FOURTEENTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART II 201 



at the State Fair for the last two years. We will now have what 

 is called the first prize essay, "What I Saw and Learned at the 

 1913 Iowa State Fair" by Floyd Sharp, Kossuth county: 



WHAT I SAW AND LEARNED AT THE IOWA STATE FAIR. 



In August, 1913, it was my privilege to be a member of tlie Boys' Camp 

 at one of the greatest and best fairs of the greatest agricultural state in 

 the Union; that is the Iowa State Fair and Exposition of the year Nine- 

 teen Hundred and Thirteen. 



I arrived in Des Moines in the evening of August twenty-first, pro- 

 ceeded at once to the Administration building and registered. Thus 

 began my first experience at a state fair. 



Naturally, at first, there were so many wonderful things that one could 

 not remember half of what was seen, but as the novelty wore off I began 

 to notice and study the different exhibits. 



The light work in the amphitheater and stock pavilion provided ample 

 opportunity to witness the excellent races and performances on the 

 stage in front of the grandstand and the splendid exhibition of horses and 

 cattle in the pavilion. 



The judging of stock in the pavilion gave one an idea of how to judge 

 stock correctly. We learned what charactistics a horse should have to be 

 a good carriage horse, what characteristics constitute a good saddle horse 

 or driver, etc. 



The stock judging contest for farm boys has an excellent and practical 

 value as an educator in teaching boys the value of ability to judge stock 

 correctly. The first prize, a scholarship to the Agricultural College at 

 Ames, is worthy of the ambition of any boy and by perseverance and 

 study every boy has a good chance to obtain it. To the boy who wins it 

 new opportunities are opened and new fields of work and study lie before 

 him. 



Even to the boys who did not win a prize it afforded a practical and 

 useful lesson in stock judging. 



The exhibit of cattle showed that it pays to raise full blooded stock 

 and to feed them scientifically and to keep them in barns which are 

 perfectly sanitary, light and clean. The grade of stock at the fair showed 

 the importance of scientific farming, which is taught at the agricultural 

 college located at Ames. 



There were representatives of almost every breed of cattle known, 

 both of the beef and dairy type. Some of the specimens of the beef 

 type were said to have weighed up to two thousand six hundred pounds. 

 Among the dairy breeds there were many remarkable milk producers. 

 Beyond a doubt, the scientific breeding and feeding of cattle is economical 

 and produces great results. 



The work of agricultural schools is becoming more prominent every 

 year. Better methods of farming and stock raising are being brought 

 out, new breeds of stock are being developed and new varieties of grain 

 and forage crops are being perfected. 



The different breeds of hogs were represented in the swine pavilion. 

 They showed the results of good care and breeding. 



