656 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



IOWA'S FIFTY-FIFTH STATE FAIR. 



Half a century and five added years have contributed to the history 

 of the Iowa State Fair, but no year has written so brilliant a record as 

 1909. The halting footsteps of a few years ago have been succeeded by 

 the firm determined tread that presses irresistibly forward to assured 

 success. Many causes combine to make this fair great but perhaps the 

 chief is that it deserves greatness. 



Conditions favoring results that aggregate in their entirety an appreci- 

 able advancement over preceding years were plainly discernible. A 

 steady spread of the fair-going spirit has characterized the past decade 

 of agricultural development. That spirit feeds on crop conditions. 

 When nature frowns on the toil of the husbandman, indulgencies com- 

 monly classed as necessities are quickly transposed to the category of 

 luxuries. A 'visit to the state fair is about the first to be thus reclassi- 

 fied. A mixed motive, in which sentiment and cash play perhaps equal 

 part, operates in the transaction. The Hawkeye State, that ordinarily 

 steers its middle-of-the-road course so conservatively that it is almost 

 wholly unproductive of freaks or sensations, this year has sounded the 

 gamut of extremes. From the drenchings of the early season to the 

 drouth of the latter, agriculture has passed more than the ordinary 

 number of days of apprehension. Recovery from the excess of water 

 came quickly, aided by the energy and intelligence with which farmers 

 of the state till their lands, but against the drouth with which the season 

 is drawing to a close they are practically helpless. The northern part 

 of the state has small complaint. It is "bumper" year in many sections 

 lying to the north, but farmers in some of the Eouthern and south- 

 western parts are obliged to feel content if they fall a little short of 

 an average corn yield, so severe has been the drouth. On a whole, however, 

 it seems a fair estimate to class Iowa amcng the states of more than aver- 

 age production for 1909, and this fact found reflection in the attendance 

 than overran records. 



The fair-going spirit is stimulated by the attractiveness and adequacy 

 of fair ground equipment. While low^a has not worn ten-league boots 

 in its forward strides in state fair rebuilding, it has made that steady 

 and substantial progress which bespeaks provision for the future. 

 Temporary construction finds no place in the plans of the managers of 

 this fair. Lumber contractors deal little with them nowadays. 

 Structural steel mills, concrete workers and brick makers now make bids 

 on the plans for the improvements of these grounds. Last year's con- 

 struction account approximates a total of $150,000 spent. The new 

 steel and concrete grand stand, with the removal of the half mile track, 

 accounts for about $100,000 of this amount. Eight sections out of the 

 contemplated 15 in the grand stand have been completed— a little more 



