200 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



H. G. VAN PELT'S LETTER ON DAIRY CLASSES AT 

 COUNTY FAIRS. 



Secretary : ]\Ir. President and Gentlemen : I have here in my 

 hand a letter from H. G. Van Pelt, secretary of the dairy cattle 

 congress and Iowa dairy associations at Waterloo. The first part 

 of it is of no importance to you people, and he expresses regret 

 in not being able to be present with you today, etc. He says 

 further : 



As you are aware, the Shoemaker-Van Pelt-Mayne Co. last year made 

 an attempt to do what they believed would help advance the dairy 

 interests over the state of Iowa. We spent a lot of money preparing two 

 very excellent show herds of Jersey cattle, with a view of exhibiting 

 them at county fairs throughout the state, that farmers in all sections 

 would have an opportunity to study type and characteristics of animals 

 capable of producing from 400 to 700 pounds of butter in a year, in con- 

 trast with the average Iowa cow, which is milking 140 pounds of butter 

 per year. 



When we did this we wrote the various county fairs for their premium 

 lists, only to find that, with the exception of a very few, the dairy cattle 

 were discriminated against. Very favorable premiums were offered for 

 beef cattle. Even provided we would have won them all, they were not 

 sufficient to anywhere near pay the expense of the herd while on the 

 road and at the fair. 



A few of the more progressive secretaries, including yourself, made 

 special arrangements so we could show these herds at their fairs, with 

 a result that, by shipping all over the state, we were able to pay approxi- 

 mately 75% of the cost of exhibiting these herds, without regard to the 

 cost of fitting them for show. 



If the secretaries of the various county fairs would offer as large 

 premium for dairy cattle as they do for beef cattle, then many breeders 

 of the various breeds of dairy cattle could afford to show their herds 

 and accomplish more for the advancement of the dairy interests of the 

 state of Iowa than through any other manner. 



The secretaries of the fairs of Iowa have this within their control, 

 and those who wish to do one of the big things for a greater and more 

 permanent agriculture in Iowa can do so by revising their premium list 

 aF'l have suggested. 



I realize there are several of them who will not consider doing so, and 

 others who would like to have boards of directors that will make it im- 

 possible. These, however, are merely instances where those in control of 

 premium lists have never given any consideration to the qustion of better 

 dairying in Iowa and what it means in rendering permanent our agricul- 

 ture as it exists today. They are not aware of the fact that the dairy 

 industry in Iowa is not alone one of her greatest industries, but, with- 



