The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1911-12-03

} more than 5000 OF theae institutes
which had regular meetings last year.
and they reached over 100000 people. II
They had altogether 10000 sessions.
There nre also large number Of
farmers Institutes for young people
and of farmers Institutes for wone en-. i
The latter held Ts2 meetings in 1910.
These farm Institutes are largely sup.
ported by the state Boards Of Agricul-
ture. each OF which has Its Institute s
director. and connected with him d
lecture bureau which sends out spe-
cialists to the institutes. giving them
lectures on any farm topic they de.
sire. Allied to these Institutes are the
country fairs, OF which more than i,2D0s
are supported by the counties alone "a
h"htcrn Slide Lectures for Farmers.
VI late the Department of Agt,eul-
s ar mas oeeh sending out number OF 2
Illustrated lectures to be USED at the
farm colleges. Farm Institutes, extern.
sion courses and the farm clubs ALL
over the country. Daoh lecture has
forty or fifty lantern slides connected
VITA H. and also bulletin OF lnforma- 4
,lon describing the slides. Here. for
instance, is syllabus on the helpful
hen. 1t is accompanied by forty-four
slides, and 1t tells how to raise fowls
and how to market them Its plctureaS
snow all sorts OF chickens and eggs,
graphically depicting how fowls vary
III their production from some hens
which lay 200 eggs II year to others
which lay none vt ali. The lecture
states that our farms are now pro
ducing S600,0po,00O worth Of poultry
per annum, and the crop ranks among
the greatest of those which come from
The farm 800,
Another lecture relates to the care
of milk. showing that our dairy cron
is worth about 5000, 100000 per year
and how we have lS,OO0,O 900 mich
cows in the United States to supply it.
II tells Just how the COW and its milk
should be treated and how to get the
most money out OF all dairy products
reaching Farmers From RAILROAD
Trains. *
Another feature OF this educational
work OF Uncle Sam" Is carried on in
connection with the trains. Last year
hfty-two of our leading railroad COM
panies were aiding the government in
| teaching farm education s
They employed $50 school cars, and
sent them over 10000 miles OF track
Their trains made 1900 stops, and at
| each place corps of expert lecturers
delivered talks upon agriculture and
domestic science adapted to the local.
ity. The total cost OF operating each
train was something Hike sos a day,
ana the total amount spent was over
$4,000. This teaching reached hun
dreds of thousands OF people. It en-
braced total OF about 1000 days OF
recurring. or period equal to FOUR
teen years Of 300 days each.
Each of these educational trains hao
locomotive. baggage car and one
or two coaches fitted up for lecture
purposes. 1t also carried a Pullman
car. with dining room ana sleeptDc
Quarters for the lecture force The
lecturers were from the national and
state departments Of agriculture, ana
from the colleges. Tho subjects were
chosen to At the locality whore tho
| lectures wero given. In a dairy conn
Try the talks We're on dairying, ana
the trains frequently carried dairy
cattle and specimens Of butter nnd
:heese, and all sorts of dairy innple-
ments to illustrate the work. In a
fruit country the trains had Sruit es-
hipits. and In stock country they
had hogs and cattle OF various kinds.
In the wheat and corn lands the Leo
turers talked wheat and corn, and in
some other places they talked cotton
or truck gardening.
These educational trains have their
ADVANCE agents. The farmers know
when they are coming. and they gather
In crowds Mt the stations. The rail-
roads realize the value, and say that
such education has materially added
to their traffic. Indeed, the freight
from the farms has much to do with
paying the dividends OF the railroads.
In 1903. of all the freight carried.
1s1,ooo.ooo tons was made up OF agri-
cultural products. OF this. s7o00,0oO
tons came from the forest and 49,,
100000 tons from the farms proper.
while 100000 tons wero made up OF
animals and other products. The aver
age receipt for this stuf, ton per
ton. was far above that OF coal and
some other minerals
Copyright, 1911. by Frank G. Car
penter.)