TENTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART V 145 



agricultural exposition and is attended by typically agricultural folk — 

 intelligent, prosperous, happy, well read, veil fed, well dressed — the peo- 

 ple who stand for "good farming, clear thinking, right living." It is be- 

 cause of the character of the people that the exhibits of practically every- 

 thing needed on the farm and in the home may be found on the grounds 

 — the very best of the improved breeds of horses, cattle, sheep, swine, 

 poultry, vehicles, improved implements and appliances of every descrip- 

 tion, seeds of the best varieties of farm crops, fruits, plumbing ana 

 lighting systems, house furnishings, stoves, musical instruments — every- 

 thing, in fact, needed on an up-to-date farm or of use in a well-ordered 

 home. The man who makes anything or sells anything that will lighten 

 the work of the farmer and his wife or contribute to their comfort has 

 found that there is no better place to display his wares than at the 

 Iowa State Fair. Iowa farmers are quick to recognize and appreciate 

 anything of real merit." 



The following is from the editorial pages of the "Spirit of the West:" 



"The people of the state are beginning to realize the need of state aid 

 to make necessary and needed improvements on the grounds to accom- 

 modate the increase each year in exhibits in all the departments. The 

 importance and benefit to the farmers of Iowa and to the state at large 

 is almost beyond calculation. The agricultural and live stock industry 

 of the state of Iowa excels those of any other st-ite and while Iowa soil 

 has done much to give Iowa a groat name the Iowa State Fair has been 

 a leading factor in developing and promoting the growth of agriculttire 

 and live stock." 



The editor of the Farmers' Tribune writes as follows: 



"Another Iowa State Fair, the fifty-fifth annual, has passed into his- 

 tory. Another magnificent live stock and agricultural exposition has once 

 more testified to the progress the Iowa farmer has made in recent years. 

 The management of this fair has again demonstrated its well-known 

 ability to hold a successful large show. The farmers as well as those 

 indirectly dependent upon agriculture for support — and that Includes 

 nearly everyone living in the state — have again realized that the money 

 the state has spent in building up a great state fair is well invested. The 

 exposition was a great advertisement for Iowa. It bore witness to the 

 fact that Iowa from an agricultural point of view is the peer of all her 

 sister states. The 1909 exposition had perhaps a greater educational value 

 than any show ever held. The Iowa State Fair has always been an edu- 

 cational institution of great value; the superior live stock, the large 

 display of farm machinery, and other features having made it so. In 

 recent years the phrase "Better than ever" has almost without ex- 

 ception been applied to each succeeding state fair. So common has this 

 expression become that it actually fails to convey any real meaning to 

 the majority of people. As a matter of fact, this phrase has told the 

 truth each year, and applied to the 1909 Iowa State Fair it tells a true 

 story of progress." 



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