7S IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



The conclusion was reached by the managing director that a half-mile 

 track affords much better amusement and creates more interest than a 

 mile track for the reason that the horses are in sight at all times and 

 people like to see them come around twice in a mile; and the fact is 

 thoroughly demonstrated that racing without betting is not only a suc- 

 cess, but will bring a larger attendance and a higher type of people than 

 will racing with betting. One of the features of the fair is that thou- 

 sands of men, women and children thronged what would ordinarily be 

 the betting ring and watched the races as an amusement enterprise with 

 an utter absence of the race horse tout, the strong arm man, the porch 

 climber, the pickpocket and the gambler, none of these gentry being in 

 evidence at all at the Iowa State Fair. 



(The further report of the Tulsa committee concerning the tremen- 

 dous effect which the state fair has in promoting the best interests of 

 agriculture in Iowa is contained in the following article from the Tulsa, 

 Okla., Tribune. This was written by a member of the committee im- 

 mediately upon his return from the Iowa State Fair.) 



By Craicforcl Wheeler. 



There is no conflict of opinion among the people of Iowa concerning 

 the place which the state fair at Des Moines occupies as an asset of the 

 state. Those who know best the reasons for Iowa's leading position as 

 an agricultural commonwealth attribute a large share of the credit to 

 the fair. 



The farmers themselves agreed with the editors of farm journals and 

 leaders of business and industry at Des Moines that the fair is the big- 

 gest thing in Iowa. The assertion that the fair was an important factor 

 in the increase of land values 200 per cent and in the increase of live- 

 stock values 300 per cent was backed up with statistics on the achieve- 

 ments of the fair during the past decade. 



BRINGS FACTIONS TOGETHER. 



E. H. Cunningham, secretary of the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation, hit 

 two vital points about the mission of the fair when he said: 



"It shows city people the farmers' responsibility and their place in 

 the scheme of production more vividly than otherwise possible, and it 

 brings the farmer in contact with an exposition of the latest machinery, 

 the best methods, and the finest produce and live stock of Iowa's leading 

 growers and breeders." 



The fair in one aspect is a far-flung competitive market, where every 

 variety of product and every type of machinery is on display. Twenty 

 acres are turned over to the jobbers of tractors, engines, automobiles, 

 silos, farm implements, lighting systems, heating plants, sewage plants, 

 dairy equipment, and labor-saving devices for the kitchen and house. 

 Instead of one or two machines, the farmer can see all the best makes, 

 running in competition with each other. In one day he can survey the 

 whole field. And he has at hand corps of disinterested compatriots and 



