PROCEEDINGS STATE AGRICULTURAL CONVENTION 131 



State Fair. The colossal "show case" in which the public sees the "sam- 

 ples" consists of dozens of buildings which, with the 360-acre site, are 

 valued at more than $1,500,000. On the basis of a 12-year average, be- 

 ginning with 1910, the fair has paid out annually $73,900 in premiums, 

 been attended by 302,000 people, enjoyed receipts amounting to $234,000, 

 and had 2,000 exhibitors in all departments. The "plant" is one of Iowa's 

 gilt-edged investments. For every dollar invested in it the state owns 

 property valued at $2.15. 



The pure-bred beef cattle entries numbered 889, besides 340 "baby" 

 beeves, shown in the boys' and girls' club department; dual-purpose 

 cattle, 120, and dairy cattle, 353. The eight breeds of hogs were repre- 

 sented by 2,550 head, besides 408 shown by boys' and girls' club mem- 

 bers. The 800 sheep, besides 85 boys' and girls' lambs, registered an 

 increase in this division. The show of draft horses and geldings and 

 Shetland ponies was stronger and better than last year's, while mules 

 made the largest and best exhibition ever seen in Iowa. Saddle horses 

 were notable in numbers and quality; the harness horse classes were 

 small. Poultry, numbering about 2,800 birds, in addition to a large entry 

 by boys and girls, occupied all the space available in the old building 

 devoted to this interest. Pigeons and rabbits were more numerous than 

 turkeys, geese and ducks. The combined entries in the live stock depart- 

 ment equaled if they did not break the fair's record, and under present 

 business and transportation conditions the show was a record-breaker, 

 regardless of its numerical strength. 



Automobiles and trucks conveyed thousands of small exhibits from 

 farms and factories to the fair. Iowa is using about 1,000,000 automo- 

 biles and 60,000 tractors. Its tax on the former yields an annual revenue 

 of $10,000,000, 90 per cent of which is spent by the state in building, 

 improving and maintaining primary roads. Automobiles and interurban 

 electric roads are largely responsible for the remarkable attendance of 

 Iowa farmers and their families at the fair. On Wednesday several 

 hundred farmers with their families, all identified by inscribed hatbands 

 as from Cass county, arrived in autos, and made a big stir on the grounds. 

 County delegations of this sort represent a new departure of high signifi- 

 cance in the social and business life of farm people. Most of the visitors 

 last week went in autos to Des Moines. By Wednesday night the total 

 attendance, despite daily rains and muddy roads, was 297,000 — substan- 

 tially greater than at the corresponding time in 1921 — and for the week 

 it totaled 360,000. 



In the machinery department the footage of space sold showed an in- 

 crease of 15 to 25 per cent. Last year the total received for space was 

 $14,000; this year it was $16,000. The increased space was largely oc- 

 cupied by small machines and accessories. Forty-eight companies co- 

 operated with the management in conducting demonstrations of a long 

 list of machines used on farms, highways and railroads, and in dairies, 

 factories and mines. Electricity was the chief motive power; gasoline 

 engines also did a deal of work. Sixty to eighty tractors were in opera- 

 tion. The automobile and trucks show was elaborate as to brands and 



