246 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRIOULTURE 



iiess horses were in somewhat lii;lit fntiy for the nisht shows, but cred- 

 itable in quality and enough in numbers to lend interest. The saddle horses 

 always hold high places in importance and pleasure at Des Moines. The 

 sum of it is that in view of the hesitancy of the stock industry, the ab- 

 normal conditions consequent on war ;nul the discouragement in some 

 quarters of such exhibitions thi.s fall, the Iowa State Fair realized quite 

 high anticipations in its stock department. 



Conservation was the keynote up on tiie liiU. In the women's building 

 it shared place with the manifold and practical forms of education of 

 peculiar appeal to. the women and girls. The baby health contest, at the 

 basis of all conservation, was more popular than ever, holding entries 

 which had materially increased to 43.5. The boys' and girls' clubs made 

 lasting impression on the fair through their food preservation demonstra- 

 tion. A speaker from Washington in pursuance of the systematic cam- 

 paign sought to make clear the necessity for the utmost utilization of 

 the products of the land, and alongside were illustrated the means of 

 giving practical form to such exhortation. The agricultural college 

 changed its customary appeals to the attention. Whereas heretofore 

 most interesting indications have been given of the lines of instruction 

 followed at the college, now almost the entire exhibit iii its building was 

 devoted to the means of preserving farm production. In apparent con- 

 trast to this dominant idea and yet fundamental to it, the central display 

 suggested tangibly the- various labor-saving forms which the farm-gen- 

 erated electric current may be readily made to take. Farm lighting 

 plants are in plentl-'ul supply at reasonable prices, and a vast develop- 

 ment looking towaru comfort and conservation of the taxed strength of 

 farm women may be expected from the skillful inventions which harness 

 this wonderful force and lead it captive for beneficent uses on the farm. 



A special platform appeal was made to leaders in county uplift work 

 in a meeting held on Monday morning in the tent provided, for public 

 assembly. Extension Director Bliss presented Wilbur W. Marsh as chair- 

 man, a man of national eminence in political life, in the dairy and dairy 

 cattle industry, and in council of defense work, and his introductory com- 

 ments held no less pith and importance than the eloquent address of 

 Gov. Harding, Duncan Marshall, minister of agriculture in Alberta, and 

 J. D. Deems, the representative of the Food Administration in Iowa. The 

 statements of the obligations of loyal citizens could not be more clearly 

 set forth than was done by the governor, and the exposition of the un- 

 derlying causes of the world's conflict could not be more stirring and 

 eloquent than that given by the gifted leaden of Alberta's agricultural 

 forces, while the practical application was earnestly driven home by Mr. 

 Deems. 



And there is plenty to conserve from the Iowa farm this year. The 

 huge horn of plenty, the spectacular feature of the Panama-Pacific agri- 

 cultural hall, made its second appearance as the centerpiece of the agri- 

 cultural building, now completely redeemed from the proselyting booths 

 of other states and countries and devoted to amazing displays of county 

 and individual farm resources, worked out with such artistic wizardy as 

 to make laggard the steps of the wayfarer through this building. Fruits 

 ■were in abundant evidence and grains and vegetables, but while Iowa is 

 a state flowing with honey, the milk was noticeably absent. A dairy 

 building is badly needed, but the dairy department emphasized its exist- 

 ence this year by a limited display of products in its refrigerator, in which 

 was presented a fac-simile in golden butter of the first creamery builded 

 in Iowa, in 1872, by a pioneer of vision recently gone to his reward after 

 life's journey had approached the century mark. 



