The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1900-10-11
THE FARMERS INSTITUTE.
The Last Day OF the Session Which
Closed Last Thursday.
wEDNEspAY EvENING.

did paper on Sheep and Angora Goats. f"
He gave a good description of how to
raise and market sheep at profit to the
farmer. Speaking of Angora goats he
said there was good money in raising
them as they will live and thrive on
land where other animals would starve
and will clean out all the underbrush in
a remarkable short time.
A paper on .'Bee Culture by A. j.
Warner was read by j. G. Stockton.
The paper was carefully prepared and
as Mr.. Warner is very successful. apiar.
ist we publish his paper in full elsewhere
in this issue.
The institute then adjourned until $50
O'Clock Thursday morning.
THURSDAY MORNING SESSION.
The morning session was the business
session and as soon as the meeting was
opened they proceeded to the election
of officers for the coming wear as
follows;
President-Ralph Baker, Center.
Vice-president-J. w. Keller, Eden.
Secretary-Robert McCaull, Garden
Grove.
Treasurer. D. CARRIER, Center.
Executive Committee-E. j. Blair,
chair nan. Van Vert; VIM. Asbach,
Davis City; H,J. Vogt, Leon; q. q.
Dye, Woodlands; w. B. Gilreath. Grand
River.
q. w. Holman then made an address
on general farming, and although Mr.,
Hoffman is lawyer by profession and
has practice which occupies most of
his time, he showed that he also knew
something about raising corn and hogs.
as put in practice on his fine farm of i6O
acres adjoining Leon.
general discussion followed on the
question OF corn raising being more
profitable than grass or stock raising.
which was participated in by g. w.
Hoffman, j. w. Keller, Ralph Baker.
h. J. Vogt, DR.. G. w. Baker, Mr.. RYAN.
L.. ID. CARRIER and others and MANY val.
liable points for the farmer were brought
out while discussing this question.
AFTERNOON SESSION.
The first paper on the afternoon pro.
gram was that of "Good Roads, by ]
W. Keller, who took the position that
all road taxes should be paid in cash
the same as other property taxes and
the work on the roads done either by
contract or day labor. The question
was ably discussed by r. d. Martin,
county road superintendent j. f. Gar.
Der, ex.member of the board Of super
visors and others and they were unani.
mously of the opinion that road taxes
should be paid in cash, and the work on
the roads done at the proper season in
the year by men skilled in road work.
Mrs. Esther Stewart read highly ap-
preciated paper on Housekeeping
and in order that all the ladies in the
county may learn her sensible views On
this subject, the paper in full Is publish.
ed in this issue on another page.
Hon. George Van Houten, secretary
of the State Agricultural Society ad dress.
ed the institute on general farm sub.
Jects, particularly road making and
home life on the farm in an able and in.
telligent manner. His address was one
Of the treats of the session.
~ :. EsEsalfNd sEsssft
At the evening session Mr.. Van Hou-
ten made an extended address on the
subject of Horticulture" on which he
is recognized as one of the leading
authorities in the United States, during
which he gave his hearers vast amount
of useful information on this subject.
President Ralph Baker made his clos
Ing TemaFks anu Tue DECATUR county
Farmers Insti ute adjourned sine die.
The time and place of holding the next
institute will be fixed executive COM
mittee.
While the attendance at the institute
was not large this year those who were
present were greatly benefited and high
ly entertained by the proceedings. 1t
is one of the hardest things on earth,
apparently, to get the farmers to realize
the Importance and benefits to be de-
rived from attending the sessions of the
Farmers Institute. Each year there is
about the same persons who attend and
take an interest in the institute, but
they are our best and most successful
farmers. All farmers would profit by
attending the institute. 1t costs them
nothing but their time and it is we'll
spent.