306 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



demonstrations were given daily, and the girls in the different teams won 

 much admiration as they performed the actual work of food preservation 

 by the cold-pack method. Literature showing how to make the most ef- 

 ficient use of fuel was given out, and if the advice is followed there will 

 be a marked decrease in Iowa's coal requirements next winter. Those 

 who visit the college building should do so with the idea of absorbing the 

 important facts presented by the various exhibits. 



Tlie boys' judging contest never fails to attract deserved attention, and 

 altho it was held on the real opening day of the fair, at which attendance 

 is under the average it was followed on Friday by good-sized crowds. 

 Tlie prizes included eight scholarships, ranging from .$200 for the first down 

 to $50 for the eighth best. It was open to any boy under 21 years of age 

 who never had attended college, and who never had stood above fifth 

 place in former contests. Awards were made in accordance with the ef- 

 ficiency with whicli individual boys judges classes of horses, cattle and 

 swine and samples of corn. Correctness of placing counted 60 points, and 

 reasons for making the placings 40 points, and there were 800 possible 

 points to be made. First prize went to Rex Bull, of Ottumwa, who scored 

 699 points, and second prize went to Harold White, of Rhodes, who scored 

 692 points. The others ranked as follows: Stanley Rogers, Troy, third, 

 682 points; Roger Wilkinson, Mason City, fourth, 679; Vernon C. Peters, 

 Andover, fifth, 678 points; Morris Butler, Marshalltown, sixth, 671; Geo. 

 Rosenfeld, Kelly, seventh, 660; Louis Puck, Stockton, eighth, 6.57; Harold 

 W. Brown, Woodbine, ninth, 650; Henry Yeager, Woodbine, tenth, 652. In 

 team work, the Marshall county quintet, coached by County Agent W. W. 

 Buchanan, did the best work. The members of this team are Howard 

 Ellis, State Center; Morris Butler, Ferguson; Raymond Rivens, Albion; 

 Howard Soorholtz, Melbourne, and Harold White, Rhodes. 



The Food Adininistration was represented in the building with the war 

 exhibit. According to information given out to the public, great results 

 have been accomplished since the food control act was passed, just about 

 a year ago. At that time the wheat surplus appeared to be less than 

 20,000,000 bushels, but the nation has conserved, which has made possible 

 the shipment of more than 150,000,000 bushels to the Allies. More than 

 3,000,000,000 pounds of meat, or an increase of one-third, have been shipped 

 to Europe. Regulation of the price of sugar is credited with $800,000,000, 

 as compared with prices in neutral countries. As to general prices paid 

 to farmers and paid by consumers it is claimed that the farmer is receiving 

 27 per cent more than he did last summer, while tlie housewife is buying 

 in the market for 13 per cent less tlian a year ago. The fair proved an ideal 

 place for the Food Department to acquaint thousands of persons vyith its 

 work and for these people to get in a little closer touch with what is ex- 

 pected of them than is possible by means of printed matter exclusively. 



The fat stock show at the Iowa fair would be a small proposition Avere it 

 not for the boys' baby beef feeding contest. The more than one hundred 

 entries in this, in which all breeds competed, constituted practically the 

 entire fat cattle show for the different breeds. As noted in the awards, 

 this contest was one of the biggest features of the judging program. At 

 the close of the contest, all the calves will be judged again on individual 

 merit from a killing standpoint, consideration being given for weight, for 

 age, conformation, quality and finish. The 1917-1918 feeding contest is 

 the largest which has yet been held in the state, more than 700 calves 

 being raised by Iowa boys and girls. Each must feed and take care of a 

 calf born between January 1 and September 1, 1917, and of course it was 



