104 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



not improved with time. Witli a number of neat, well built dining 

 halls, the revenue from the sale of privileges would be increased very 

 materially. In case a new grandstand is secured, the salvage in lum- 

 ber from the old stand could be used in building these dining halls. 

 We cannot call to mind any one thing which would be appreciated 

 more by those attending the fair than to provide a few additional 

 dining halls where a good, wholesome meal could be secured. Some 

 one has said that "the way to a man's pocket book is through his 

 stomach," so why not get on the right track? Never since the exposition 

 building was put up has there ever been much effort made towards 

 any changes which would make it a desirable exposition building. It 

 will be years, probably, before a new exposition building is secured; 

 in the meantime, by an expenditure of five to six thousand dollars, it 

 could be remodeled and made into a very good building. At present 

 the fair grounds are without adequate fire protection. During the 

 past season the water works company have extended their mains to the 

 grounds, and if brought into the grounds, and a suflBcient number of fire 

 plugs distributed, all main buildings would be in reach of water in case 

 of fire. 



The above are only a few of the countless number of improvements 

 necessary on the fair grounds, but will give you a clearer idea of the 

 work that is contemplated and how utterly impossible it would be for 

 the management to have the means with which to build large per- 

 manent buildings, such as a grand stand, hog barn, manufacturers 

 building, etc., without an appropriation for those specific purposes, and 

 make the other improvements that have been made in the past and 

 those which will have to be made in the future. The State Fair is a 

 large institution, and it requires money to put and keep the fair 

 £crounds in such a condition that the largest possible exhibits can De 

 secured and the people cared for with the least possible friction. 



Iowa not only leads all other states in the bushels of corn produced 

 and the number of hogs raised, but, in my judgment, has an annual 

 exposition or State Fair which stands at the head of all similar insti- 

 tutions, and comes nearer fulfilling the purposes for which it was 

 created, in carrying out the principles of education. It has had, the 

 past few years, the support of a large majority of the people through- 

 out the state. This has been very gratifying to the management, who 

 are only interested in its continued success, as every citizen of the state 

 should be. It has been of untold value to Iowa in the past, and can be 

 made even of greater value in the future; it benefits all classes alike. 



Our books show that seventy-nine county and district fairs 

 received the state aid the past season, a total of $15,086.27 

 having been paid out by the State Auditor for this purpose, or an 

 average of $190.96 to the fair. There are keld in the state between 

 eighty-five and ninety fairs each year, but all do not apply for the 

 state aid. The state pays to each artd every county fair in the state 

 complying with the law, forty per cent of the premiums paid, not 

 including speed, not exceeding two hundred dollars to any one society. 

 The table compiled from the financial statements sent in does not 

 show much change in the table of one year ago, from one less report. 



