PROCEEDINGS STATE AGRICULTURAL CONVENTION 63 



IOWA STATE FAIR 



The 1921 Iowa State Fair probably served a greater mission and 

 was of more substantial benefit to those who attended it than any 

 exposition previously held in the history of the state, and this 

 was the sixty-seventh. 



While the attendance fell approximately eighteen per cent below 

 the average of the four previous fairs, this did not minimize the 

 value of the big show to the state at large. Thousands of farmers 

 who attended gained inspiration with which to face the difficult 

 times ahead. Business men brushed shoulders w^ith these same 

 farmers and were impressed by the power and importance of the 

 agricultural industry of the state, and obtained the farmers' view- 

 point on many problems which are puzzling business at the present 

 time. 



Of no less importance was the work of the women from both 

 farms and cities who joined to participate in a program which 

 will bear much fruit in working for the future welfare of the state 

 at large. 



One of the most impressive features of the fair was the man- 

 ner in which the live stock breeders of Iowa and the Middle West 

 turned out to demonstrate their faith in the solidity and future of 

 the live stock business. Visitors, who had come to the exposition 

 expecting to find partially filled barns and pens with a pick-up 

 showing, received the surprise of their lives. All barns and pens 

 were well filled with a class of stock which won the admiration of 

 the breeders and judges from every part of America. There was 

 practically 5,500 head of live stock on the grounds exhibited in 

 the different divisions as follows: 1210 head of cattle; 577 head 

 of horses ; 2847 head of hogs ; 643 head of sheep, and 54 milk goats. 

 The only department showing any appreciable falling ofif was in 

 the swine department. This was due to the fact that the Board 

 limited the number of entries to the capacity of the permanent swine 

 barn and a large tent for housing the 460 pigs shown by Iowa boys 

 and girls. 



While the number of swine exhibited did not quite equal the 

 showing in 1920, it was by far the best quality show and more 

 animals were ltd into the ring to be passed upon by the judges 

 than at any previous fair. 



