718 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



not answer the cry raised in Des Moines last week and give to the 

 women of the state a building, all their own, in which to display the 

 best examples of the work of the sex along many lines of endeavor, and 

 at the same time provide for their comfort while attending the fair? 

 The suggestion is worthy the serious consideration of the fair manage- 

 ment. 



A campaign to increase the potato yield of Iowa was planned during 

 the week by Eugene H. Grubb, of the federal department of agriculture, 

 who was an interested visitor at the fair. Starting early next year, 

 Professor Grubb will assist Professor Kennedy, at the head of the ex- 

 tension department of the state agricultural college, in a movement to in- 

 terest farmers in the unrealized possibilities and profits of potato grow- 

 ing. According to Professor Grubb, who discussed the matter animatedly 

 during the fair, there is no reason why Iowa should not double its potato 

 crop, year by year. "The great mistake the Iowa farmer makes," he 

 declared, "is in his seed. The whole potato should be planted instead of 

 cutting one into four to six pieces. It has been the common impression 

 that potatoes should be cut up for seed, but the best results are ob- 

 tained by planting the entire potato. Nature intended the pulp as sus- 

 tenance for the plant and the shell protects it from rot and disease until 

 its contents have gone to feed the plant." Professor GrubD, repeatedly 

 called attention to the fact that the successful growers of Europe use 

 from three to four times the amount of potato seed that the Iowa farmer 

 does, with yields proportionately larger than those secured here. The 

 potato campaign promises to arouse much interest throughout the entire 

 state. The quality of potatoes exhibited at the fair this year was ex- 

 cellent, testifying to a large crop of sound tubers. But the yield 

 can and should be materially increased and it is to this end that the 

 campaign of next winter and spring will work. Affecting an article 

 of such universal diet the campaign promises to have widespread bene- 

 ficial results. 



Twenty-five thousand visitors were taken care of at the information 

 headquarters of the Commercial Club, which secured rooms for the en- 

 tire number. One of the noticeable features of the work this year was 

 the fact that thousands of former fair visitors returned to the rooms 

 which had been secured for them in previous years by the Commercial 

 Club. For some weeks prior to the opening of the fair, work was in 

 progress listing the available rooms in the city, a maximum scale being 

 provided so as to do away with the possibility of overcharge. The Com- 

 mercial Club of Des Moines is to be commended for the manner in which 

 it has carried on this work, not only insuring a maximum of comfort 

 to the out-of-town visitors, but also providing against their being 

 mulcted by too greedy lodging-house keepers. Fewer instances of over- 

 changing at the restaurants and hotels were reported this year than ever 

 before. One of the large down-town restaurants and one of the principal 

 hotels raised their rates the opening day. The Commercial Club did 



