UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
BULLETIN No. 269 
stJV^su 
Contribution from the Office of Experiment Stations — ^y t at 
A. C. TRUE, Director jfw^r^wrt. 
Washington, D. C. 
July 31, 1915. 
FARMERS' INSTITUTE WORK IN THE UNITED 
STATES IN 1914, AND NOTES ON AGRICULTURAL 
EXTENSION WORK IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES. 
By J. M. Stedman, Farmers' Institute Specialist. 
CONTENTS. 
Page. 
Introduction 1 
General status 2 
State farmers' institute reports 3 
Agricultural extension work in for- 
eign countries 7 
Officials in charge of farmers' in- 
stitutes in the United States 
Statistics of farmers' institutes in 
United States in 1914 
Page. 
14 
16 
INTRODUCTION. 
In 1902 the United States Department of Agriculture gathered and 
compiled the first statistics regarding farmers' institute work in the 
United States and each succeeding year it has published a report of 
the Farmers' Institute Specialist showing the extent and progress of 
this movement. A review of these reports shows a continuous and 
steady growth in the number of institutes held each year and also in 
the attendance at the meetings. Until recently, the farmers' insti- 
tute was the great and for 25 years practically the only organized 
movement for carrying on agricultural extension work. In the ma- 
jority of States this work was originally under the direct control of 
the State departments of agriculture, but in other instances it was 
vested in the agricultural colleges. In either case the agricultural 
colleges were active in contributing to its support and have always 
furnished a large proportion of the institute lecturers. A few years 
ago the agricultural colleges began to devote an increasing amount 
of attention to farmers' institutes, and, later, to other phases of agri- 
cultural extension, and thus gradually become a major factor in the 
organized agricultural extension movement carried on by agencies 
other than the United States Department of Agriculture. 
Note. — This publication is of interest to farmers' institutes and other agricultural ex- 
tension workers in the United States and Canada. 
96281°— Bull. 269—15 1 
