SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART IV 26:; 



afforded in liberal supply on the program. The biplane, with its trails 

 of fire circling over the infield, inaugurated a program which chained 

 attention for two hours. Acrobatics and trained animals from the 

 backbone of the entertainment, and the Iowa fair presented a program 

 of exceptionally high class. The music, liberally supplied, was of a 

 satisfying character. The Hawaiian players and singers added a novel 

 feature, much enjoyed in the coliseum during the stock judging, as it 

 afforded a most agreeable contrast to the blare of the big brass band 

 that usually drowns all conversation, irritates the animals and rasps 

 the nerves at most of the big fairs. 



The official assurance is that the corn crop this year in Iowa is 

 "fair to good." Given maturing weather and the record will likely 

 show that the state is most favored of all in the corn belt in this par- 

 ticular crop. Around Des Moines evidence of drouth damage is wholly 

 wanting and reports from various sections indicate yields from the 

 average to the exceptional. That damage has been done in certain 

 spots central and southern in the state is undoubted. Small grains 

 yielded abundantly and harvests have been favored with ideal condi- 

 tions. Fall plowing would be greatly facilitated by a general rain, 

 and the final outcome of the corn crop would be appreciably better 

 with one more wetting. Conditions were quite agreeably reflected in 

 the agricultural exhibits building, where county and individual farm 

 displays demanded much more space than ever before. Of powerful 

 appeal were these artistically presented exhibits, most of them to be 

 credited in large part to the intelligent activities of the county agri- 

 cultural agents. Dominant in the big hall was the prize-winning horn 

 of plenty, pouring out its golden flood of corn, which had been brought 

 from the Panama-Pacific exposition. Dressed out in the variety of 

 grains profitably produced in this state, the people could gather a con- 

 crete idea of how forcibly the claims of this agricultural commonwealth 

 were presented at San Francisco. Horticulturally the exhibits were 

 attractive, although the fair occurs too early for the best representation 

 of the fruits of these fields. Iowa "keeps a bee" evidently, as well as 

 a cow, judging from the exhibit from the apiaries, but considerably 

 more proof of its dairy importance is required at this fair. 



The small dairy exhibit in the agricultural building, fostered by the 

 state dairy and food commission, has been rather widely sundered by 

 the removal of the implement and utensil exhibit to machinery hall. 

 The official exhibit of the commission was particularly attractive this 

 year, with its arch of blocks made from butter, with cleanliness as the 

 keystone of the arch. Through the opening was seen an attractive pic- 

 ture of a model dairy barn and a herd of good cows in the foreground, 

 while in front of the arch stood a tub of butter v/ith the Iowa official 

 butter trade mark stamped on its top. Iowa ranks high among the 

 states in its dairy interests, and the scattered and comparatively meager 

 character of the exhibits at its state fair do not at all adequately show 

 forth the industry. A dairy building is among the pressing needs of 

 the fair grounds, in which some tangible exhibit of the magnitude of 

 this industry may be properly staged. 



