FIFTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK — PART VII. 665 



The weak points of the year were in the showing of horses and 

 machinery. St. Louis, with its conflicting dates, took the horses, many of 

 which would have been exhibited in Iowa and had been promised for the 

 fair. The trust kept away the threshers, on an agreement not to exhibit 

 anywhere. The exhibit of Shorthorns was smaller than usual for the same 

 reasons which reduced the horse exhibit, and yet the cattle show as a whole 

 was superb. There was plenty in the live stock exhibits to keep any intelli- 

 gent breeder busy and afiEord abundant food for study. The new agri- 

 cultural hall, with its varied exhibits of vegetables, fruits, grains, flowers, 

 etc., was a thing of beauty, amply justifying the generosity of the State in 

 its erection. The judging contests were of an epoch-marking character. 



While heartily endorsing the practical wisdom of the management inpro- 

 .viding entertainment for the people and thus insuring the attendance and 

 revenues without which the educational features must be sustained in a beg- 

 garly manner, we should be glad to see the scientific side of farming ex- 

 ploited on a grander scale than has yet been thought of, or at least exempli- 

 fied, in our State fairs. The State College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts, 

 while most creditably conspicuous in all the best features of the fair, could 

 be still more thoroughly represented. It would amply repay the State to 

 provide a large special building in which the methods and results of instruc- 

 tion and work in the college and experiment station could be made plain to 

 the average eye; such an exhibit in agriculture and its allied arts as Harvard 

 University, for example, has of general scientific work at the world's fair. 

 These things must come gradually and, perhaps, one at a time; but they 

 should come surely, and as rapidly as practicable. As Germany is crowding 

 the technical education of her people so as to capture the world's trade; as 

 young, and yet old, Japan is showing how it pays to be thorough in adopt- 

 ing and applying all the teachings of modern science in both war and peace; 

 as other states of the Union are showing greater and greater energy and 

 expending larger and larger means in seizing the opportunities of modern 

 civilization, so Iowa and all the states of the corn belt should quickly and 

 largely respond to the new and liberal requirements of the age in progressive 

 industry and the popular education which lies at its foundations. 



The oflicers of the fair doubtless realized that the greatest possibilities 

 have not yet been reached, and are therefore open to suggestions that will 

 lead to still greater success. Much improvement may yet be made in the 

 system of judging. More judges should be pressed in service in order that 

 all animals and products may be passed on early in the week. In our opin- 

 ion the judging should be completed on Tuesday instead of Thursday night, 

 and the premium tickets or ribbons conspicuously placed where the public 

 will derive the greatest benefit from the work of expert judges. This will 

 greatly strengthen the educational side of the fair, and will also confer great 

 benefits upon exhibitors. In matters of this kind we have much to learn 

 from similar exhibits held across the water. 



