194 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



into those food classes is worth three or four hundred dollars, and I 

 know that they carry the bread away in bushel baskets to get rid of 

 it, and, after all, what did the people get out of that great big ex- 

 hibit ? I had 99 cakes at one place to judge. Take into consideration 

 the time and labor of the women, to say nothing of the value of 

 the food, and there were only three premiums — and very small at 

 that. I feel that we want to give fewer premiums, but boost the 

 premium on that thing. For instance, let's give a great big pre- 

 mium on the best yeast bread. Bread is the staff of life. Bread 

 and butter is the gold-headed cane. Bread and butter are essential 

 for the normal growth of children, and in our butter exhibits we 

 want to push the butter score card up — that is, the premium on 

 that, and on good bread. If we have but one class of bread, and 

 we put the premium at $5.00 on that class of bread, people are 

 going to enter. Any woman that can get $5 for a loaf of bread 

 will put her best efforts on it, and when that woman carries off that 

 $5 premium out of perhaps 150 loaves of bread, she has won a real 

 prize. So I want every woman in the community to realize that 

 that is her fair and that she should do something to make the fair 

 better this year than it was last year; and so again I would like to 

 have this food properly disposed of. It is a crime to waste the food 

 as we have wasted it. Exhibits should be in harmony with the 

 various lines of community work. Our fair should be a reflection 

 of what we are teaching in our schools. You men know just as 

 well as I do that the high school girl's dress today is — well, we are 

 having some trouble. In one of our colleges last year one girl bought 

 twelve pairs of shoes in nine months. One girl that I know of that 

 goes to college has a check book and she is allowed $50 a month for 

 spending money — $600 a year. Now, to help our young people, and 

 to get this idea across, I would like to have in the fair things on ex- 

 hibit that these high school girls are taught are standards — middy 

 blouses, Peter Thompson suits, underwear — the rational, wholesome, 

 fine-material kind. I want a premium put on such things. I want 

 those girls to feel that that's the thing ; I want to raise our standard 

 of proper dress. I want the girl to find something as standard in a 

 way that is pleasing to her. I want to show out of the school, at 

 the county fair, at the state fair, at the interstate fair, if you please, 

 what these girls are being taught. It should help us many, many 

 times, through the colleges and through these high school boys and 

 girls, to reach the father and mother. We will get in a great big lot of 

 folks if there is a community club and there is a premium given for 

 the exhibit of these garments they are making. The feeling will be 



