PART II 



Proceedings of State Agricultural Convention. 



"Wednesday, December 12, 1917. 



The convention was called to order by President C. E. Cameron, 

 at 10 a. m. in the Agricultural Rooms at the State House. Vice- 

 President 0. A. Olson was called to the chair and announced 

 that the first number on the program would be the annual address 

 of the president of the State Board of Agriculture. 



PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS. 



C. E. CAMERON, ALBIA. 



Mr. President anel Memhers of the Sixty-third Anmial Agricul- 

 tural Convention: 



The harvest has come and gone and we have again assembled 

 to prepare the seed bed for the agricultural fairs of Iowa for 

 the year 1918. The harvest of 1917 certainly was a great one as 

 is shown by the reports of all the fairs. 



In the early spring we were unable to determine what the 

 future had in store for us; we' were unde'^ided v/hether to go 

 ahead with our usual preparation for the fairs or commence to 

 retrench. Believing that the old saying "nothing ventured, noth- 

 ing gained" is as true today as ever we decided to make the ven- 

 ture and the result was a fair and exposition that l^roke all records 

 in attendance and receipts. We had often dreamed and hoped 

 that the great Iowa State Fair would some day have three hun- 

 dred thousand people pass throuah the gates. Our dreams and 

 aspirations were more than fulfilled this year when there were 

 admitted to the gi'ounds three hundred thousand and forty-eight 

 people, and that does not in any way include the fortv-six hun- 

 dred soldiers encamped upon the grounds. That the fair was a 

 success in a financial way is evidenced by the fact that the total 

 receipts were $257,122.56 and the expenses $189,533.38, showing 

 a profit for the fair of $67,589.18. 



