ir^ IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



I Lie lu-ovince while not regarded as a patriotic duty is, nevertheleas, 

 looked ou as the best possible means of keeping up-to-date in agricul- 

 tural matters and parents almost regard it as a solemn duty to educate 

 the growing boys and girls into the fair going habit. Part of the re- 

 sponsibility for this state of affairs, however, is due to the exceedingly 

 low rates made by the railroads during the fair period. I have many, 

 many times traveled to and from the Toronto fair at a railroad rate 

 considerably less than one cent per mile. The fact that the average 

 yield per acre of small grain in the Province of Ontario is rapidly in- 

 creasing from year to year I attribute largely to the educational in- 

 fluence of the great Provincial Fair. 



While it is desired that the Iowa State Fair should always attract 

 exhibits from other states it is, nevertheless true that we should more 

 and more encourage our own people to take part as exhibitors. The prac- 

 tice of offering special premiums for Iowa animals is to be commended 

 and it would not be surprising if, in the future, it were necessary to 

 establish what might be called amateur classes for those who have never 

 taken part before. While the professional showman must be encour- 

 aged yet the w-ay must be made easy for beginners. 



The greatest problem that confronts the fair managers is to exhibit 

 products of the farm such as grains and grasses in such a w-ay as to 

 make them educational. This department is apt to be stereotyped with 

 entries largely drawn from what might be called the professional ex- 

 hibitor. The plan put into operation by the Iowa fair in 1909 to place 

 this department on a higher educational basis should be encouraged to 

 the greatest possible extent. I refer especially to the exhibit and fine 

 display made by the Iowa College of Agriculture. A very keen inter- 

 est was shown in the soils, grains and grasses, in the weeds, as well 

 as in the Farm Mechanic's display made by that institution. This leads 

 me to say that I can see great possibilities for that side of the fair as 

 it works in co-operation with the agricultural college. It seems to me 

 that the college might be able to get every county in the state inter- 

 ested enough in the proposition to put on an exhibit from their county 

 farm, showing the varities that are best adapted to each locality, and 

 eihibiting the results of the application of up-to-date methods in pro- 

 duction. We need to make that department of the fair a place where 

 men can study the nature and character of the crops that are especially 

 adapted to their own locality and I believe that every county can afford 

 to co-operate with the fair management in order to bring that about. 

 We are in a measure passing through a transitory stage in our agricul- 

 ture because our people are just beginning to realize that while land 

 has doubled and trebled in value, production with the acre as a unit, 

 has not increased one iota. As a natural result farmers are trying to 

 get hold of new and improved varieties and in some instances they 

 literally grasp at straws. It would not be difficult to point out where 

 mistakes have been made by hundreds and even thousands of our peo- 

 |ile in getting a variety of corn not acclimated to local condition, or 

 varieties of oats and wheat not suited to the soil and climate. If each 



