FIFTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK — PART VII. 617 



to set bounds to the agricultural development of this country. The State 

 fair is founded on the permanency of agriculture as a pursuit. Any idea 

 that fails of understanding that fact will prove distressing in the present, 

 costly in the end. Permanence of construction should characterize every 

 structure erected on a State fair ground. 



Adequacy of equipment is another essential. Exhibits are greatly lim- 

 ited by cramped and ill-suited quarters. This applies generally to all 

 departments of the fair, but especially to live stock. Barns must be sub- 

 stantial and convenient and afford protection from storms. The time has 

 gone when valuable stock should be risked in inadequate fair ground sta- 

 bles. Not only must exhibits be considered but the comfort and conve- 

 nience of the people must be conserved. The borrowing experience of the 

 past ten years of State fair management proves that ample provision must 

 be made against rain, that arch enemy of outdoor exhibitions. The grow- 

 ing uncertainties of the weather have cost untold thousands of dollars to fair 

 managers. The lesson has been set; it is folly to overlook it. Permanent 

 exhibition buildings, covered walks between them, and covered arenas for 

 the showing of live stock are among the essentials of a State fair ground if 

 equal battle is to be offered the elements. Given the assurance of protection 

 from rain in the examination of exhibits and in passage from one building to 

 another and the country people will brave storm and rain to study at the 

 State fairs. The need of permanent protection for the live stock depart- 

 ment was never better illustrated than at Hamline in 1904. It was a wet 

 week and broke a long run of luck that the Minnesota State Fair has en- 

 joyed. The seivelike canvas under which shows and sales were conducted 

 afforded comparatively small protection to the hundreds who sought its 

 shelter and emphasized again the necessity of building to outwit the freaks 

 and vagaries of the weather. In brief, a dollar spent in temporary con- 

 struction on a State fair ground is money thrown away. It is a violation of 

 the fundamentals of economical expenditure. 



Another essential to the ideal State fair is ample transportation facilities, 

 not only to and from the grounds, but to the city of its location. Physical 

 discomfort is more or less inherent in a visit to such an exposition. That 

 fair will command the most liberal attendance which succeeds best in reduc- 

 ing these physical discomforts to a minimum. Railroads are the chief 

 offenders in this respect. Corporations have no souls, and railroads at fair 

 time have no bowels of mercy. Human beings must either subject them- 

 selves to the crushing that the law protects animals from or else forego a 

 visit to the fair. The remedy is difficult to find, but should be persistently 

 searched for, nevertheless. With transportation to and from the grounds 

 fair managers are more or less connected, and no problem should receive 

 more careful consideration. Crowds will be augmented in proportion to the 

 diminution of the present discomforts of transportation to State f.urs. 



The dissemination of news concerning the results of the competitions is 

 necessary to the exercise of the greatest influence of such institutions . Awards 

 in live stock and other competitive departments of the fair should be officially 

 drawn off the books each day and put in form for publication, and forwarded 

 to every daily paper in the State and to papers at every county seat. The 

 cost of such service is inconsequential compared to the benefits derived. In 

 the nature of the case the direct benefits of such a fair can be realized by 



