326 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



The refusal of the railroads to grant reduced rates has no doubt cut 

 down the attendance; how much, no one can say. It does not seem 

 likely that a difference of half a cent a mile will keep away very many 

 who come to the fair for what may be learned. But the absence of the 

 inducement of reduced rates will unquestionably reduce the attendance 

 from the smaller towns. In view of their practice of giving reduced 

 rates from Iowa points to outside cities, the refusal of the roads to do 

 what may fairly be called their share in boosting the fair is rather 

 churlish, to say the least. 



There are more than 60,000 automobiles in Iowa. Not all of these 

 were driven to the fair, but enough came to make the storing of them 

 a real problem. They filled the streets on either side, they were parked 

 in every available open space, and the number scattered through the 

 tenting ground indicated the method many took to reach the fair com- 

 fortably. The fair management will find it necessary soon to either 

 widen the streets sufficiently to park cars on either side, or devote con- 

 siderable space somewhere for a regular auto park. Considering the 

 number of cars on the ground, and the careless abandon displayed by 

 those pedestrians who habitually walk one way and look another, one 

 is astonished at the small number of accidents. 



"Same old fair," say some of those who go every year. But there 

 is always change, and the grounds have been improved this year by the 

 addition of the new cement walks and the tearing down of some of the 

 old eating shacks to make a fine open space in front of the Administration 

 Building, and one of the bands was stationed here and gave a concert 

 every day. 



At the Agricultural College exhibit, back on the hill, across from the 

 Exposition Building, is always something new. What about self-feeders 

 for hogs? Here is a practical home-made self-feeder, and beside it are 

 figures telling how in an experiment hogs that were hand fed gained 

 one and one-third pounds daily, while those fed with a self-feeder gained 

 nearly one and one-half pounds, and the cost of 100 pounds of gain on 

 the hand-fed hogs was $5.30, while on the self-fed hogs it was only $5.04. 

 Which gives the best results when fed to lambs, ear corn, shelled corn, 

 or corn meal? The exhibit in the Agricultural College building tells. 

 Does it pay to feed cottonseed meal to steers which are getting a ration 

 of corn silage, clover and corn? The chart in the Agricultural College 

 building gives the results of an experiment in which it was found that 

 the addition of cottonseed meal increased the gain by one-half pound 

 daily, and reduced the cost of 100 pounds of gain by 60 cents. What 

 are the best varieties of apples under Iowa conditions? A complete list 

 of varieties, not only for apples, but also for pears, cherries and otli(>r 

 fruits are given. There are exhibits indicating the best way to get a 

 stand of alfalfa. An acre treated with ton tons of manure yielded 2.5 

 tons, while with no treatment the yield was only 1.5 tons. What is the 

 best variety of oats under Iowa conditions? Where is the best place to 



