166 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



Union — I would like to say the greatest. It has one of the very best state 

 fairs, as well as county and district fairs. We will not go into detail as to 

 comparison between the county and state fair, only in this respect, and in 

 what I say I intend to cast no reflection upon our wonderful state fair. 

 This point came up at a meeting which I attended some time ago, — ^that 

 while the state of Iowa had one of the greatest state fairs in the Union, 

 there are those people living in your county and my county who WiU un- 

 doubtedly never visit the state fair for one reason or another, and it is 

 up to us to make ways and means whereby they may have the privilege 

 of seeing and having the benefit of a real county fair, — I mean the fairs 

 which are being put on throughout the state of Iowa at the present time, — 

 which should combine both amusement and educational features. 



The point has been discussed pro and con many times whether or not 

 we spend too much money in the amusement line, and with the idea of 

 getting information on that subject I sent out a questionnaire to 32 fair 

 men throughout the state asking them their conclusion. I asked this 

 question: As a nucleus, are we spending more money for amusement fea- 

 tures than we are for the farmer and stockman? From the replies re- 

 ceived I gained this information: Out of the 32 fairs, something like 

 80 per cent spent nearly as much; two fairs spent as much by their stock 

 show expense — and by their stock show expense I mean the expense for 

 premiums aside from state aid, erecting pens, cost of stock judges, your 

 straw for the stalls, cost of ribbons, tax and various kinds of blanks, and 

 every expense you might incur in the conduct of a stock show — ^and I 

 found that only about two paid as much for the stock as for the amuse- 

 ments. Now, the amusement features included these items: Band, free 

 acts, races, baseball (if you have it), and I think when you arrive at your 

 balance, if you haven't already done so, you will find that it will surprise 

 you the amount of money it costs you to put on your stock show. It is a 

 great thing, and the secretaries of the state who conduct these depart- 

 ments should receive credit for increasing the exhibition along the stock 

 line. 



Now, Iowa not only served the purpose in that line, but Iowa was the 

 first state to go over the top In the purchase of Liberty bonds and other 

 drives during the war. In Washington, after the men in charge of the great 

 national drives had arrived at the point of how to get the quota, the next 

 avenue they had to take up was how can we reach the people, giving 

 them the correct information of what you must have and at the quickest 

 possible moment. They started through different organizations, starting 

 with the Chamber of Commerce of the United States, then the local cham- 

 bers of commerce in the different cities, dropping down to the commer- 

 cial clubs in the smaller places, and to the community clubs of the hamlet. 

 What was their idea in doing that? In Iowa especially no avenue opened 

 Itself so clearly through which they could reach the man in the country 

 as through the rural community clubs. You will remember that we re- 

 ceived letters to push this good work along, and I am sure in this asser- 

 tion that every fair met the expectations of the committee. That is just 

 one avenue of what our fairs have done. It leads us up to this point, 

 gentlemen, — can we succeed In the operation of our fairs with the little 



