4,30 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



The largest department of the fair was the swine, the showing made 

 this year being simply marvelous both from the standpoint of numbers 

 and quality. Suitable space was not provided for all of the exhibits, 

 and the experience this year demonstrated beyond the shadow of a 

 doubt that new buildings are needed in the immediate future. All 

 kinds of temporarary structures were utilized for the purpose of housing 

 swine to the almost indescribable inconvenience of the exhibitor. In 

 many cases passageways were not provided, so that entrance to the 

 pens could only be made from the outside. Among the appropriations 

 that the next Legislature will make we hope will be found one for new 

 swine quarters on the State Fair Grounds. There was a conflict last 

 winter between those advocating a swine pavilion and those who 

 thought that an amphitheater should come first, the result being that 

 no appropriation was made for either. The crowds that were turned 

 away from the old amphitheater this year indicated that a new one is 

 an urgent need. It seems like poor business policy to turn away 

 thousands of people every day who desire to pay for seats in the amphi- 

 theater. The amount lost each year would certainly pay interest on 

 the investment. 



It was a clean fair, scarcely a feature to be found on the grounds 

 to which objection could be made by the most fastidious. Although 

 strongly agricultural in every department, the policy adopted by the 

 management was a broad-minded one, so that people from towns and 

 cities found plenty of interesting sights and much opportunity for in- 

 struction. The attractions in front of the amphitheater were high class, 

 and the exhibition given daily by the flying machine, or airship, proved 

 to be a highly popular feature. We believe that the Directors of the 

 State Fair are to be complimented for the wisdom displayed in putting 

 on this feature. A flying machine directed hither and thither at the 

 will of man is by no means in the same class as a balloon, because it 

 represents a means of transportation that is now being studied by 

 experts throughout the civilized world. Profesor Hamilton's feats in 

 the air furnished not only entertainment, but instruction. 



The plan of issuing a catalog and the placarding of all animals in 

 the ring again proved highly satisfactory from the visitor's standpoint. 

 Further improvement could be made if the rules pertaining to the 

 placarding of animals in the stalls could be enforced. In some instances 

 the class and lot number of the animal were given on the stall, to- 

 gether with the name, weight and breeding, but this is not generally 

 true. It looks to the outsider as though a very small expense would 

 furnish this information and make sight-seeing much more instructive. 

 The example set by Mr. Frank W. Harding of Waukesha, Wisconsin, 

 might well be followed by all exhibitors, and indeed forced by the fair 

 association. All of his stalls were labeled plainly, so that the visitor 

 obtained just the information sought. 



Unfortun^ately, the Iowa fair comes too early to make a creditable 

 display of agricultural products of the year, notably corn. In this 

 instance the old products must be placed on exhibition. However, the 

 agricultural exhibit was up to the standard. It was attractively placed, 

 and the visitor who sought information concerning the method of pro- 



