a rule the most acceptable speakers are men 

 who have made a success in some branch of 

 farming, and who also have cultivated the gift 

 of clear and simple expression. Not a few of 

 these men become adepts in public speaking 

 and achieve a reputation outside of their own 

 states. In several states there is held a "nor- 

 mal institute" an autumn meeting lasting a 

 week or two weeks, and bringing together, 

 usually at the state college of agriculture, the 

 men who are to give the lectures at the institutes 

 of the winter to follow. The object of the 

 gathering is to bring the lecturers into close 

 contact with the latest things in agricultural 

 science, and to train them for more effective 

 work. 



A few years ago the United States Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture employed an experienced 

 institute director to give all his time to the study 

 and promotion of farmers' institutes. This in- 

 cident is suggestive of the important place which 

 institutes have secured in the work for better 

 farming. 



The results of a generation of institute work 

 are not easy to summarize. It is safe to make 

 a broad generalization by asserting that this 



