258 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



service uniforms they added a bit of military color to the fair. The 

 companies selected were Company M, of the fifty-fifth regiment, from 

 Red Oak, and Company F, from the fifty-sixth regiment, at Fort Dodge— 

 these two companies standing the highest in the annual spring inspec- 

 tion conducted by the officers of the state guard. In addition to these 

 two companies there were a number of picked men selected from some 

 of the other companies to act as mounted police. In all, nearly 200 uni- 

 formed soldiers were on duty. The Iowa guardsmen are an efficient lot. 

 They know how to obey orders and how to enforce them. Any brewing 

 trouble was very promptly nipped in the bud. The crowds were handled 

 in a splendid manner, and the success this year of using the guardsmen 

 for police duty will certainly insure its being a permanent feature of the 

 fair. Fewer men are required to police the grounds, and it can be and 

 is done more effectively by the men in uniform. 



A dairy farm, with buildings and stock, moulded from butter, won its 

 share of admiration. The sculptor who did the work was Lawrence 

 Stewart. Standing in the rear was the Goddess of Plenty, representing 

 Iowa, holding an ear of corn and extending a hand of welcome. Three 

 hundred pounds of butter had been moulded into a farm surrounded by 

 fences, and including a home, dairy barn, silo, automobile, stock, water- 

 ing troughs, and farm buildings. This was one of the attractions in the 

 agricultural building. 



An exhibit of confiscated weights and measures showed part of the 

 work being done by this department of the dairy and food commission. 

 The exhibits were part of a carload which had been condemned since 

 the new law went into effect. With few exceptions all produce must be 

 sold by weight. The net weight of the contents of a package must be 

 stated on the container. The inspector pointed out to fair visitors how 

 many consumers were being defrauded out of their just dues. One pair 

 of scales exhibited had been taken from a poultry dealer who was only 

 paying for twelve ounces for a pound as weighed by his scales. Others 

 had been using liquid quart measures for the dry quart. 



The local postoffice department had a display showing how to use the 

 parcel post for mailing farm produce. Packages of fruit and other 

 produce properly packed and stamped for shipment illustrated great 

 possibilities along this line. The one in charge said preparations were 

 being made for raising the weight limit and decreasing the charges. The 

 last scales received from the government for weighing parcel post pack- 

 ages weigh articles up to 100 pounds, which probably soon will be the 

 maximum limit, as it is in some other countries. Inquiry among farmers 

 who stopped to look over the display indicated that many were using the 

 parcel post for marketing eggs and butter, and that they were buying 

 more or less produce through it. One local shoe dealer said it had 

 enabled him to reduce his stock 25 per cent and at the same time give 

 better service to his customers. 



