The Yale expositor. (Yale, St. Clair County, Mich.) 1894-current, 1900-01-26

The st. Clair County Farmers Insti-
tute, held in this village Tuesday and
Wednesday of this week, was hum
mer from the very first gun fired. Most
of its sessions had the.simportant adj
junct of crowded houses, and times it
was necessary for one to go out of
doors for room to turn around. The
promoters of the institute are to be
commended for the success they at
tanned, and for making this meeting
record breaker, with greater interest
manifested than at any former session.
The enthusiastic interest was not of
the hot and cold, live and dead kind;
but like the yeast of good bread "a
steady rise until the lid was lifted.
Had the meeting lasted another day
even Central Hall, with its immense
space, could not haYe held the people.
FIRST DAY-MoRNING SESSION.
The meeting was called to order by
President Charles S. King. After an
opening piece of instrumental music,
the audience was led in prayer by Rev.
VIM. Coulter.
The first item on the program was
then called for and Cal. Husselman,
one of the state speakers from Au-
burn, Ind, was introduced and dis
cussed the subject of "Tillage." The
speaker is himself practical farmer
and what he said was out of the abun-
dant experience of his own farm life
for more than a quarter of a century.
The speaker dealt with hard facts, and
presented his topic from the stand
point of the science of soils. His
speech elected the most intense in.
terest, and when he attempted to stop,
cries of ego on, 60 on" were heard
speech alone was we'll worth the cost
and trouble of attending the Institute.
The second speaker introduced was
Colon c. Lille, of Cooperville, who
spoke on "Farm Dairying." lie en-
phasized three important elements of
success In this branch OF farming;
having the right kind of cows; the
right kind of food and feeding and
the manufacture and marketing of
products. Numerous correlaries of
his speech clustered about these and
the interest grew as he spoke. Num-
erous questions were fired at him
when he attempted to close, but these
were cut short by the president an
nouncing that it was noon and time to
adjourn.
AFTERNOON SESSION.
The institute again convened at lis
pm. and was called to order by presi-
dent King. The Question Box was
opened and the numerous questions
answered by Mr.. Husselman, of Indi-
ana. The number of questions asked
showed the interest taken in the topics
in the morning session. The audience
then Joined in singing "Amerlca," be-
ing led by Miss Mabelle Moore who
presided at the piano. Following this
the terms and reasons for membership
in this institute were explained by
Colon q. Lille, and the president APP
pointed O committee to canvass the
audience.
The next topic, "Stave Silos," was
then taken up and discussed by Mr..
Hesselman, who gave brief but very
plain description of his own method
of building them cheaply. Deep in
terest was taken in the gentleman's
explanations, and no doubt many
farmers will carry home new ideas
about Silo building. Following these
instructions on building, the speaker
added a multitude of directions about
filling slos. Numerous questions were
asked the speaker at the close of his
speech.
II. G.. Martin, of Yale, was now
called upon to present his paper on
"Relations of Farmers and Merchants"
The speaker made some very apt hits
in dealing with his topic, and the calm
haV in uJh
sent ed these points added greatly to
the force of the ideas. One thing he
made very clear, namely: that if the
great order stores of the cities sue
coed, they must crush the small viii
lage store, and that accomplished,
these mammoth houses have the farm
er at their mercy. The speaker closed
with an earnest plea for mutual help
and trust by both parties.
w. M. Smith, of Wales, was next in
troduced and presented paper on
title Drainage" The paper was care
fully written and evinced the careful
study the writer had put upon the
topic. The numerous advantages he
gave in favor of tile drainage was quite
a surprise to those who had not care
fully thought upon the question. No
doubt Mr.. Smith has derived much of
his knowledge on this subject from his
own practical experience.
Pending the closing up OF the mem
bership canvass, the Male Quartette of
Yale, rendered one of their beautiful
selections.
Judge Atkinson, of Port Huron, was
next introduced, and presented pa
per on the subject of "Taxation." The
speaker said that he was aware that
his topic was very old and worn thread
bare. The history he gave of the top
ic was very interesting and quite