SEVENTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART IX. 443 



the State, and the map represented very accurately the different types 

 of soil in the State. Farmers were very much interested in the map, 

 and invariably compared the soils in their own sections with that in the 

 map and all stated that it accurately represented soil conditions the 

 state over. In this connection, we suggest that those who are inter- 

 ested in Iowa soils write to the soils department. State College, Ames, 

 Iowa, for a bulletin on that subject. The different soil types in Iowa 

 are: Missouri loess, Wisconsin drift, Iowa drift, Mississippi drift, 

 and the Southern Iowa loess. 



The following counties had very creditable displays in the horti- 

 cultural building: Warren, Mills, Clayton, Delaware, Polk, Lucas, 

 Cass and Lyon. The horticultural exhibit was much larger than it 

 has ever been before, and the display of fruit was particularly nice. 

 It was neatly arranged, and the benches upon which the apple plates 

 set were kept neat and clean throughout the entire week. The im- 

 provement in this particular was very marked. 



The dairy exhibit, while it was very good, was not so large as one 

 would expect in a State that produces more butter than any other 

 State in the Union, with the exception of New York. It appears that 

 a strong effort should be made to encourage the dairy industry more 

 than it has been the case in the past. 



Prof. C. F. Curtiss of Ames, who was director of the horse depart- 

 ment, was very enthusiastic over the immense display of fine horses 

 that were at the fair this year. "Leading horse breeders tell me that 

 we have the largest and finest display of pure bred horses at the fair 

 this year that they have seen in a great many years," remarked Prof. 

 Curtiss at the fair. It seems that breeders of horses the country over 

 are this year taking a much greater interest than usual. The Percheron 

 classes were remarkably well filled and the quality of the entries was 

 beyond criticism. Never before has there been such a fine Percheron 

 show at Des Moines, and we doubt if there has ever been another 

 Percheron show in the country equal to it. There were no less than 

 one hundred and forty Percherons at the fair. They were brought by 

 nineteen exhibitors, sixteen of whom were from Iowa. It was no easy 

 task for the judge to place the horses in the various classes. Mc- 

 Laughlin Bros, of Columbus, Ohio, had several stallions on exhibi- 

 tion that had been recent prize winners in France. Olbert, champion 

 aged stallion at the last International in Chicago, who is the property 

 of H. G. McMfHan of Rock Rapids, Iowa, was defeated by an imported 

 stallion owned by McLaughlin Bros. There were those who considered 

 that the Lakewood stallion should have stood first. He was consid- 

 ered by many horsemen to be a better type of drafter than the Mc- 

 Laughlin stallion, although the latter is probably a little smoother. 

 The Clydesdales classes were also well filled. There were nine ex- 

 hibitors present with sixty-five horses. The Clydesdales made a good 

 showing. The bulk of them were of superior quality and did the breed 

 justice. There were fifty Shires on the grounds and five Shire exhib- 

 itors. As a whole the Shires were not up to the standard. There were 



