PROCEEDINGS STATE AGRICULTURAL CONVENTION 69 



tinuous music in various parts of the grounds from nine o'clock 

 in the morning until the close of the night shows. 



There is presented herewith extracts from write-ups of the fair 

 from a number of the leading agricultural and live stock papers. 

 These reports were written by representatives who spent the full 

 week at the fair and had an excellent opportunity to study and 

 judge the fair from every angle. The criticisms, which in prac- 

 tically every instance are of a constructive nature, as well as the 

 praise of the fair, have been included in the extracts. These ar- 

 ticles give, an unbiased report of the fair, and no report of the 

 fair that might be prepared would be complete without them. 



FROM THE IOWA HOMESTEAD, DES MOINES, IOWA 



The Iowa State Fair and Exposition, held at Des Moines last week, 

 was a marked success from an educational point of view. It was one 

 of the best, if not the best, exposition of Iowa's agricultural resources 

 ever staged. It was not the largest show in every respect that has 

 been seen at Des Moines, yet in most of the departments the exhibits 

 were larger and better than usual. From the standpoint of quality, the 

 big show undoubtedly surpassed the best fair ever held in Iowa. 



Unfortunately, the attendance fell considerably below the records set 

 in recent years. This is to be regretted because the real value to the 

 .state of a good fair is necessarily measured in terms of the number of 

 persons who see it. The falling off in attendance could not be laid to 

 the weather, because weather conditions were ideal throughout the en- 

 tire 10-day period of the show with the exception of Thursday night, when 

 quite a heavy rain fell. This undoubtedly reduced the attendance on 

 Friday, the last day of the fair. The Iowa State Fair, however, is not 

 the only one that has recorded a decrease In attendance this year. At 

 most fairs held so far this season the same thing has occurred. The 

 trouble lies with financial conditions. Crop prices are low, besides farm- 

 ers are busier than usual this year for the reason that they are trying 

 to get along with less hired help in order to keep down expenses. With 

 these conditions prevailing many undoubtedly figured that they could 

 not afford to attend the state fair this year or at any rate they came 

 to the conclusion that state fair expenses could be curtailed. 



While exact figures are not available at this time, a very close estimate 

 of paid admissions place the number at 294,000 this year as compared 

 with 384,000 last year and 406,000 two years ago. At first thought this 

 might seem like a big falling off in attendance, yet we must not over- 

 look the fact that the two previous years were record-breakers as com- 

 pared with 1917 and 1918. When all receipts are in and all debts are 

 paid, according to Secretary A. R. Corey, the books will undoubtedly 

 be in balance. In other words, in spite of the comparatively small at- 

 tendance this year, the fair association will practically come out even. 

 If there should be any deficit, it will be a very small one. Total receipts 

 up to and including Friday night amounted to $281,558. This was $104,- 



