130 TWENTY-THIRD ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART III. 



IOWA'S FAIR CAPS THE CLIMAX AGAIN 



(From Breeders' Gazette, Chicago, 111.) 



More than 360,000 people — mostly farmers — attended the 68th annual 

 Iowa State Fair in Des Moines last week. Educationally and qualita- 

 tively, it was "Iowa's best," and there was plenty of it for every one 

 and every member of the family, whether information, recreation or 

 amusement or all were sought. . It was a comprehensive, well-balanced 

 exposition of the banner agricultural state's farm and factory products, 

 with amusements, thrills, excellent orchestral music, and grand opera 

 choruses thrown in to variegate the many-angled program every day and 

 evening during the week. The builders and keepers of this fair know 

 their business; they know what to do, and how to do it; they have the 

 best of materials to work With, and, best of all, they have a citizenry in 

 Iowa that co-operates with them, and appreciates and supports the in- 

 comparable net result. The definite and sustained motive of the insti- 

 tution is educational service to farmers and people identified in Iowa 

 with the industries based on agriculture. It succeeds magnificently, and 

 deserves success. 



The breeding and feeding of meat-making live stock constitute the 

 basic farm enterprise in Iowa. With its large surplus of corn and forage 

 crops, the state is uniquely dependent on beef cattle and hogs for a 

 local outlet for tbese meat-making feeds. A state-wide and active in- 

 terest in improving and increasing these classes of live stock, and sheep 

 as well, is the most important fact seen, heard and read at the fair. A 

 considerable percentage of 1921 corn still is in cribs in Iowa; some of 

 it is going out, and much would go out if the railroads were functioning 

 dependably. Two weeks ago one of the directors of the fair shipped 

 15,000 bushels to Chicago for approximately 50 cents a bushel. The crop 

 this year will equal and probably exceed the state's ten-year average. 

 There is "a world of feed" in Iowa. In relation to it there is a shortage 

 of beef cattle and hogs in the state. The fall pig farrow is likely to be 

 a record-breaker. Sheep raising and the feeding of sheep and lambs are 

 under way on a greatly expanded scale. Dairying, strongly established, 

 is being improved in efficiency. A revival in draft horse production in 

 many regions of the state is reported by many farmers, and the exhibit 

 in this section at the fair confirmed their views. Iowa is going back 

 rapidly, though not In a wild rush, to more live stock, per capita, and 

 more kinds of live stock. It is therefore going forward to a better, more 

 profitable and more stable agriculture. Its farmers are going to cash 

 at a profit an enormous tonnage of meat, dairy products, grain, poultry, 

 eggs and apples before the year ends. 



One does not hear much "hard times" talk in Iowa. On the face of 

 the state today there are no signs of such times. The more one sees 

 and knows of farms and farming in other states and countries the more 

 conspicuous Iowa is as a giant horn of plenty; a great cornucopia — with 

 the accent on the first syllable — which at this season of the year pours 

 out for public inspection a few samples and specimens of its inexhaust- 

 ible contents. Thi/» "little" overflow is known and famous as the Iowa 



