SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— i^AiiT II 107 



The colleges of agi'ic'ulture and agricultural schools of the land are 

 presenting wonderfully practical and effective agricultural courses and 

 sending forth young men and young women trained to the greatest 

 efficiency for the farm. 



TlIK MISSIOX OF FAIKS EnUCATIOXAT.. 



The fairs — state, county and district — are state educational agencies 

 intended to improve agriculture. They should be made of the greatest 

 possible educational value. They should co-operate with every agency 

 in the state which is setting forth higher ideals. They should particu- 

 larly set forth the ideals of plants and animals that the state experiment 

 station has developed and found to he most productive and» profitable. 

 Not all of our fairs are doing this. Instead of placing the premiums 

 on the relatively few' varieties of pure-bred types of grain, garden 

 products and potatoes, many of our fairs are placing their premiums 

 upon innumerable names, duplicates upon the same variety made over 

 night by ambitious salesmen on varieties that are mixed and inferior 

 in value. Instead of giving the money to pure-bred animals and for the 

 highest producing power, encouraging the production of certain classes 

 and types distinctive in each community, scrub animals and inferior 

 types are given the prizes. Instead of using for judges trained men who 

 know the types that should receive the rewards, judges are selected with- 

 out careful consideration. 



The fair is our greatest and most effective agency for educating the 

 masses. It reaches by far the largest number of all classes and ages of 

 people. It impresses the ideal of types by actual illustrations in the 

 form of great prize winners, the best to be found. It impresses this ideal 

 upon the learner by sight, hy sound and by touch. 



The state fair should lead all other fairs in the state by setting a 

 good example along all these lines. Its premium list should be the 

 model for the smaller fairs of the state. 



CLEAN FAIRS. 



There has been growing up among our fairs in recent years a laxity 

 in morals, and the shady side-show has been permitted to develop. The 

 demand for this type of shows has become so great that the showmen 

 have ceased building up the more instructive and cleaner types of shows. 

 One of our larger fairs the past year endeavored to secure instructive 

 as well as entertaining shows and made inquiry among showmen, but 

 such shows were difficult to find. When asked why not more of this 

 type of shows were built up, the answer was, "Create the demand and 

 we shall produce the shows." We need to improve materially along this 

 line, and our state fairs must set the example and take the lead in this 

 as in other lines. 



FAIR.S OF THE STAITS COOPERATIXG EDUCATTOXAL UNIT. 



The fairs of the state should be a unit. The educational institutions 

 of the state should co-operate, and hence, the state fair, the county and 

 district fairs, the state experiment station, the college of agriculture, 



