1902.] LESSONS FROM THE PAN-AMERICAN. 21/ 



grasses, clovers, and such products came into full growth. 

 The consequence was that the general effect of the exhibit 

 was not up to what it should have been in the earlier part of 

 the fair. In the case of the Buffalo Exposition we were a 

 little more fortunate, because the Board of Agriculture, seeing 

 the necessity of starting this work early, came forward and 

 made an appropriation so that we could have the materials 

 ready for fitting up our space at the opening of the fair. This 

 proved to be a decided advantage, because a considerable 

 amount of work was done previous to the year of the fair, and 

 considerable material was stored up and gotten into shape to 

 use, so that a very good display was made from the begin- 

 ning. 



The next suggestion that I w'ould make is that the man- 

 agement of the different exhibits should select in different 

 parts of the State farmers, young farmers preferably, who 

 would be active and enterprising in assisting to engage and 

 collect the products for exhibition in their local communities. 

 I have found that the farmers, as a rule, are a class of people 

 difficult to reach by correspondence. If I can get hold of a 

 man and talk to him, telling him what I want, I can generally 

 make some arrangement with him. But if I have to write to 

 a farmer about such matters, as a rule he is a pretty hard 

 fellow to deal with. If he replies to your letter, the chances 

 are, about nine times out of ten, that the reply will not be re- 

 ceived inside of three or four weeks. If, on the other hand, 

 there are two or three bright and enterprising young farmers 

 in each county to assist whoever has general charge of a par- 

 ticular line of exhibits, in 'arranging for the growth of the 

 products that will be of interest, and then in arranging for 

 the collection of these products at the proper time, and the 

 packing and shipping of the same, it would help greatly in 

 keeping up a full display throughout the season. 



These two points have come to my mind particularly as 

 being of some interest in connection with the work of the 

 Columbian and the Pan-American Expositions, and I hope 

 they may be of value to some one in the future. 



President Seeley. I would like to inquire how those 

 young farmers would be compensated for their time and 

 trouble in collecting and arranging those exhibits. 



