TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART III 141 



one of the best meetings in July that we have ever had. With 

 our county fair, by nip and tuck, and not spending anything for 

 races, we hardly paid out; there were no crowds there; there was 

 no excitement. 



The President : I think you will find, Mr. Olsen, this to be the 

 condition. It has been mly experience in fair work for a good 

 many years that no fair with local horses has ever been a success, 

 and, furthermore, at the present time we all know that we 

 couldn't gather together enough local horses in our community 

 to make one race, let alone three or four or five races. We haven't 

 them in our county, and you haven't them in your county. 



If you will pardon me, we will now go ahead with the next 

 topic, a paper on "Baby Beef Calf Clubs," led by W. M. Clark of 

 Marshalltown, Iowa. 



W. M. Clark, Secretary, Marshall County Fair, Marshalltown. 

 Mr. President and Fair Managers: 



It is a pleasure to me to have recovered my health enough to be back 

 with the Fair Managers again this year. Together with Mr. Curtin and 

 Mr. Cameron and Mr. Shipman — I don't recall any others — we organized 

 this Association some fourteen or fifteen years ago in the old Savery 

 hotel down here in the lobby one night, and it has grown to its present 

 proportions. My health has been such for the past two years that I have 

 not been able to meet with you, and I am very glad indeed that I can 

 again be here. 



The development of the baby beef industry has become so general in 

 the state and is of such importance to the beef producer and the fairs 

 that your president has asked me to outline the plans used in the organiza- 

 tion of county clubs. Marshall county has been very successful in this 

 work, so that what I may say is based on our experience in club work. 



The first club in Marshall county was organized in the fall of 1916 and 

 eleven calves were shown at our 1917 fair. In 1918 we had twenty-two; 

 in 1919 forty-four, and in 1920 seventy-nine calves were started and 

 seventy-seven finished and shown at the fair. 



This department of our fair is under the supervision of W. A. Buchanan, 

 county agent. He gets the boys or girls interested in the work and when 

 they desire assists them in buying a calf. Each member of the club buys 

 his or her own calf without any financial help from the fair association 

 or any other organization. Some may borrow money for the purchase of 

 their calf at the bank or of individuals, but it is their own personal deal. 

 They are not supported by any organization. The object of this being to 

 place the responsibility of choosing a suitable animal to feed on the boy. Th-e 

 age limit of club members are not under ten or over nineteen years of 

 age, and they must be actual residents of the county. Calves must have 

 been dropped between January 1st and September 1st of the previous 

 year, and may be either pure bred or grade, steer or heifer, owned by the 



