EIGHTEENTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK — PART IV 245 



and implements and farm and farmstead accessories as is annually gath- 

 ered within the walls of this exhibition would be expected. Facing the 

 untoward conditions of war the Iowa farmer believed in preparing him- 

 self for it by study in the greatest school of farm and home instruction 

 a state ever instituted. It therefore fell out that at the end of Wednesday 

 of last week the total attendance had exceeded that of last year by nearly 

 35,000 people and the total receipts by nearly $30,000; and the show was 

 "going strong" down the home stretch. Measuring success with such 

 tangible standards, the 1917 Iowa State Fair wrote its record most 

 agreeably. 



Agricultural Iowa awaits merely the climax of its seasonal activities. 

 Last year Dame Nature turned a frowning face and sent the blasting 

 breath of the frost king over the waving fields of maize on Aug. 31, 

 and the resultant calamity was great. Again the possibility of such a 

 fate is faced, as the corn lingers belatedly, having failed of encourajgement 

 the past two weeks by any forcing heat to hasten it toward maturity. 

 But thei Iowa farmer sees by faith feedlots filled with cattle, hogs and 

 sheep, and cribs bursting with their garnered ears of golden corn. The 

 state can only wait, as all opportunities for cultural stimulating of ma- 

 turity are past. The time of average frost is yet three weeks distant, 

 and the bulk of the crop will need all of that leniency. Meanwhile ideal 

 harvest weather has attended the small crops and barring some dry spots 

 in the central south Iowa has probably never come to the final harvest 

 with such a wealth of yield from the bosom of Mother Earth. The fair 

 gave ample evidence, supported by the oral testimony of those who came 

 to see and learn. 



In material development the fair has little more than marked time. 

 War's disturbance caused legislators to deny the request for a $90,000 ap- 

 propriation for a needed new cattle barn, and the compromise offer of 

 $25,000 was declined good naturedly with the statement that it could not 

 be economically expended, and that it would be the part of wisdom to 

 wait until the full sum would in good conscience be tendered by the leg- 

 islature. From the $20,000 given for maintenance during the next two 

 years about 19 acres, .piost of which already lie within the fence, were 

 bought and a new automobile entrance opened near the Rock Island sta- 

 tion. This land cost $12,000. An extensive re-roofing and painting cam- 

 paign was executed, and thei appearance of a number of the buildings 

 materially freshened. With an addition of 48 by 64 to the poultry building 

 the outlay ceased. A cattle barn and a dairy building are among the im- 

 mediate needs of the grounds. 



It was the banner year for sheep in the magnificent new sheep barn. 

 Every pen was occupied, and despite the presence of a number of sale 

 sheep, which readily found new homes, the quality was gratifyingly high, 

 provoking unqualified compliment from the judges. Swine have rarely, 

 if ever, excelled in numbers, and certainly not in merit. All available 

 accommodations were occupied, and never a vision of $2.50 corn could be 

 conjured up from the ripened artistic finish of these porkers. Each breed 

 apparently finds part in this comment on the superior show condition in 

 which entries were presented. Cattle filled the barns and some of the old 

 sheep sheds, but supplementary shelter tents were not required as last 

 year. The leading breeds were capitally shown, entries coming from a 

 wide stretch of country, but the dairy section showed some numerically 

 weak spots. Horses have) been in view in greater totals but the Iowa 

 breeder of a stallion or two and a few mares is making himself increas- 

 ingly prominent on the prize lists, proving that the investment in this edu- 

 cational institution is attaining that whereunto it has been sent. Har- 



