108 TWENTY-THIRD ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART III. 



190 fleeces were shown and wool experts declared that it was not only 

 the very best exhibit ever seen at the Iowa State Fair but, barring the 

 exhibit made at the Ohio State Fair, the very best show of its kind ever 

 seen at any fair. 



Fourteen wool growers and six boys' and girls' clubs put on the show, 

 so competition for prizes in the several classes of wool shown was very 

 strong. The membership of the Iowa Fleece Wool Growers' Association 

 now totals around 12,000, which means that the association has done ex- 

 ceedingly well during the last year in making the organization stronger 

 and securing better prices for the products sold. 



Last year Iowa wool marketed through this association brought from 

 15 to 28 cents a pound, while this year's clip is now bringing from 38 

 to 50 cents a pound with a fair prospect of still better prices later in 

 the season. Approximately one-half of the wool produced in Iowa is now 

 marketed through the producers' association and the prospects are that 

 a considerably larger percentage of the Iowa wool growers will join be- 

 fore another year has passed, because the organization is getting con- 

 siderably higher prices for the wool of its members than is being received 

 by non-members who sell their wool to local buyers. Sheepmen have 

 done wonderfully well in the co-operative marketing of their wool and 

 are making it worth while for their members to produce a higher grade 

 of wool. Organization has made it possible for producers to get paid 

 for their wool on a quality basis. This fact was emphasized by those in 

 charge of the wool exhibit to every one who made inquiry at their booth. 



One of the striking, and to many the most pleasing exhibit, in the hor- 

 ticultural building was a display of gladioli. The principal exhibitors 

 of gladioli were G. D. Black of Albert Lea, Minn., and Beebe & Tucker 

 of Mitchellville, la. Both these men are extensive growers of this flower, 

 in fact Mr. Black grows 20 acres a year on his Minnesota farm for the 

 wholesale trade and a smaller acreage in Iowa for retail purposes. The 

 gladiolus display was so excellent that the judge, T. D. Smedley, Waterloo, 

 declared it was good enough to win first place in any flower show in the 

 United States. In fact the whole horticultural building was most ar- 

 tistically decorated with over a hundred palms, ferns and bay trees and 

 lattice work for flowers. This added greatly to the beauty of the build- 

 ing and produced a wonderful setting for all the exhibits housed therein. 



The county exhibits were fully up to the high standard set in former 

 years. Each booth, to the casual observer, seemed to make as hand- 

 some a display as every other booth. It took keen discrimination to 

 score each product minutely and later, after adding the scores of each 

 product, to find the total for each exhibit to make out the final rating. 



The 14 individual farm exhibits were also very artistically arranged 

 and proved interesting alike to country and city people — all seemed to 

 study them quite in detail. The placing for both county and individual 

 farm exhibits follow: 



