tion farms located throughout the province were also visited each year by the members.

The Farmers’ Institute provided some monetary savings for its members as well. The combined purchasing power of the Institute’s club order for spring seeds resulted in lower prices than the members would have paid individually. Carloads of ground limestone were ordered in the same way. The use of lime neutralized the acidic soil and resulted in better crops of clover, alfalfa, and other legumes.

Charles Lord was secretary—treasurer of the Institute for some time. The duties of secretary-treasure were taken over by Fred A. Leard, after Mr. Lord moved from North Tryon to West Royalty, and Fred contin- ued to serve until the Institute disbanded in the 19505.2

North Tryon Women’s Institute

Mary Stewart Collect

Keep us 0 Lord from pettiness; let us be large in thought, in word and deed.

Let us be done with fault-finding and leave off self-seeking. May we put away all pretenses and meet each other face to face, without self pity and without prejudice.

May we never be hasty in judgment and always generous. Teach us to put into action our better impulses straight forward and unafraid.

Let us take time for all things; make us grow calm, serene, gentle.

Grant that we may realize that it is the little things that create differences, that in the big things of life we are one. And may we strive to touch and know the great human

heart common to us all, And 0 Lord God, let us not forget to be kind.

Women’s Institute began in Stoney Creek, Ontario, on February 9, 1897, under the auspices of the Farmer’s Institute. The organization was envisioned by Adelaide Hoodless, the wife of a rural doctor, and Erland Lee, a graduate of Ontario Agricultural College. The organiza~ tion quickly spread throughout Ontario, the west, and the east, reaching both New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island in 1911. Women’s Institutes were organized in all Canadian provinces by 1914, and in February 1919 the Federated Women’s Institutes of Canada became a national organization.

The North Tryon Women’s Institute was organized Dec. 9th., 1927 when eight women met at the home of Lila Gamble (now the Gordon

Cutcliffe family house) to become Charter Members. Lila Gamble,

103