270 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



E. J. Curtin, Decorah, Iowa: I don't think any talk on added 

 money is needed here. I was looking over the statistics ai the 

 Iowa fairs for the past year and found that out of ninety-three 

 fairs, fifty-two gave racing under the added-money plan, so with 

 that statement I don't know that anything further need be said 

 about it here. * 



About a year ago the matter of racing became so disturbed that 

 the men who gave the races thought they should have more money, 

 and South Dakota tried it out with great success. The average 

 county fair has been giving $300 purses. I say the average, because 

 some give a little bit more and some a little bit less. And they 

 charged 5 per cent to enter and 5 per cent to money winners. If 

 they got six entries, it would mean about $150. Now, the average 

 program was six races at a cost of $150 per race, which would 

 aggregate $900. The number of horses for the six races was usually 

 about thirty, so that the thirty horses received from the fair asso- 

 ciation about $30 apiece. Now, that is utterly inadequate, and if 

 you want to continue this sport you will have to give them more 

 than that, for the driver, the caretaker, and the horse cannot live on 

 $30. All it means is if you wish to see racing continued, if you 

 wish harness racing at your fair, this added-money plan will accom- 

 plish the end. If you make your purse $250, to put it conserva- 

 tively, that costs your track $1,500, and then if you have thirty 

 horses, that gives each horse $50. That's all there is to it in ; 

 nutshell. If you still feel that the old style is the way to do, you 

 may advertise that way, but you will find that the men cannot pay 

 out and they won't come. Harness racing is just another vaude- 

 ville act and it must be paid out of our gate receipts and our grand- 

 stand, so that I think when fifty-two of our fairs have adopted it 

 this year it will be almost unanimous next year. I think it is the 

 one best bet that we have, and it is the only thing we would hate to 

 lose. While a few of the fairs don't giving a racing card, the 

 majority of the fairs do, and if you want it you must give it under 

 that plan. 



The Chairman: I would like to have Mr. White come forward 

 and give his views on the added-money plan. 



G. W. White, Malvern, Iowa: Mr. President and fair managers 



A word with regard to the added money. The way it panned out 



at our fair this year, it was the best it ever was from tlfe stand- 

 point of treating the horsemen right. A year ago we had ninety- 

 two or ninety-three straight entries. The entries all closed within 



