72 TWENTY-SECOND ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART II 



of the tractor business is bright because manufacturers are constantly 

 improving their machines and making them more serviceable and more 

 practical for farm work. 



There was an excellent display of trucks on the grounds. They are 

 rapidly becoming invaluable to the farmer, as may be judged from the 

 number in use on the farms of this state and surrounding territory. 



The county exhibits in the agricultural building this year were the 

 best ever. Taken as a whole, they were more attractive than usual in 

 arrangement and general make-up. There were also more exhibits than 

 usual — a total of 19, rpresenting one-fifth of the counties of the whole 

 state. Then, too, we believe they had greater educational value than 

 in former years. Much constructive thought had been put into them. 

 There seems to be an awakening of interest in these county exhibits 

 with a tendency to have them tell a real story of the activities within 

 the counties they represent. This feature might well be emphasized, as 

 the possibilities along that line are almost endless. There should be 

 more leeway for variations in the products shown. For example, one 

 county, in which practically no wheat is grown, had to exhibit wheat 

 in order to bring up the score. This should not be necessary. There 

 should be an opportunity to substitute products for each other in such 

 a way as to represent the agriculture of any county to the best possible 

 advantage. 



Pottawattamie county had the slogan "We grow our own soil build- 

 ers," which was interesting. It caused inquiries to be made. The ques- 

 tion at once arose in the minds of visitors as to what soil builders Potta- 

 wattamie county farmers grew. The answer was that they grew all the 

 common clovers and alfalfa, but that they were growing thousands of 

 acres of biennial white sweet clover, especially for fertilizing purposes. 

 This clover is seeded with small grain as a nurse crop in the spring. 



The individual farm displays numbered 14 and all were very taste- 

 fully arranged. Last year there were 13 exhibits in this department. 

 There were no marked improvements over last year in products shown, 

 but here again there is too little leeway permitted in displaying the 

 special line of work conducted by individual farms and still be in line 

 for prize money. More liberal rules might also be worked out in this 

 class so as to allow individuality in different systems of farm manage- 

 ment to be presented. 



Though the Iowa apple crop was a failure this year, a real good dis- 

 play of apples and other fruit was seen In the agricultural building. 

 In fact, Supt. E. M. Reeves, Waverly, declared that the exhibits in his 

 division were fully up to the standard set in former years. One exhibit — 

 a model farm orchard — was very helpful to those who are contemplat- 

 ing setting out fruit on the farm and aiming to take care of it. An 

 acre of ground devoted to orchard purposes can easily be made the 

 most profitable acre on the farm. Here is a list of varieties of apples 

 recommended by the Iowa State Horticultural Society as shown at the 

 fair: Two trees of Yellow Transparent, four of Northwestern Greening, 

 six of Salome, two of Talman's Sweet, four of Wealthy, four of Malinda, 

 two of Brilliant, three of Duchess, three of Fameuse, and one Whitney 

 Crab. Of pears, two of Lincoln and two of Clap's Favorite were sug- 



