Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1891-02-13
THE FARMERS INSTITUTE.
A Report of the session at Marlette |
by an Observer.

| oy All OOoSTNcFs
Being interested as farmer and
breeder and having the privilege of
attending the Institute | would like to
say something with reference to it for
the benefit of those who were not able
to attend.
We rs farmers really need more life
and energy than we have in general;
and think good remedy for this is
to attend such organizations az the
Farmers Institute, which are formed
for our benefit in particular, that we
may gain that love for the farm and
home which will not only make sue
cess of it, but also make it of such
interest that our boys and girls will
cling to it and become noble men and
women and credit to the community.
| Those of us from n distance were
cordially welcomed and entertained
so pleasantly that we feel very CRATE
fully to the people of Marlette, and
should we ever get similar chance
of returning the compliment we will
gladly utilize it. There was large
attendance at each session. 1t is inn
possible to go into the details of all
that was said, but | will mention each
subject as ii was presented to us.
Wednesday p. M.-The session was
opened by prayer and an address of
welcome by Geo. Mckay to which
Prof. Granger, of the Agricultural
College responded. The first subject
discussed was "The Farmers Son. his
Home, the Farm and the Nation" by
Rev. c. b. Clark of Marlette. He gave
the boys some good advice, showing
them that they did not take hold of
the affairs of life as their fathers did
| but rather looked to what was coming
to them from the homestead, and then
try to get from it an easier living by
some other pursuit or indulgence in
laziness. Parents too often look over
the boys, which are the noblest prod
uct of the farm, to some bloOded stock
and make his life so full of drudgery
that when he grows to manhood the
farm can not hold him. The next on
the programme was "Fruit Culture"
by Prof. Taft of the Agricultural Col
lege. He spoke of the ACCESSIBILITY of
ordering trees two years old in pre-
| ference to older ones, because they
take root easier and have not such
long bare trunk exposed to the hot
sun, and will bear Just as soon and
also live longer. He advised the
| farmers not to buy untried varieties,
but old standard kinds, if they would
be successful. He said that 90 per
cent of the new varieties which sell
for high price are worthless.
| Wednesday evening.-The exercises
opened with prayer and then followed
discussion by w. A. Ellis on Swine.
He showed that it took wise man to
! feed hogs with prOrit. Secretary Bat
| tersbee, being unable to attend sent in
paper on "The Common Schools"
His report of the schools was conf
plete. He showed that the greatest
| inconvenience in the country was from
a lack of experience in teachers and
the total want of school apparatus.
Prof. Granger, of the Agricultural Col
| lege then gave some good hints on
the diseases of the horse caused by
iniudicious management, such AS
scratches, greace, founder, tymanjitus,
! their causes and cure.
Thursday morning-After the open
ing exercises Prof. Brunette of the
Agricultural College spoke upon "The
Silo." lie thought early varieties of
corn the best for silage. He gave
valuable hints on the best methods of
building silO. W. Z. Baird, who has
used ensilage for some time, said he
believed it good thing. "Tile Drain
age" was then discussed by f. +. Rod
gers of Port Huron. Mr.. Delano, of
Nebraska, brought before us the subject
of the sugar beet. He showed how
much money was paved every year to
foreign countries, and how if we could
raise the beet it would continue in our
own country. For the experiment the
seed was purchased and tried i'll Ne
braska; and it was found that the beets
raised there contained % per cent of
sugar where they contain but 10 per
cent in the old country. Large sugar
works had already been built at Grand
Island and they were making all kinds
of sugar with success. Farmers were
receiving SO per ton for their beets.
President Clute then spoke briefly on
the same subject, stating that expert
ments by the State Board of Agricul-
ture had already proven that the beet
could be grown with good profit in this
state. At this juncture dinner was
served by the kind people of Marlette.
In the afternoon session Mrs. w. b.
McGill first read a paper on Chemistry
of Food. Then Prof. Durand, of the
Agricultural College spoke on "The
Farmer as mechanic. He mention
ed particularly the advantage to be de-
rived by farmer from knowledge of
blacksmithing and carpentry. Such a
man would not only make better
farmer but in time save much money.
Enos Gooderide read a paper on "Does
Farming pay'?. He thought that the
majority of farms were run on the
non-paying principal of unthrift and
bad management, but believed that
farms run properly would pay.
Thursday evening larger crowd
than ever assembled. The principal
attraction was an address by President
Clute upon the Agricultural College
and its benefit to the farming interests
of the state. Its $40 acres of gardens,
orchards, fields, woods, with grain
barns horse barn, cattle and sheep barn
formed a sight worth-seeing.
This closed this grand institute and
as citizens of the United States | think
we should try to keep alongside of its
education by taking advantage of these