THIRTEENTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART XlII 715 



one great and striking particular, it must be for the quantity and marvel 

 of its machinery exhibits. Not only was the new and capacious ma- 

 chinery hall filled to overflowing, but scores of smaller buildings and 

 tents were crowded to capacity and acres of uncovered machines con- 

 tributed to the display, a liberal education in the advance which farm- 

 ing methods in Iowa have made within recent years. 



Due to the dock strikes in several of the largest shipping centers many 

 of the principal stock importers were unable to display as many head 

 as formerly, with the result that some of the stock departments were 

 not numerically as strong as last year. The standard of quality set 

 many years ago was consistently maintained, however, and the 1912 state 

 fair goes into history as one of the great stock shows of the grain-belt 

 fair circuit. One of the marked features in connection with the stock 

 exhibit is the increasing interest of city folks. The new, brick horse 

 barns, displacing the old and unsanitary wooden barns of past years, 

 made it possible for the horses to be visited with more comfort and 

 thousands of city folks who have held the erroneous, and all too prev- 

 alent idea that the motor car is driving out the horse were able to 

 see that in the breeding and raising of fine horses Iowa still takes high 

 rank. The entries in the horse, cattle, swine and sheep departments were 

 of universally high order and good quality and attracted praise from 

 thousands upon thousands of visitors. Not the least notable and praise- 

 worthy feature was the fact that Iowa breeders are coming more and 

 more to be the first prize winners at the Iowa State Pair, winning the 

 honors over the breeders from other states, a matter over which the 

 state may, with all due humility, take great pride. 



One of the most noticeable features of the fair was the presence of the 

 large number of farmer-owned and farmer-driven automobiles. It is 

 conservatively estimated that fully 3,500 motor cars from the farm 

 were on the grounds Monday and Tuesday. Commencing Saturday morn- 

 ing a steady stream of automobiles, driven by farmers and filled by farm 

 families, was to be seen on practically every one of the main roads lead- 

 ing into Des Moines. Nothing shows more conclusively the prosperity 

 which is prevalent throughout the rural districts. It has been repeatedly 

 stated that more automobiles are being sold to the farmers of Iowa, Illi- 

 nois and other grain-belt states than are being sold to the city dealers 

 of New York and Massachusetts. A visit to Des Moines last week would 

 convince the most skeptical of the truth of this statement. The automo- 

 bile has come to be looked upon by the farmer not as a luxury, but bs a 

 necessity, cutting down time and distance between the farm and the 

 town and paying for itself in the saving of horse flesh. It is also no- 

 ticeable that farmers are buying a good type of motor cars and are 

 proving to be efficient mechanics. On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, 

 every one of the main thoroughfares in the fair grounds was lined con- 

 tinuously with parked automobiles, a great majority of which had been 

 driven in from the country a distance of from seventy-five to 200 miles. 



