NINETEENTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART IV 309 



was made other than that necessary for maintenance. Further needed 

 expansion of exhibition buildings on this remarkably favored fair site 

 awaits more propitious times. 



It was a real war fair. Interest centered in the Government war exhib- 

 its, in the education work of the Iowa State College and the boys and 

 girls' olubs, and in the magnificent women's and children's building which 

 received the devoted enthusiastic support of some of the leading women of 

 the state. Woman's activities in war work found ample illustration. The 

 baby health contest was liberally patronized. An original pageant entitled 

 "Festival of Iowa Wild Flowers," with its interpretative dances and old 

 Indian melodies, was staged by school children of the state and afforded 

 delightful entertainment. The serious side was substantially exemplified 

 in the domestic science demonstrations and in the novel program teaching 

 art and conservation in clothing. The thrift section of this feature taught 

 the possibilities of made-over garments. Motion pictures were liberally 

 used in entertainment and instructional ways. Accurately apprehending 

 that the message of the war could be effectively delivered to the women 

 and children of the state, the fair thus chained their attention, enlarged 

 their vision, and stimulated their activities. 



The Iowa State College made irresistible challenge in a practical way. 

 A farm corn drier occupied prominent position in its building, enforcing 

 Its advantages in permitting corn to be husked a month earlier, lessening 

 labor, putting the grain on the market when cars are available and insur- 

 ing a better price. Startling was the assertion that the efficient use of 

 man labor on the farm would increase food to an extent that would feed 

 3,000,000 soldiers for four and three-quarters months and release 44,000 

 farm hands for the army. A survey of 12 townships in the state led to 

 the conclusion that the quarter-section farmer could use man power more 

 efficiently if he bought or rented another forty. It was a serious indict- 

 ment of slackness in modern farm management. 



Models of feeding shelters and equipment illustrated grandfather's, 

 father's and son's way very graphically. Conservation and sanitation were 

 the key-notes. The feeding of inferior live stock was declared a crime, and 

 slack and wasteful methods can not escape the same indictment. Iowa's 

 fields are no longer virgin. The boast of the Hawkeye State farmer that 

 his soil is inexhaustible finds ample refutation in tests on 44 different 

 types of soil, all of which showed profitable responses to fertilization. 

 Manure increased yields, limestone more, limestone and rock phosphate 

 yet more, and limestone and acid phosphate a little better. Studies will 

 be continued as to the lasting effects of all these forms of fertilization. 

 Meanwhile the illustrations in the comparative yields of clover and grains 

 carried conviction. 



Fewer county and individual farm exhibits graced the agricultural build- 

 ing than of late years, but they were of a high order of excellence in 

 character and artistic arrangement. Horticulture took more prominent 

 place, the early apple displays indicating an abundant crop. The state is 

 hard hit in its southern and particularly its southwestern sections by the 

 drouth. The small grains were in generous yield the state over, and its 

 northern half has never faced so magnificent a harvest of corn, right at 

 the cutting. It is possible that the yield of merchantable corn may exceed 

 that of last season. 



More machinery found place in the displays than last year, but vacant 

 spaces under cover and in the open were quite noticeable. Silo town grows, 



