664 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



It was the weather that did it. So superb a week, meteorologically speak- 

 ing, has hardly been known in the history of "fair weather" in Iowa. It 

 was indeed fair weather. From the arrival of the first ticket-buyer on Mon- 

 day morning till the last spectator walked out of the grounds, turning to 

 take a last look at their splendors, the air was like an elixir. The sun shone 

 genially all the week; the temperature was neither too warm nor too cool for 

 sight seeing, and every minute of the week seemed to be enjoyed by the 

 great, good-natured crowds. 



And the crowds! They were the best exhibits. The men women and 

 children of one of these glorious prairie States which boast "a schoolhouse 

 on every hilltop" are always a sight to command admiration. Family 

 groups were the rule— husbands and wives with their children; men and 

 women who love and honor each other and respect themselves and who 

 dwell together as equals, bringing up their children to fear God and obey 

 his and their country's laws; believers in progress and exemplifying it in 

 their own lives and work; patriots who sustain their country by their indus- 

 try, govern it by theirhonest and intelligent suffrages, and, when necessary, 

 uphold it with the sacrifice of their blood. Here are manhood and woman- 

 hood at their best, yet ever striving onward and upward. 



The fair and its success were a triumph of courage, energy and intelli- 

 gence; and President Morrow, Secretary Simpson and their associates would 

 be less than human if they did not exult a little over the fact that they had 

 the nerve to hold a State fair almost under the shadow of the Louisiana Pur- 

 chase Exposition, the greatest world's fair in history; the brains to plan a 

 programme which could prevail in such a necessarily unequal competition, 

 and the energy to carry the plans to unqualified success. The result vindi- 

 cates their faith and proves anew the importance of ' 'never lying down" in 

 this big, prosperous country of ours. 



The attendance was more strongly tinctured with urban elements this 

 year than usual. The farmers were out in large numbers, but not quite in 

 the average proportion. Many of them go to the World's Fair, and think 

 one such outing enough. There was much, too, in the attractions selected 

 to draw crowds from the cities and towns. The famous pacer, Dan Patch, 

 was a great and legitimate feature to draw the bright people of both city 

 and country inside the gates. The military maneuvers, the firemen's con- 

 tests and the fireworks were deservedly popular. Yet the management did 

 not neglect the educational side of the enterprise; and it stands to their 

 credit and to the glory of the fair itself that the best days in attendance, 

 after all, were those in which the live stock, agricultural, horticultural, 

 dairy and other exhibits were the chief attractions and had and held the 

 crowds. 



