210 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



because we must come before you with excuses why we have not been able 

 to obtain any assistance for the State dairy association; but I think perhaps 

 I can give you a full and satisfactory explanation as to that. 



We first asked the legislature for an appropriation for a building upon 

 the fair grounds — asked for an appropriation of $47,000 in connection with 

 the agricultural department and the dairy department thereof. We asked 

 for $47,000 appropriation, and the building was erected and stands as a 

 monument and credit to the contractor, and also to the intelligence of Mr. 

 John Simpson, secretary of agriculture of the State, who was so prominent 

 in the work. While it is not my intention to criticise a public official, and 

 probably Mr. Wright will take exception to my statement, I wish to say 

 that in my opinion the space in that building allowed to the dairy industry 

 is not commensurate with the value of the industry in the State and with the 

 work they did to secure that appropriation. 



In the division of the money for our exhibition at St. Louis, the dairy 

 industry, ranking only second in value to anything produced in the State, — 

 in the distribution, I say, of $120,000 appropriation that was made by the 

 State legislature for the purpose of making a suitable exhibit, the dairy in- 

 dustry received the princely sum of $2,500. Representing the biggest indus- 

 try in the State, with only one exception , we got $2,500 and with that amount 

 of money were expected to make a suitable showing. Senator Ericson 

 and myself had the privilege of going before the appropriation committee to 

 endeavor to get that appropriation increased, and succeeded to the extent of 

 $1,000, making a total of $3,500 to make a display at St. Louis, and after- 

 wards by a ruling of the Attorney-General we were deprived of that $1,000 

 and after all only had the $2,500 to make the display. 



We were up against Minnesota with, I believe, $8,000 to make a display; 

 Wiconsin with $5,000 set apart; Illinois $4,000 set apart, and Iowa, with the 

 biggest interest in the dairy business of any of those States, only had the 

 sum of $2,500. As I said before, we considered that almost utterly impos- 

 sible to make a showing that would be at all creditable, but we did the best 

 we could and everyone connected with the exposition from Iowa donated his 

 time. Those of you who were there know that we reproduced in butter the 

 first creamery that was ever built in the State of Iowa ; also reproduced the 

 building of which every dairy student in Iowa today is so proud, the build- 

 ing that is being erected at Ames, In addition to that, we undertook, in a 

 small measure, to honor the man who above everyone else should receive 

 the credit of being the advance agent of the creamery industry in Iowa, I 

 refer to Mr. John Stewart, the man who established the first creamery any- 

 where in the West, and the man whose picture today we are wearing on our 

 badges as a mark of honor and respect. We reproduced all this, and in the 

 windup we come out better than we had any reason to expect. While we 

 are always willing to take oflE our hats to Minnesota and consider that in 

 point of excellence they have outstripped us, so far as the exhibit at St. Louis 

 was concerned (and I don't know who was to blame for this) , we received 

 just as much recognition at the hands of the Fair officials as did Minnesota, 

 who spent $1,800 for sculpture work alone, while we spent $125, just as much 

 as Missouri, because we received the same kind of medal that they did. In 

 addition to this we received three out of the five cups offered for prizes at 

 the exposition, three gold medals, thirty-one silver and six bronze medals, 



