PART II. 



Proceedings of the State Agricultural Convention 



WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 10, 1913. 



The convention was called to order at ten o'clock a. m. in the 

 agricultural rooms at the state house, by the President of the 

 State Board of Agriculture, C. E. Cameron. Vice-President 0. 

 A. Olson presided while Mr. Cameron delivered the following 

 address : 



PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS. 



C. A. CAMERON. 



Again we meet in annual convention to go over the work of the last 

 year and to prepare for the year to come. We in Iowa should congrat- 

 ulate ourselves for the many blessings we have received in the last year 

 as compared with those of some of our sister states. While the total 

 yield of our crops has not come up to that of former years — or the general 

 average of the state — in dollars we are away above the average in the 

 total value of farm products, showing that no state can accommodate it- 

 self to weather conditions and still raise a crop like the grand old State 

 of Iowa. And the people have come to realize this, for there never was 

 a time in the history of the state when so many people are anxious to 

 own some of this never failing soil. 



They talk about the increase in the price of land in other states, 

 but in my opinion there is no state in the Union whose land values have 

 advanced so rapidly as right here in Iowa. I know of land in my own 

 community that ten or twelve years ago could have been bought for 

 $50.00 per acre and today is selling at $200.00 per acre, or an average 

 yearly advance of almost $15.00 per acre, and still advancing. I recently 

 paid a visit to my old home in northeastern Ohio and in talking with a 

 number of farmers and business men the general expression was "We 

 take off our hats to Iowa; it is a great state." I admit, gentlemen, that 

 I stepped a little higher when I heard all these nice things about the 

 state we so much admire. 



Not only have we been blessed with our crops in the past year, but 

 the State Fair, in which we are all so much interested, was the most 

 successful in its history, with the largest attendance and the balance 

 on the right side of the ledger. In Chicago last week was held the 

 largest and most interesting meeting of the association known as the 



