598 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



coins, Dorsets and Cheviots. The quality was good, contests in the show- 

 ring strong and liberal numbers on exhibition, there being above 500 

 sheep exhibited. The inquiry was good and exhibitors seemed pleased 

 with the outlook for sales of breeding stock. 



The poultry division of the Iowa fair has shown great improvement 

 both in quality of fowls and numbers exhibited. The new cooping of the 

 poultry hall has added greatly to the display. Other fairs should adopt 

 the uniform cooping of their poultry exhibit; it gives the whole exhibition 

 feature an entirely new and dressed-up appearance. 



The Prairie Farmer, Chicago. 



The last week of August was school week for Iowa farmers. Few of the 

 many thousands who took in the sights of the state fair at Des Moines 

 may have regarded their sojourn in this light, yet in view of the unlimited 

 amount of practical information obtainable on all branches of farm prac- 

 tice, the Iowa fair may be said to be one of the greatest schools for prac- 

 tical farmers in existence. 



This was the idea unconsciously expressed by one Hawkeye farmer 

 when he slapped President Cameron on the back at the close of the fair 

 and said: "Well, Charlie, you've got a mighty good fair and I'm glad I 

 came. I've brushed up against some new things, got a hatful of valuable 

 ideas and I'm going home prepared to look my problems square in the 

 face." 



It was give and take all week with exhibitors and visitors. Plied with 

 questions from all sides by farmers hungry for information that would 

 help them to farm better and live more comfortably, exhibitors became in- 

 structors. Possibly a few told more than they knew, but in the end the 

 inquirer gained the information that he was after. The diffident farmer 

 forgot his diffidence and joined enthusiastically with his fellow farmers 

 in the search for knowledge. Silo demonstrators were besieged, alfalfa 

 "profs" quizzed, prize-winning animals scrutinized, labor-saving machinery 

 inspected and between times glimpses were taken at the airships. Such 

 was the program of fair visitors. 



OBJECT LESSONS IN LIVE STOCK. 



The liberal inducements which have been extended breeders of live 

 stock to exhibit at the Iowa fair have made that fair a great battleground 

 of the breeds, thereby presenting an unsurpassed opportunity for the 

 study of approved types of animals in every important breed. No better 

 show of draft horses was ever brought together in this country than that 

 seen at the Iowa fair this year. Percherons and Belgians led in num- 

 bers, followed by Shires and Clydes, all displays being notable for the in- 

 dividual excellence of the animals shown. The showing made by the 

 classes in the National Breeders' Futurity, to which only yearling home 



