TENTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART XI 641 



filled and Ibe people are well distributed over a quarter of a section of 

 building?, tents, and open space filled witb things of every sort to interest 

 the western farmer. Fifty to sixty thousand people now seem no more 

 than twenty-five to thirty thousand a fevN- years back. 



Not a few farmers drove to the fair in their own automobiles, some com- 

 ing half way across the state. These folks had a most comfortable time 

 of it. They were able to take rooms well out on the edges of the city, 

 av.ay from the noise and dust, and their autos enabled them to get back 

 and forth with the maximum of comfqrt. 



The state board of agriculture deserves much credit for the display of 

 farm crops made in the Agricultural building. Early in the season Secre- 

 tary Simpson arranged with Professor Crossley, of the Agricultural Col- 

 lege, to collect and arrange a representative, exhibit of Iowa's field crops, 

 and supplied the money necessary. As a result this year for the first time 

 Iowa had an exhibit of this sort worth mentioning. While Professor 

 Crossley and his assistants arranged it in a most attractive manner, the 

 value of the exhibit was in the information it furnished. There were 

 samples of the first, second, and third cuttings of alfalfa from over half 

 the counties in the state, each bearing a placard on w'hich was stated the 

 name of the grower, the county, the kind of soil, date of sowing, yield 

 per acre, etc. It was a tremendous object lesson showing the success pf 

 growing alfalfa in Iowa. One large section was devoted to root and forage 

 crojjs and another to grain crops. Samples of different varieties of small 

 grains were shov>n and placards containing information as to yield in 

 different counties in the state. Small leaflets were distributed contain- 

 ing in condensed form information concerning the character of the 

 different small grains, their importance in the state, the soil to which 

 they are adapted, amount of seed to the acre, time of sowing, harvesting, 

 value per acre, etc., etc. It was altogether a most valuable and in- 

 structive exhibit and well worth a couple of hours study. In addition 

 to the exhibit arranged by Professor Crossley there were county exhibits 

 by Polk, Lucas, Wright, and Cass counties, and a display of crops grown 

 at the different institutions under the jurisdiction of the state board of 

 control. 



The extension department of the Iowa Agricultural College had a very 

 instructive exhibit in the building formerly used as a women's rest build- 

 ing. One part of this building was partitioned off for a lecture room, 

 where lectures were held at 11 o'clock each day on subjects of interest to 

 farmers generally, while in the afternoon special lectures were given on 

 subjects of interest to women folks. In the remainder of the building dif- 

 ferent departments had interesting exhibits of different sorts. There were 

 graphic illustrations showing the amount of water removed from the soil 

 by different farm crops, a study of the effects of different manures on 



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