674 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



breaks clown local prejudices, it encourages the making of new experi- 

 ments, it elevates the farmer in his own estimation and in the estima- 

 tion of all classes in the community, it creates a bustling trade, breaks 

 the monotony of country life and makes it enjoyable. Fair-days are gala- 

 days, full of life and hope and happiness. They are often referred to 

 as the beginning point of some new industry or some new meth'od of culti- 

 vation or some new uses applied to old things. A fair is the occasion of 

 kindly greeting of people from all portions of the country. It induces 

 a feeling of good-will and amity, revives trade by stimulating inquiry, 

 and its influence is felt to be one of the prime motive powers among the 

 best agricultural classes. 



The establishment of State fairs, therefore, would be a wise provision 

 for the elevation and prosperity of the States. The small amount neces- 

 sary for that purpose would be inappreciable when compared with the 

 good results which would follow. Wise legislators will look to the future 

 and to the building up of those industries which are to pay the largest 

 proportion of the taxes for the maintenance of the government. It is 

 to be doubted if any appropriations have ever been made for a State 

 fair that have been disapproved by the great mass of voters. Those 

 States that have built up such enterprises are precisely those which are 

 advancing most rapidly in all industrial pursuits and are attracting the 

 largest amount of immigration and capital to their borders. The great 

 States of New York, Illinois, Missouri, Minnesota, Nebraska, Iowa, Indi- 

 ana and Massachusetts appropriate large sums every year for their State 

 or county fairs. North Carolina, the most progressive State in the South, 

 but with probably the most infertile soils, holds its annual fair at Ra- 

 leigh, and the result is shown in the rapid progress which it is making 

 in the building up of industrial establishments. 



A STATE FAIR EPISODE. 



Ruralist. 



The State Fair had been permanently located near the beautiful little 

 city of D. M., and had already held two successful exhibitions, and spent 

 much of the intervening time in preparing the grounds, erecting build- 

 ings for the exhibits of various kinds, etc. 



Very little of this had reached the ears of Grandpa Hadley, until 

 a few weeks ago, when he received one of tlie premium lists, made 

 doubly attractive by pictures of the new buildings that were shown. 



Some way, fairs had become associated in Grandfather Hadley's 

 mind with horse-racing, betting, games of chance, etc., and while he 

 delighted in a good horse race, and in past years had seen some racing, 

 yet there were memories of certain past experiences connected with a 

 horse race and some nearby games, of which Grandma Hadley had never 

 heard. But this was different, and as the old gentleman looked at the 



