24 PROCEEDINGS OF THIRTY-THIRD FRUIT-GROWERS ' CONVENTION. 



mental endeavor would be useless and inert did they not become the 

 common property of others besides the college and station workers; 

 hence, we find the function of teaching taken up by the members of the 

 station staff of experimenters as a very necessary part of their activ- 

 ities. 



By the college courses in agriculture the results of the experimental 

 work became a part of the working equipment of the students in these 

 courses, and through them to a certain extent the property of the inter- 

 ested farmers. The number of those benefiting in this way was of 

 necessity limited, and to reach a larger audience publication of methods 

 of work and results obtained, in bulletins, is and has been, since the 

 beginning, the third form of activity of the Experiment Stations. These 

 bulletins give in concise form the necessary data upon which procedure 

 should be based to obtain certain results, and undoubtedly have been 

 and are of great value to the agricultural and horticultural interests 

 of the country. 



Satisfactory as far as they go, the lines of activity heretofore described 

 were found in experience to be not broad enough to adequately cover 

 the ground, and a fourth line of endeavor has been the result. This is 

 included under the broad title of University Extension in Agriculture. 

 Various activities are carried on under this heading, all tending toward 

 making available to the farmer information necessary to him in the 

 successful prosecution of his work. Under this heading, probably 

 Farmers' Institutes have in the past received more attention than any 

 other one item. The Farmers' Institute is, in its make-up, a meeting 

 of those engaged in agricultural pursuits addressed by men who, in 

 Experiment Station and College of Agriculture work, have studied 

 over and experimented on the very problems confronting those who 

 make up their audiences. By this means, the experience and thought 

 of the worker along scientific lines are carried directly to the man who 

 should profit thereby. Not alone, however, does the man from the col- 

 lege make himself heard in these meetings, but the practical worker, 

 the farmer, the horticulturist, who is in the business and has made a 

 success of it, is led to tell of his work and methods. Thus, all sides of the 

 particular question receive attention and the farmer receives the benefit. 

 That no point may be missed, no item of value fail to get due attention, 

 is the prime object sought, and therefore we find in the Farmers' Insti- 

 tute the asking of questions encouraged and indeed insisted upon. In 

 fact, it is recognized that only in the asking of questions and in the 

 free discussion of pertinent matter can the full value of these meetings 

 be realized. As one of the forms of work in University Extension in 

 Agriculture, the Farmers' Institute undoubtedly fills a very important 

 field ; yet it has been recognized that the business of farming demanded. 



