There is a serious problem ahead of us in regard to institutions, or institution sites already purchased, that are not making satisfactory progress. I refer to the State Training School for Boys at Yorktown Heights; Wingdale Prison Site, Wingdale; Mohansic State Hospital, Yorktown; Letchworth Village, Thiells, and the State Industrial Farm Colony at Stormville. There should be a decided effort to develop these institutions along proper lines. Some of us have heard a great deal against these properties that is not true. It is high time that the different officials interested in these institutions co-operate in order that they may be finished as rapidly as possible. If any of the above sites are not suitable for institutions, they certainly would make excellent colony farms. By colony farms, I mean a farm that is separated from the main institution by a greater or less distance, a farm where we may send inmates as a reward of merit, where they can live the simple life of a comfortable farmer. These colonies should be provided with good plumbing, sufficient heat, electric lights and all comforts of up-to-date country life. They are not necessarily expensive, and farms of this sort are found in many cases to be more than self-supporting. The possibilities in farm work are very large. Two years ago the garden products at the Ward’s Island State Hospital for the Insane amounted to $17,299. The profits were $9,360. The profit, after deducting 5 per cent. on the investment of $83,809, was $5,170. Then we thought the high water mark was reached, but this year Ward’s Island’s garden products amount to $18,867; the profit was $14,219; the profit, after deducting 5 per cent. on the investment, was $10,211. Last year Ward’s Island made a profit of 17.7 per cent. on land valued at $1,289 per acre. What Ward’s Island is doing can be repeated on many institution farms. The ideal institution farm in the future will grow its own vegetables and fruit, canning enough for winter use; it will raise its own pork, make its own sausage and smoke its own ham and bacon. It will produce its milk, butter, eggs, poultry, veal and a large part of its beef. This home production will not only furnish fresher and better food, but will save large amounts of money in freight, cost of handling, and dealers’ profits. Institution farms should be large enough to use improved machinery, properly rotate crops so as to add fertility to the soil, and unlock fertility that is already in the land. These farms will then become more fertile year by year, and therefore more profitable. FOOTNOTE: [1] Read at New York State Conference of Charities and Corrections, Buffalo, Nov. 1913. THE OFFICIAL AND THE PRISONER (Here is an article from “Good Words,” the prison monthly from the Federal Prison at Atlanta. It gives an anonymous prisoner’s views on a vital subject.)