SEVENTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART IX. 441 



wholly inadequate to care for such a large crowd. It is to be hoped 

 as a result of this that every man who attended the fair this year 

 may go home and work enthusiastically with the view of creating a 

 strong sentiment in favor of larger State appropriations for the great- 

 est live stock fair in the West. The fair management have decided to 

 add seven acres to the present grounds, and this will aid somewhat in 

 making room for increased attendance for a year or two to come. If, 

 however, the Iowa State Fair continues to grow as it has been growing 

 during the last three years, it will only be a short time until the 

 grounds, with the prospective addition, will again be too small. The 

 legislature can well afford to make liberal appropriations for the Iowa 

 State Pair. It is probably not too much to say that our State Fair is 

 one of the greatest educational institutions in the State of Iowa. It 

 is also the greatest advertising institution for the State that we have, 

 and hence it would be almost impossible for the legislature to be too 

 liberal with its appropriations in the future. 



Prominent live stock men expressed themselves freely to the effect 

 that they had never before seen a live stock show equal to that at Des 

 Moines this year. The number of cattle, horses, sheep and swine was 

 so large, the quality of the stock so superior, that nothing but praise 

 was heard for the Hawkeye State. The fair management deserves 

 praise for the excellent manner in which they conducted their busi- 

 ness affairs throughout the entire week. Exhibitors and visitors alike 

 seemed to be satisfied in the fullest sense of the word. On every hand, 

 however, it was noticeable, as stated before, that many improvements 

 are needed. A new horse judging pavilion is badly needed. While the 

 present pavilion is large and commodious and well suited for the pur- 

 pose for which it is used, yet it is not large enough to accommodate 

 both cattle and horses. 



The horse judging was not finished until Friday; that, of course, 

 Is wrong. All live stock ought to have their ribbons early in the week, 

 so that visitors may study the prize winners, and in that way ascertain 

 what constitutes a first class individual in a given breed. 



Farmers who are interested in any particular breed study each in- 

 dividual of that breed, and invariably place the prize winners in accord- 

 ance with their own judgment. It is needless to say that men of that 

 stamp are naturally interested to see how their judgment compares with 

 that of the expert judge, and they should be afforded an opportunity to 

 make such comparisons. If this is not afforded them, the benefit of 

 the fair is very largely lost. It is to be hoped therefore, that the 

 next legislature w'ill provide liberally for the erection of a horse judg- 

 ing pavilion. 



More cattle barns are needed; temporary barns had to be con- 

 structed to take care of the stock that swarmed to the grounds several 

 days before the fair opened. Several new hog barns were erected for 

 this year's show, but more are needed. Iowa is the greatest hog state 

 in the union. Her annual hog show is larger than that of any other 

 State, and provisions should be made to encourage the progressive spirit 

 that prevails among her swine men. The sheep too need better accom- 

 modations. The exhibit this year was very good, but the accommoda- 



