THIRTEENTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART XHI 781 



The Iowa State college building is one of the greatest points of interest 

 on the fair grounds. This is a large exhibition building devoted entirely 

 to the use of the agricultural college in its exhibition of what the college 

 is doing at Ames as nearly as can be from a presentation of exhibits and 

 demonstration lectures explanatory of the various departments and their 

 work. It is bringing the college to the people, and thousands get an 

 idea of agricultural college work that otherwise never would become 

 interested. Each department is in charge of instructors. It is an 

 excellent piece of extension work. 



Approximately 100 boys, each representing his home county, were 

 made quite conspicuous on the fair grounds by their uniforms and their 

 organized appearance on all parts of the fair grounds each day of the 

 fair. These boys were the proteges of the State Board of Agriculture, 

 having been the winners of a statewide essay contest conducted by the 

 county school superintendents of the several counties. The boy of any 

 public school receiving the first prize for the best essay on Iowa was the 

 elected delegate to represent his county at the state fair, all his expenses 

 and entertainment to be paid by the state board. The boys were camped 

 and officered by their own members under the supervision of the state 

 superintendent. They were also given light guard duty on the fair 

 grounds and instructed in the affairs of running a state fair so far as 

 becoming familiar with the various departments was concerned. A fine 

 piece of state fair work and very popular. 



The old soldier was not neglected. Thousands of these old veterans 

 come each year to this fair, representing almoist every state in the union. 

 This feature has grown in popularity until visitors from the Atlantic to 

 the Pacific and from the gulf to Canada, make it a point to come to the 

 grand encampment held at the Iowa State fair. They are in the main 

 a jolly, happy, social lot of gray-haired men. There is a pathetic side to 

 this picture that is scarcely appreciated by the present generation of 

 boys and girls. Only a few more years and this organization and this 

 feature of the Iowa State fair will have passed beyond. 



Farmer & Breeder, Sioux City, la. 



THE IOWA STATE FAIR. 



The fifty-eighth annual Iowa State Fair closed on Friday, August 30. 

 It was a success in every sense of the word. The weather was ideal for 

 a big attendance. True it was hot at times, but the heat added millions 

 of bushels to Iowa's growing corn so nobody complained. Thursday 

 morning the sky was cloudy, but later in the day the clouds were 

 routed before any rain fell. With the weather right, the best crop of 

 small grain produced in many years safe in granary or stack, and the 

 corn making big strides toward one of the biggest crops ever produced 

 in Iowa, it is not surprising that the attendance was over 2,000 larger 

 than last year. Had the railroads granted special fair rates the at- 

 tendance would undoubtedly have come close to 300,000; as it was it 



