TENTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART XI 655 



It" we could see a fair from the vantage point vvhich we imagine the 

 occupier of an airship to enjoy we should certainly have much more 

 w^ithin the scope of the eye than is possible from any terra firma position 

 tliat- ordinarily could be obtained. But it is the understanding that 

 must be considered; it is not how much we see, but how thoroughly we 

 understand and appreciate what we see that spells profit from attend- 

 ance at a fair or an exposition. That enterprising individual who sees 

 "everything" at a big state fair docs not see anything intelligently. 

 He catches the shadows but loses the substance of things worth studying. 

 Our foremost state fairs are too vast in their areas and interests to come 

 within the compass of any man's comprehension in a few days. 



We usually gravitate to and tarry at places v/here our special interests 

 are satisfied. Some have a loaning tov,ard fast horses, so they spend most 

 of their time in the grandstand. Others enjoy feasting the eye on horses 

 and cattle that are shown in the pavilions. Still others pay close atten- 

 tion to the judging of hogs and sheep. Visitors who remain three or 

 four days and are not tethered by some very special interest manage to 

 get an idea of the fair as a whole and of several features in particular. 



Entertainment, recreation and education are offered, and it is for each 

 man to decide which he wants. He can get some of c:ich if he works 

 diligently and systematically. Those who go to have a "good time," 

 whatever that means, are in a class which malves it difficult for fair 

 managers to keep their grounds free from fake shows. A good time 

 cannot include the encouragement of any unworthy thing. 



Those of us v ho know farm life can understand why many visitors to 

 fairs go in for fun and folly instead of facts and figures; we have left 

 off hard work to take a rest, have wholesome fun and forget business. 

 We can endure a deal of investigation and serious study when we find 

 something new and interesting, but W'e refuse to "do" a fair in the spirit 

 and meed of a human sponge, laboriously trying to absorb every detached 

 fact. We insist on time for amusement — and we must have amusement. 

 Country people take to a fair a great stock of healthy human nature which 

 feeds on a variety of wheat and chaff — the two ingredients v^'hich figure 

 in our several compositions. Variety indeed is the spice of life 

 Educationally we cannot subsist on soiid ham and eggs alone. With 

 these substantials we instinctively combine popcorn, cotton candy, pea- 

 nuts, ice cream cones, soda pop and the like. Mental appetites do not 

 differ much from these of the stomach; hodgepodge is the craving of 

 a heterogeneous people. Our fairs are what the people want. Most 

 of them are what the people ought to have. 



Fairs and shows are moneymaking investments for states. They 

 nave earned more than they have cost, and their most enthusiastic sup- 

 port is the profitable duty of good citizenship. It will pay any farmer to 

 attend his state fair. In no other v/ay can he better attend to his own 

 business. D. 0. W 



