288 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



spreading tlie disease that lias always terrorized neighborhoods into 

 which the return hogs were shipped. The officials of the fair are to 

 be congratulated upon their success in convincing breeders of the 

 necessity of taking this sensible precaution. 



A new feature of the fair this year, and one which not only attracted 

 wide-spread attention, but drove home its lesson in striking manner, 

 was the cow-test exhibit, under the management of the Iowa State 

 Dairy Association and the dairy officials of the Iowa College of Agri- 

 culture. A dozen cows were displayed, furnished by the Kossuth 

 County Cow-Testing Association. The high cow in the Kossuth county 

 test for the year ending August 1st was Lucy Queen Alcartra, a pure- 

 bred Holstein, which gave 13,960 pounds of milk, yielding 554.6 

 pounds of butter fat in the year; the feed cost for this cow was $72.89; 

 the year's profit was $120.2 7. Displayed alongside this cow was the 

 one which was low in the Kossuth county contest, Belle, a grade Hol- 

 stein, which gave but 3,101 pounds of milk, yielding but 108.9 pounds 

 of butter fat; the feed cost was $37.05, the cow not making expenses, 

 but being a loss for the year of 82 cents. These two cows — one re- 

 turning a profit of $120.27, the other a loss of 82 cents — were dis- 

 played side by side and proved that it certainly pays to test and to 

 keep books. Other cows displayed with these were Mercedes Jessie 

 Alcartra, a pure-bred Holstein, which gave 13,762 pounds of milk, 

 yielding 506.7 pounds of butter fat, giving a profit for the year of 

 $108.18; Pond Lily Second, giving a profit of $6.37; Red Jersey, a 

 grade Jersey, giving 8,999 pounds of milk, yielding 411.4 pounds of 

 butter fat and an annual profit of $97.84; and Parsons Belle, a grade 

 Guernsey, which yielded a profit for the year of $66.07. Across from 

 these animals were a half dozen displayed to show the influence of 

 pure-bred sires on the production of milk and butter. A scrub cow 

 which yielded 4,588 pounds of milk, or 201.67 pounds of butter fat, 

 was displayed alongside her daughter, which had given 6,822 pounds 

 of milk or 283.75 pounds of butter fat, an increase over the dam's 

 record of 49 per cent for the milk and 41 per cent for the butter fat. 

 The exhibit was striking throughout, and it is safe to predict that 

 many a farmer will return home determined to join the local cow- 

 testing association and to weed from his herd those animals which a 

 little bookkeeping proves are not paying for their board. 



The building given over to the Iowa State College of Agriculture is 

 always visited by many thousands of interested visitors and always 

 makes a display well repaying the visit. This year was no exception. 

 The exhibits were arranged so as to form eleven lessons in farming, a 

 regular college course, arranged as follows: First — "Keep clean and 

 you will keep healthy;" an exhibit showing the value of covering 

 garbage cans, removing manure from houseyards and screening the 

 farm home. Second — -"Make your farm a home and your boy will 

 stay;" showing a model' farmstead arrangement. Third — "Keep your 

 soil sweet and your crops will smile;'' a display showing how to test 

 soils for acidity and how to treat them. Fourth — "Sow good seed, for 

 you reap what you sow;" showing the value of seed corn selection and 



