630.741 Illinois laimeis' Institute and ITS JOB Dean, College of Agriculture, University oj 1 Illinois. [HE UBHAfH SITY Ui- Illinois Farmers' Institute H. E. Young, Secretary Springfield The person charging this material is re- sponsible for its return to the library from which it was withdrawn on or before the Latest Date stamped below. Theft, mutilation, and underlining of books are reasons for disciplinary action and may result in dismissal from the University. UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN kTl -37? ILLINOIS FARMERS' INSTITUTE 1922-1923. PRESIDENT, FRANK I. MANN, Oilman. VICE-PRESIDENT, RALPH ALLEN, Delavan. SECRETARY, H. E. YOUNG, Springfield. AUDITOR-TREASURER, CLAYTON C. PICKETT, Chicago. BOARD OF DIRECTORS Ex Offlcio Superintendent of Public Instruction F. G. Blair, Springfield. Dean of the College of Agriculture Eugene Davenport, Urbana. Director State Department of Agriculture B. M. Davison, Springfield. President State Horticultural Society F. H. Simpson, Flora. President State Dairymen's Association J. P. Mason, Elgin. Elected by Congressional Districts. 1st. Dist. Ira B. Reed, Glenview. 2nd Dist. August Geweke, DesPlaines. 3rd Dist. Adam Schilling, Tinley Park. 4th Dist. H. Clay Calhoun, 915 Lumber Exchange Bldg., Chicago. 5th Dist. C. V. Gregory, 223 W. Jackson boul., Chicago. 6th Dist. L. C. Brown, LaGrange. 7th Dist Chas. Gray, 5514 University ave., Chicago. 8th Dist. Arthur C. Page, 523 Plymouth Court, Chicago. 9th Dist. Clayton C. Pickett, 1046 1st Nat. Bk. bldg., Chicago. 10th Dist. John E. Barrett. Prairie View, llth Dist J. P. Mason, Elgin. 12th Dist. Geo. F. Tullock, Rockford. 13th Dist. W. G. Curtiss, Stockton. 14th Dist. G. A. Switzer, Macomb. 15th Dist. Frank S. Haynes, Geneseo. 16th Dist. Ralph Allen, Delavan. 17th Dist. S. B. Mason, Bloomington. 18th Dist. F. I. Mann. Gilman. 19th Dist. John K. Wheeler, Cerro Gordo. 20th Dist. G. G. Hopping, Havana. 21st Dist. Leigh F. Maxcy, Farmingdale. 22nd Dist. E. W. Burroughs, Edwardsville. 23rd Dist. N. F. Goodwin, Palestine. 24th Dist. D. M. Marlin, Norris City. 25th Dist. Harry Wilson, Pinckneyville. DEPARTMENT OP HOUSEHOLD SCIENCE President Dr. Eva M. Wilson, Manhattan. First Vice President Mrs. S. E. Bradt, DeKalb. Second Vice President Mrs. J. L. Van Gundy, Monmouth. Secretary Mrs. H. A. McKeene, Springfield. THE Illinois Farmers' Institute is fundamentally a people's organiza- tion. It is non-political and non- sectarian, is identified with no class, corpo- ration, nor faction. It has no axes to grind, no patronage to distribute, nor self- ish schemes to promulgate. Its sole aim, object and purpose is that of useful public service in the interest of all the people. JUL 1 4 1924 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS The Illinois Farmers' Institute and Its Job BY E. DAVENPORT, Dean. College of Agriculture, University of Illinois (Address, 27th Annual Meeting, Illinois Farmers' Institute, Monmouth, February 24, 1922.) ET is now considerably over a quarter of a century since the Illinois Farmers' Institute entered upon one of the most useful and forward looking pro- grams that ever engaged the activities of any agricul- tural organization. It is not my purpose to attempt a review of this notable service to agriculture. My purpose is rather to ^ call attention to some special features of this work as they have come to my attention, partly by way of grate- ful acknowledgment for personal and official assistance, but more especially to call attention to the kind of work the Farmers' Institute is especially well prepared to ~ ]undertake. I I am the more encouraged to call attention to the achievements of the Institute in the past and its oppor- 1 tunities for service in the future because the question is sometimes asked, "Why do we need so big a machine for .A so small a grist ; and cannot somebody else hold the insti- ll) tute meetings as well as the State Institute, the Agri- : cultural College or the Department of Agriculture, for example?" In one form or another I have been asked this ques- tion many times, and I have always answered in effect ' that if it is only the county institute meetings that are in mind, or even the annual state meeting, like the present THE ILLINOIS FARMERS' INSTITUTE great gathering, almost any public agency could make the arrangements, hold the meetings, and run off the programs as well as can the State Institute. I have even gone further and said that if we had nothing in mind but public meetings, I am not sure but that the College could beat the Institute. Indeed, I am not certain but that the State Department of Agriculture could beat either of us for a time. Unselfish "For a time," I say, because to me the Public great thing about the Illinois Farmers' Service. Institute is not the meetings held, great as they are, whether county or state, but the great thing about the Illinois Farmers' Institute is the Institute itself. This is what I mean : It matters not so much that we have meetings and programs, or even that the meetings and programs are good. What matters is that the pro- grams shall include subjects and ways of treatment that represent the best thought of the most progressive farm- ers of the state, not only in certain lines of agricultural progress but in any and all lines, especially those most likely to be overlooked and neglected by the other organi- zations. For example, we may confidently expect that the Horticultural Society will look after the affairs of horti- culture, especially in its commercial aspects. In the same way the various breed associations will take care of the interests of their respective breeds of horses, cattle, sheep and swine. The Dairy Association will look after dairy matters, and if anything is overlooked or falls between, it would seem that the Grange, or the Illi- nois Agricultural Association would find it. And yet every one of these organizations has a rather definite program that fully occupies its time and AXt) ITS JOS. attention, especially the newest of all, which is really the federation of County Farm Bureaus and the parent extraordinary to a multitude of local sub-organizations for the attainment of ends that in general fall under the rather broad head of the business side of farming. Without the Farmers' Institute we should lack an open forum managed by the farmers themselves for the discussion of all such questions as may interest them not somebody else. The Institute has been such a forum, and as long as Illinois can secure such management of what shall be discussed from that forum year by year in county and in state meetings, and get all this for the bare cost of the traveling expenses of a quarter of a hundred representative farmers just that long she will be lucky indeed. No It is therefore not so much that we have Foolish one hundred and two county meetings and Propaganda, a big state round up every year, but rather it is the trails that are biased at these meetings that count, and it speaks well of this management that during all these years with their troub- lous times no foolish propaganda has been permitted, and no extravagant ground has ever been taken. On the other hand, this Institute has taken some exceedingly advanced ground 'tvith regard to agricul- tural progress, and it is that to which I would call atten- tion, particularly such portions of this service as have come under my personal observation and within my own field of knowledge. For example, it was from the platform of the Insti- tute that the campaign for better roads was originally promulgated and shaped up gradually into what would seem feasible procedure. In this way was prejudice turned into intelligent interest, and there is probably no THE ILLINOIS FARMERS' INSTITUTE better example of what can be done by consistent and conservative study of large questions in ways that are really constructive and publicly understood. What the Institute has done for the home must not be forgotten, for some of the earliest and best sugges- tions for home improvement came through its publica- tions. Not only that, but the Institute afforded the medium whereby pioneers like Mrs. Dunlap, Mrs. Kedzie Jones, Professor Bevier and their followers have, year after year, in season and out of season, reached multi- tudes with the gospel of better homes. But it is within the field of agriculture that I would more particularly speak. Big The first great job undertaken by the In- Jobs stitute was the rejuvenation, or, more Well Done. properly speaking, the reincarnation of the College of Agriculture at the State University. The Institute was hardly out of its swadd- ling clothes when this job was undertaken, but like Mi- nerva of old, the giant was born fully matured, as events proved, and through it's medium of expression and in- fluence the farmers of the state made not only their wishes but also the necessities of the situation known. It was a purely unselfish service in the interest of the whole public and has been so regarded. There were other agricultural organizations, and good ones, but none so well cut out for this particular job as was the Farm- ers' Institute. It was the agency by which public ophiio-n was crystallised and expressed, by which Amos Moore, James H. Cooledge, S. Noble King, Charles F. Mills, A. P. Grout, N. B. Morrison, Ralph Allen, Frank I. Mann and a host of others, many of whom have long since gone to their reward, showed the state at once its duty and its opportunity. AND 1T8 JO If. If the Institute had never rendered nnolher public, service than to function as the means of providing Illi- nois with a real College of Agriculture, it would have fully justified its existence. But that was only a beginning. A real study of Illinois agriculture from the standpoint of science and of progress showed at once the place that research and ex- perimentation must take in the scheme of state develop- ment in the field of agriculture, and a systematic study of the soils of the state was begun under the special patronage and support and advice of the Institute. It was many years ago that through the activities