FIFTEENTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART III 211 



and your live stock," and you will find they will do that. For in- 

 stance, if I had not had an invitation to come down here, I would 

 not have come. I got two of them. Now, if you directors that 

 live in small towns will get your farmers interested they will bring 

 this stuff in and help make your fair a success. 



At Greenfield there is a man who has a fine lot of hogs. He says, 

 "We didn't get much of a premium, but premium is nothing to 

 me. I have sold $175 worth of hogs since I came here today and 

 I don 't care for the premium money. ' ' Now, if you get the farmers 

 interested in that way they won't be looking for money. If a man 

 works all summer and can't spend one week at his county fair, he 

 is not interested in it ; but if you can get men interested to attend 

 the fairs to advertise their stock the farmers will lufi o-t. 



Another thing ; they used to offer premiums for plowing matches. 

 When I was a boy thirteen years old, I saw an ad to the effect that 

 they would pay $4 for the best boy plower. I said to father, "I 

 am going into that plowing match. ' ' I said, " I am going to enter 

 the plowing match and also the man's plowing match." Well, all 

 the boys found out I was going to plow that day and were all in 

 there to see me do it. Now this is advertising. If you can get 

 different people interested in the neighborhood to bring in their 

 stock, the farmers of that community will be sure to turn out. I 

 think this plowdng match business is a great thing and I think it 

 ought to be held at every country fair. Well, I went out and 

 plowed and drew first premium in the boy's match. They called 

 for men in the men's plowing match and I got out with the men's 

 team. Four of the men passed up and said, "We are not going 

 to plow against that boy." I went in there and got an $8 prize. 

 That made me feel pretty good I assure you. So everything of that 

 kind adds to your fair. It is not the money they go there for, but 

 for the interesting things they will see. 



Now about the speed program; there is only one way to race 

 horses, and that is the way they have up in the country. They 

 have no rules for starting. Some say it is a cruel way, but I want 

 to say that they are not half as cruel as these three-heat races 

 where thirteen or fourteen horses are starting and jockeying some- 

 time before they get started so that the old-fashioned race like we 

 had fifty years ago, is the only way if people want to get something 

 out of it. It is not the horse of one mile or two miles but the horse 

 that can go out and win on the strength of his constitution. 



