TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART II 105 



The President : The next topic on the program is an address 

 by DeWitt Wing, Editor of the Breeders' Gazette, Chicago, Illi- 

 nois, upon the subject of agricultural affairs. I just received a 

 telegram from him, stating that it will be impossible for him to 

 be with us today. 



No doubt a great number of you gentlemen have visited the 

 Iowa State Fair and have admired the beautiful flowers, vines 

 and shrubbery around the buildings and upon the grounds. I 

 think you will be interested in hearing from the man who made 

 the plans and supervised the planting. I take pleasure this 

 morning in introducing to you the landscape architect for the 

 Iowa State Fair, who has this work in charge, Mr. L. E. Fogel- 

 song. 

 Mr. President, and Gentlemen: 



The existence of many small fairs throughout the United States today 

 is problematical. They have been tottering in many instances until, from 

 the lack of funds and active help, they are slowly going under the ham- 

 mer and returning to farm purposes. I am sorry to say that this has 

 been true of a few in our very wealthy communities. 



County fairs are of an educational character and deserve to rank with 

 our higher institutions of learning, and they are deserving of the most 

 generous help from our legislative bodies. With such help they would 

 quickly arrive at the proper place they deserve in our respective counties. 



A fair to properly fulfill its function should have two purposes upper- 

 most in its mind and in its principles — ^the first is educational, and the 

 second is a stimulation for something that is higher and something that 

 is better. Now, I put those two on an equal basis, and they more or less 

 merge, as you well know. 



The London Exposition of 1850, which is quite well known to all people 

 actively interested in history of fairs, was built for the stimulation of 

 national trade, and in that it was successful. It also marked a big step 

 in fair building, for they built there the original Crystal Palace, which was 

 later perfected at Philadelphia in 1876, and it was in working over the 

 engineering problems of this work — they had no steel in those days, and 

 to build a crystal palace was quite an engineering feat — and it was over 

 the development of these plans that the prince consort, husband of 

 Queen Victoria, really contracted his ill-health from which he later died. 

 The fair, however, was very, very successful, and they did succeed in 

 stimulating foreign and national trade. 



In the fair in 1876 at Philadelphia it had two bases— first of all it was 

 educational, we were showing to the world what we were as a nation, 

 besides it being a Centennial commemorating our independence. It edu- 

 cated the world what we really were, and it convinced them that our 

 democracy was a success, a thing which England was unable to under- 

 stand. They couldn't understand how we could have a democracy such 

 as we had and still live together and prosper; and so our Centennial in 



