The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1894-12-02
FARMERS, INSTITUTES,

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1t requires no argument with well
Informed farmers of the west to per-
suade them Of the value of Farmers
Institutes. The different states in
| which our readers live have different
| systems for organizing and controll-
! ing these Institutes but they nearly all
so far recognize their value as to have
some system. Wisconsin's institutes
are highly organized with very efficient
central control and superintendent
| and an organized corps of capable
conductors with state support. Miss
ouri Institutes are under the control
| of the state board Of agriculture with
! state aid and state employed lecturers
in part, Iowa's system is looser than
the others named, being under local
| control entirely, but receiving some
aid from the state, much in the same
way that its county agricultural
| societies are aided. Still other states
have institutes in which the principles
| already referred to are combined in
various degrees. All, however, real
| fZe to a greater or less extent the high
value of these institutions, and in all
| their popularity is growing. A gath
| ering of practical farmers in any COM
munity must of necessity contain in
| diVidualS that are at the head OF their
! calling in that locality; others again
f; who are we'll toward the front, and
| still others who are a good average
in respect to skill, knowledge and
progress. Such gathering cannot
| assemble and compare notes without
raising the average of all and ami
mating even the best With still higher
aspirations and a higher ideal The
successful farmers and those in every
! community who have special knowl-
| edge and special experience on special
| subjects, are a help and an inspira-
ton to others in these lines, and they
are in turn helped and inspired by
those who meet with them. Difficult
! ties are discussed and often remedied;
| methods are considered and improved
by the counsel of all, for here, as well
| as elsewhere in life, all the people
know more than any of the people;
specialists meet with the farmers and
the benefit of scientific opinion is OBJ
| tanned on hundreds of questions of
daily value in agriculture which would
probably be wholly unobtainable by
any other means to the bulk of those
| who at the institutes easily gain this
advantage. On every account and
from every point of view the institute
| system should be sustained, encour-
aged and improved, for it meets prac-
| teal wants in agriculture which no
other instrumentality yet devised has
met so simply, so cheaply and so well.
| Opportunity to attend an institute
will be offered in very many localities
during the coming winter and should
be in nowise neglected. Wisconsin
has its usual large list somewhat en-
larged and very judiciously distrib-
uted throughout the state; Iowa,
whose method is the organization of
county institute associations, has very
| considerably increased the number of
associations this year and will yet in
crease it still more, and Missouris
state board of agriculture has been
| asked for ninety different Institutes in
various parts of the state, but will
only be able, by lack of resources, to
hold forty. This is a matter which the
farmers of the state should remedy at
! the next session Of the legislature.
| Wherever there is an opportunity to
hold well attended institute of prac-
tical farmers. it should not fail by
reason Of lack OF means.
| Nor should the attendance ever fail.
The farmer Should give opportunity to
be present at a good institute the pref
erence over almost everything else.
| We say almost everything else be-
caus there may be some things that
! deserve preference, even over the in-)
stitute, although none now occurs to
US. But it ought to be some very
serious and pressing engagement
! which keeps the farmer away from
the institute when a chance to attend
| one is offered, for it is difficult to see
how the time can be more profitable
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES and Western
| Farm journal