SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART II 81 



ly recognize these facts? I think not, for if they were more fa- 

 miliar with these and other facts concerning the function of a state 

 fair, they A\oukl cease grumbling about the one-week use of the 

 fair ground equipment and the tawdry purpose of fairs. 



One of the most perplexing problems confronting a state Fair 

 management, is what method can best l)e employed to educate the 

 public to the proper function of a fair. What was nie.iiit by the 

 word "education" twenty-five years ago, is not wliat we mean by 

 edui-ation in relation to our own problems, especially in agricul- 

 ture. Years ago the man whose hand Avas trained could easily make 

 a living from the fat soil ; today the man who succeeds on the farm 

 must have a trained mind. In other words, where the hand used 

 to rule, the head now holds sway. We do not need less brawn but 

 more trained minds. 



The educational features of a state fair cover every phase of its 

 activity. A fair management is constantly confronted by the argu- 

 ments of persons opposed to entertainment in any form, and who 

 are unalterably in favor of only the more serious side of education. 

 Such arguments only expose the ignorance of those who advance 

 them, as to the importance of recreation in the educational field. 

 Hall once said, "Recreation is intended to the mind as whetting to 

 the scythe, to sharpen the edge of it, which otherwise would grow 

 dull. He therefore Avho spends his whole life in recreation is ever 

 whetting and never mowing. Per contra, he who always toils and 

 never recreates is ever mowing and never whetting. He is laboring 

 to little purpose, for no scythe is good which has no edge. ' ' 



Entertainment is too often the football of the fair critic. Ground- 

 less complaint is made too frequently against the recreational fea- 

 tures of a fair. There is often too much blind, unthinking adoration 

 of the educational features which are purely educational in a cold, 

 analytical way. There are many people who will argue heatedly 

 against the recreational program of a fair, yet when the horse 

 racing begins, crowd their way into the grandstand, lest they will 

 miss some excitement. Only a few years ago one of the best known 

 cattle breeders of England was at the Towa State Fair in the capa- 

 (•il>- of jiidgi' i)\' Shorthorn cattle. One day at liinrheon lu> ex- 

 pivsscd a desire lo see the rat'cs for a iiKUiieiil, as he iiad never seen a 

 li'otting race or a pacing horse, lie went over lo Ihe gi-andstand 

 after lunch, and became so engrossed in the. entei'taiinnenl that lie 

 almost forgot to go back to the ring. 



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