TWELFTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK — PART VL 23? 



PART VI 



PROCEEDINGS 

 STATE AGRICULTURAL CONVENTION 



WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 13, 1911. 



The convention was called to order at 9 :30 a. m. by Mr. ('. E. 

 Cameron, President of the State Board of Agriculture. 



Prayer was offered by Rev. R. K. Porter of the First Presbyte- 

 rian Church, Des Moines. 



Vice President Olson presided while President Cameron deliv- 

 ered the following address: 



PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS. 



C. K. CAMERON', ^VLTA, IOWA. 



Gentlemen: In accordance with the law and the wishes of this soci- 

 ety, it is my duty to preside over the deliberations of this the fifty-seventh 

 annual session which has convened for the transaction of the business of 

 the society. I extend to you a cordial welcome as the legal authorized 

 representatives from your respective county and district fairs and farmers 

 institutes and legally appointed delegates from counties in which no fairs 

 were held the past year. You are here because you are interested in this 

 great educational work that is doing more than anything else to bring 

 Iowa to the front. 



By the favor of a kind Providence our state has been blessed this sea- 

 son with a good average crop, and our industries are all in a flourishing 

 condition. The protracted drouth was in some localities severe and causer' 

 considerable loss, but taking our states as a whole and in comparison with 

 other states, we have every reason to congratulate ourselves. 



The State Fair of 1911 was far beyond our expectations, not only in 

 exhibits but in attendance, and the balance on the right side of the ledger 

 We felt considerable hesitancy in carrying out what we had planned early 

 in the season when the dry weather came on and stayed, and the pessimists 

 said Iowa would not have half a crop. We have great faith in the re- 

 cuperating powers of the Iowa soil, and that was demonstrated this sea- 

 son when crops looked bad and some of the farmers complained that it 



