70 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



management. Through the liberality of the legislature, the cordial sup- 

 port of the pepole, and the sound business management of the fair offi- 

 cials, there have been erected on the fair grounds at Des Moines a series 

 of buildings for the housing and display of the best in horses, cattle, 

 swine, sheep and poultry that can be produced in this and other states. 



It should be remembered that entries in the Iowa State Fair are not 

 limited to the residents of this state. Competition is open to the world, 

 and horses and cattle come to Iowa from Maryland and California. Live- 

 stock men say there is no show that makes such keen demands for ex- 

 cellence as the Iowa State Fair, unless it is the International. 



The Iowa State Fair now has a handsome brick horse barn that is 

 susceptible of enlargement by building an addition on the west as soon 

 as this is necessary. A similar construction was made some years ago 

 for the swine, in which department Iowa leads all other states. The sheep 

 are housed in another modern building that has been designed for the 

 specific purpose intended. And this year for the first time in history the 

 beef and dairy cattle were housed in a new building of harmonious design 

 that marks a big step towards the complete modernizing of all the fair 

 structures. The poultry are still shown in an old building of the pagoda 

 roof and whitewashed walls that was popular for so long with fair man- 

 agers. Before many years this old wooden structure will also pass away 

 along with a few others of the ancient type, and their places will be taken 

 by permanent, brick, steel and concrete buildings that will not merely 

 endure for generations, but will take on a richness and a mellowness 

 as time passes, just as the classic architecture of Europe grows more 

 beautiful with the ivy and moss of age. 



An observing visitor at the state fair this year would have noted in the 

 public addresses and the conversation generally a disposition to stress 

 the importance of Iowa and of her people. This tendency — of which the 

 reader has an example in this present screed — is not mere conceit, nor 

 canny self-satisfaction. It is only the exuberant gratefulness of candid 

 folks who appreciate their blessings and try to express their sentiments 

 in words of commendation. 



With this thought in mind no invidious comparisons need be made 

 when we repeat what is apparent to all — that not even in sunny Cali- 

 fornia, where so many of our rich and retired lowans have gone to picnic 

 for a few years — can a happier year-round climate be found than right 

 here in this garden spot of the corn belt. The weather during fair week 

 was reasonably propitious. Occasional light showers kept down the dust 

 and the days were bright and sparkling with the first glint of autumn 

 yet with all of summer's ardent glow retained. As a result of the fine 

 weather, the good roads that we can brag about at least once a year, and 

 the general prosperity that has attended the owners and workers of the 

 fertile fields in this section, visitors flocked to the fair in increasing 

 numbers. 



The total attendance this year was 380,584, which is 25,601 less than 

 the total for 1919. Rain on Monday night avA again on Friday helped 

 to cut the attendance short, but the chief reasons may be laid to the fact 

 that last year was "Victory Fair," and that this year money is tight and 



