FORESTRY COMMISSION. 121 



demands of life. Tlie numlior of institutes increased and tlie quality 

 improved. '' * * 



"Omitting most of the steps hv wliich farmers have reached their pres- 

 ent imjiroved position in the social and business world, we find the past 

 ^Yinter that upwards of 300 institutes have been held in Michigan. More 

 than two- thirds of these institutes were held in the country at grange 

 halls, churches or school houses, where farmers can be reached and 

 awakened — people who could not be induced to go fifteen miles to the 

 county seat for such purpose." 



The effect of this extension work on the Agricultural College, more 

 than anything else, has changed the popular sentiment of the g"peat mass 

 of farmers from one of severe criticism to that of enthusiastic approval. 

 The students have increased since the inauguration of extension work in 

 1875 fi"om 156 to nearly 1,000 last year, and at this writing, in September, 

 further growth is at present impossible, for all the rooms available at the 

 college and in the neighborhood are filled to overflowing. 



"In Illinois, as elsewhere, insects molest fruit and fruit ])lants, caus- 

 ing great loss to the farmer. That state appropriates money for the 

 pur])ose, and at the proper season of the year experts are sent to twenty 

 or more neighborhoods in as many counties to demonstrate the prepara- 

 tion and application of suitable remedies to aid in securing fruit free from 

 attacks of fungi and insects. This year Illinois will keep two experts 

 in the field instructing fruit growers in methods of spraying and general 

 orchard management. Fruit growers need not only literature on these 

 and other subjects, hut thci/ need the ivork veil done 'before their eyes, 

 to make them alive to the 'neiD horticulture.' 



"Some fourteen years ago, Ontario employed experts to visit, inspect 

 and instruct the makers of cheese and butter. Later this work has been 

 chiefly devoted to cheese factories and creameries. This has been the 

 means of improving the quality and raising the price of these products in 

 a very marked degree. 



"New York, Wisconsin, Minnesota have also made much use of itiner- 

 ant teachers or inspectors of dairying. The Agricultural f'ollege of Illinois 

 keeps two men constantly in the field in the dairy districts, giving their 

 entire time to the study of all the conditions with a view to improve- 

 ment. * * ■"■ 



"In southern Illinois there is an extensive acreage of flat land, con- 

 sisting of stiff clay, almost impervious to water. The land in question 

 has enjoyed an enviable reputation as a wheat region, but it does not 

 produce good crops of corn, such as is desirable in a good rotation of 

 crops. Farmers living in that region said that laying tile in such land 

 would be labor lost, but the Dean (Eugene Davenport) of the Agricul- 

 tural College believed otherwise. He was educated at ^Michigan Agricul- 

 tural College, and had the experience of the successful management of 

 his farm in Michigan. In a prominent place near the road in southern 

 Illinois he rented a piece of land, drained one-half of it and planted all 

 to corn, showing a marked increase in yield of the portion previously 

 drained. Here was an object lesson for the whole region. Farmers be- 

 gan to make observations and ask questions.* * * * 



"A dry bulletin does little good to most persons, even though its 

 teachings are of the utmost importance. The efl'ect of many a good bul- 

 letin is nearly lost because it is delayed until the need for it is past. It 

 16 



