166 



IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



reduce the price of all farm products; this condition, however, will im- 

 prove within a short time. There is no real cause for worry or uneasi- 

 ness on the part of the farmer, as he is better able to withstand the 

 present situation than other business interests. The prices received at 

 the farm sales the past two months and the strength of the country- 

 banks is evidence of the faith of the farmer in the future. 



In this report we will touch only upon the affairs of the State Board 

 of Agriculture, as managers of the State Fair and Exposition, its 

 finances to the close of the fiscal year, November 30th, the county and 

 district fairs and the farmers' institutes. 



The Fifty-Third Annual Iowa State Fair and Exposition was suc- 

 cessful in all departments. The number and educational value of exhibits 

 was never before equalled, and showed a large increase over previous 

 years. Ninety of the ninety-nine counties in the state were represented 

 by exhibits in the various departments, supplemented by exhibits from 

 twenty different states, and one foreign country. The exhibitors in the 

 several departments number close to fifteen hundred, about three hundred 

 being duplicates, or having exhibits in more than one department, thus 

 reducing the actual number of individual exhibitors to a few less than 

 twelve hundred. Four thousand cash prizes, aggregating in round num- 

 bers $28,000.00 cash, were awarded in the various departments other than 

 for speed, giving an average of about $32.00 to each exhibitor. The indi- 

 vidual amounts received by the various exhibitors varied from $1.00 to 

 $750.00, the smaller amount being generally in the children's and the 

 larger in the stock departments. To show the number of exhibitors 

 and entries in the various departments the following table is given: 



Department 



Number of 

 Exhibitors 



Number of 

 Entries 



Horses 



Cattle 



Swine 



Sheep , 



Poultry 



Agriculture 



Farm implements and machinery 



Pantry and apiary 



Dairy 



Horticulture 



Floriculture 



Art, needle and childrens' 



Total 



84 



97 



267 



28 



86 



108 



299 



114 



112 



29 



22 



235 



1,481 



1,132 

 1,146 

 2,264 

 586 

 1,378 

 1,021 



1,417 

 112 

 489 

 281 



2,493 



12,319 



You will notice that one-third of the entire number of exhibitors were 

 in the stock departments, and eighty per cent of the stock exhibitors were 

 from Iowa. A glance at the awards will show that the Iowa breeder 

 received his full share of the prizes. This speaks well for the breeders 

 of Iowa when you consider that only the stock from the herds of the 

 more prominent breeders of other states will venture into the ring at 

 the annual Iowa show. 



