El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-12-02

There are also a large number OF
farmers Institutes for young people
and OF farmers institutes for women
Inc latter held 1872 meetings in 1910
Ihese farm institutes are largely sup
ported BY the state boards of agricul-
Iure, each of which has It's institute
director, and connected with him a
lecture bureau which sends out spec
lectures on any farm topic they de-
sire Allied to these institutes are the
country fairs. of which more than
1900 are supported BY the counties
Lantern slide Lectures for Farmers.
of late the department. Of agricuI-
rure has been sending out a number
or Illustrated lectures to be used at
the farm colleges. farm Institutes ex-
tension courses and the farm clubs all
over the country Each lecture has
40 or Sc lantern slides connected with
II, and also a bulletin Of information
describing the slides Here, for in
stance, is syllabus on the helpful
men. II rs accompanied by A slides,
ana II tells how TO raise fowls and
how TO market them. Its pictures
show all sorts OF chickens and eggs,
graphically depicting how fowls vary
IN their production from some hens
which lay $50 eggs year to others
which lay none at all The lecture
states that our farms are now pro-
ducing S600,O00,O 900 worth of poultry
per annum, and the crop ranks among
the greatest Of those which come from
the farm.
Another lecture relates to the care
OF milk, showing that our dairy crop
is worth about $500, 00O, 900 per year,
and how we have 100000 mich cows
in the United States to supply it. Tt
tells just how the COW and its milk
should be treated and how to get the
most money out Of all dairy products.
Teaching Farmers From Railroad
Trains.
Another feature of this educational
work Of Uncle sam is carried on in
connection with the trains Last year.
% Of our leading railroad companies
were aiding the government in teach
ing farm education. They employed
239 school cars, and sent them over
10000 miles of. track. Their trains
made 1900 stops, and at each place a
corps Of expert lecturers delivered
talks upon agriculture and domestic
science adapted to the locality. The
total cost Of operating each train was
something like S95 a day, and the total
amount spent was over $4,000. This
teaching reached hundreds of thou
sands Of people. 1t embraced a total
of about 1000 days of lecturing, or a
period equal to II years of 500 days
each.
Each Of these educational trains had
a locomotive, baggage car and one
or two coaches fitted up for lee
ture purposes. 1t also carried a Pull
man car, with dining room and
sleeping quarters for the lecture force.
The lecturers were from the national
and state departments. of agriculture
and from the colleges. The subjects
were chosen to fit the locality where
the lectures We're given. In a dairy
country the talks were on dairying
and the trains frequently carried
cattle, and specimens Of butter and
cheese, and all sorts of dairy imple-
ments to illustrate the work. In a
fruit country the trains had fruit ex-
hibits, and in a stock country they
had hogs and cattle of various kinds
In the wheat and corn lands the lee
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 gath
er in crowds at the stations. The rail-
roads realize the value. and they 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 1909 of all the freight
carried 191.000,000 tons. was made up
of agricultural products. OF this 81
100000 tons came from the forest and
100000 tons from the farms proper.
while 20.000,000 tons were made up OF
animals and other products. The aver
age receipt for this stuff, ton for ton.
was far above that Of coal and some
other minerals.
Frank G. Carpenter