PROCEEDINGS STATE AGRICULTURAL CONVENTION 105 



total estimate for cars in the camp grounds for the period of the 

 fair was 8,200, practically all of which came from outside of Polk 

 County : 



It would be possible to devote an indefinite number of pages to 

 describing the thousands of features of the 1922 Iowa State Fair. 

 No further description, however, could be as eloquent as the state- 

 ments of leading agricultural papers in their own official reports of 

 the triumph of this greatest of all expositions. There follow a few 

 of the comments of some of these papers, presented in the words of 

 their expert writers who spent from four to seven days studying 

 in the various departments of the fair. 



IOWA'S BEST FAIR AND EXPOSITION 



(From the Iowa Homestead, Des Moines, Iowa) 



Almost every year the Iowa State Fair and Exposition is described as 

 the best ever. Were this not a trite expression it might well be repeated 

 this year and be spelled with capital letters, for all things considered it 

 was truly the greatest and best fair and exposition ever held in Des 

 Moines. The fair closed its gates on Friday evening last week with the 

 turnstiles recording an attendance of 359,745 as compared with 294,002 

 last year, an increase of 65,745. Every day, except Wednesday of the 

 second week, when rain interfered, showed a larger attendance than the 

 corresponding day a year ago. 



The fair management smiled every day of the classic and justly so, for 

 the big machine had been so well oiled and put in such excellent repair 

 that it worked smoothly from day to day without accidents of any sort. 

 Secretary A. R. Corey and President C. E. Cameron, as well as all others 

 in authority, deserve the highest praise and the thanks of the public for 

 their untiring efforts in making this big educational event a success. The 

 performances before the grand stand were excellent and well attended as 

 were also the night society horse shows, held in the live stock judging 

 pavilion. These performances did their full share in augmenting receipts 

 in the treasurer's office. Financial records are not yet complete, but it 

 is rumored that total receipts were $12,000 larger than last year and 

 that there will be a handsome surplus left for starting next year's ex- 

 position and making needed improvements. 



The live stock show as a whole was not only very large, but the quality 

 was excellent in nearly every department of the fair. There was also 

 marked uniformity in the different breeds of live stock — more so, it 

 seemed, than usual. Breeders generally were in good humor with the 

 great majority feeling that the pure-bred live stock business has reached 

 the turning point and that from now on prices will continue to improve 

 gradually. Nobody is looking for a price boom, but steady improvement 

 in demand is generally expected for some time to come. 



From an educational point of view and from the standpoint of improved 



