692 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



attentive visitors and honored guests for two days. General Grant is a 

 son of the famous general and president, a regular "chip off the old 

 block." He is remarkably similar to his distinguished father in personal 

 appearance, wearing the same close-cropped beard and being but a little 

 slighter in build. On Old Soldiers' Day the general delivered an address 

 setting forth his experiences as a boy of twelve with his father on the 

 famous Vicksburg campaign. After the exercises he held a reception and 

 shook hands with thousands of veterans, whose eyes dimmed as they 

 grasped the hand of the son of their beloved commander. Mrs. Grant was 

 mosi gracious. She is a beautiful woman and entered into the spirit of 

 fraternity and good fellowship equally with her husband. Wednesday was. 

 State Day, the occasion being made notable by the presence of Governor 

 Carroll, Senator Cummins, Congressman Hull, Congressman Smith, Con- 

 gressman Kendall, Congressman Woods and most of the leading oflBcials. 

 Senator DoUiver was detained at home by sickness. A reception was held 

 and thousands of loyal lowans embraced the opportunity to meet person- 

 ally the officials at the head of their state government. During the week 

 officials from the Nebraska and IMinnesota State Fairs were present, while 

 a delegation came down from Toronto to get pointers. All agreed that 

 Iowa holds the best stock fair of any state in the country. 



One of the most interesting and instructive buildings on the grounds 

 was that of the Iowa State College, which made a comprehensive exhibit 

 of many things tending to make farming easier and more profitable. A 

 large soil map of the state attracted much interest. Exhibits were made 

 of weeds which had grown in fields planted to clover seed which had not 

 been thoroughly cleaned. The corn yield of fields which had been rotated 

 every four years and fields which had been planted continuously to corn, 

 for eight or ten years was shown, with the loss resulting from the failure 

 to rotate properly borne home by an object lesson which it will be hard to 

 forget. The possibilities of new crops — prominent among them being al- 

 falfa — were pointed out and instruction given by competent teachers as 

 to the possibilities of various counties and sections, what crops would do 

 best, etc. The model Iowa silo and power-operating plant attracted much 

 attention. One section of the building was given over to an assembly hall 

 where classes were conducted. The ladies were especially interested in 

 the domestic economy work, free instruction being given in practical home 

 cooking. The daily demonstrations were of value and it is safe to say that 

 the tables in many Iowa homes will bear both substantial and fancy arti- 

 cles of diet cooked in a manner not known before, excellent as are most 

 of the farm women of Iowa as cooks and housewives. 



There were several innovations in handling the crowds, all with the ob- 

 ject to improve the opportunity of the people to get the best results out 

 of their visit to the fair. No where was this new policy more successful 

 than in the stock judging rings. Heretofore the judges, clerks, newspaper 

 representatives, exhibitors and fair officials have been allowed to wander 

 freely among the exhibited animals in the ring and often directly between 

 the people in the galleries and the stock. This year an aisle was ropedi 

 off in the center of the ring, between the two lines of exhibited stock. The 



