SEVENTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK-PART IV. 131 



WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON SESSION. 



Convention convened at 2 o'clock p.m. 



The President: ]\Ir. W. Z. Swallow of Waukee is scheduled 

 on our program for a paper on the subject of "Does It Pay to Show 

 Hogs at the Iowa State Fair," but as he is unable to be with us, 

 Mr. G. H. Van Houten will read the paper to you as prepared 

 by Mr. Swallow. 



DOES IT PAY TO SHOW HOGS AT THE IO\VA STATE FAIR? 



W. Z. SWALLOW, WAUKEE, lA. 



After an experience of many years as an exhibitor at the Iowa State 

 Fair, as well as at many other State, district and county fairs, I am con- 

 vinced that it does pay to show hogs at the Iowa State Fair. And I believe 

 that the same arguments in favor of such showing are equally as strong 

 in their application to the exhibition of other breeds of live stock. 



Showing at the Iowa State Fair has paid me in many ways. 



It has been a means by which I could from year to year compare the 

 hogs of my own herd with those from other herds, and with those which 

 I had every reason to believe were their best. This provided me with 

 a high standard of excellence toward which I might work. 



It paid me in another way because it brought the best breeding ani- 

 mals in the land right to me, so that I could examine and compare them 

 without paying out large sums of money for railway fares and other 

 expenses that would have to be incurred had I visited each of the herds 

 represented at their homes. From these herds I generally selected such 

 breeding animals as it seemed necessary for me to buy in order to keep 

 my herd improving. It will readily be seen that at this point it paid me 

 well in the amount of money saved. 



It paid me, too, because it gave me a chance to form the acquaintance 

 of the best breeders of swine in the United States, to learn their opinions, 

 their methods of care and feeding, and to glean from them a great deal 

 of information most useful in the business of raising and selling pure 

 bred hogs. It also enabled me to keep informed as to the kind of hog 

 demanded in different sections, the range of prices obtained, and many 

 other things of interest as well as profit. 



