238 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



was too far along and a rain would do no good. But when the rain came 

 what a wonderful change, not only in the crops but in the faces of the 

 farmers and business interests of the state. When corn was supposed 

 to go only 30' bushels per acre and husked out 50 and 60, and in some 

 places more. Iowa is all right for she will "come back" — not only in crops 

 but in population in the next ten years. A state with all the natural re- 

 sources of Iowa cannot be kept back; there may be conditions, as there 

 have been in the last few years — the demand for cheaper lands has had 

 a tendency to take away our young men, but that, in my opinion, is 

 only temporary they have not all found what they went after and I look 

 for a return to their native state of a great many of these young men who 

 have gone west in the hope of bettering their financial conditions but 

 have failed on account of the uncertainty of the crops. One thing can be 

 said of Iowa — never in the history of the state has she not raised more 

 than she consumed, and always had something to sell. 



The exhibits in all departments were unusually large. The cattle exhib- 

 it was the best ever made on our grounds. In the horse department we 

 had the best exhibit, both in numbers and quality, that has ever been made 

 on any fair ground. All breeds were represented and the best of their 

 kind; they came from all over our state and from adjoining states until 

 they taxed our capacity for stabling and necessitated the erection of 

 temporary stables both for horses and cattle. 



The hog department verified my previous statement about Iowa "com- 

 ing back." This year the hogs "came back." For the last year or two 

 this department has had a falling off in entries, but not so this year. The 

 pens were all taken and the quality of entries was above the average 

 of former years. 



The sheep department was the largest in the history of the fair. The 

 pens were inadequate for the large exhibit and tents had to be provided 

 to take care of the overflow. 



When Secretary Wilson was with us a few years ago he scolded us a 

 great deal about our poultry exhibit, stating that we did not take enough 

 'interest in this department. I am sure if he had been here this year he 

 would have congraulated us on the great improvement we have made in 

 that department the last few years. 



In the exposition building the exhibits were the finest I have ever seen. 

 Every available space was taken and more could have been used. A few 

 years ago we established an educational department consisting of exhibits 

 from city, town and rural schools. Some of our board were a little skepti- 

 cal regarding this department, fearing there would not be enough entries 

 to get together a creditable showing. This year's exhibit allayed all 

 doubts not only in regard to the interest but of the number of exhibits. 

 No other department of the fair has made such wonderful strides in the 

 last few years as this department. The exhibit space has been enlarged 

 and still this year they could not show all the material they had. 



It did seem good to see our horticultural department "come back" this 

 year. Last year the early frost and freeze worked a hardship in this de- 

 partment but this year's grand showing was certainly a pleasure to see. 

 "This depatment also was cramped for space. The floricultural department 



