186 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



poses and objects of the institution placed under their care, but the people 

 of the state, who own it and in whose interest it should be managed, 

 must be taken into their confidence. Any concealment of any of the 

 features of management will engender suspicion which in time will re- 

 sult in loss of interest and the ultimate failure of the fair. There must 

 not be even a suggestion of anything covered up, for the slightest sus- 

 picion of any wrong doing will cause the institution to suffer. 



Not only must the managers of a fair be competent and honest, but 

 they must be industrious. Each member of the managing board should 

 be in charge of a department, one in which he is interested and one for 

 the management of which he should be held responsible. He should 

 give personal attention to all the details of his department, and be willing 

 to give the necessary time, thought and labor to make it successful. 

 There are no places for drones. Those connected with fairs who are 

 disposed to regard their duties and responsibilities lightly and whose 

 principal efforts are expended in the distribution of passes among their 

 acquaintances and finding jobs, or at least places on the pay roll for their 

 friends, should be given other employment at the earliest possible op- 

 portunity. They may be royal good fellows, but they are worth nothing 

 to a fair. 



The exhibition should always be comprehensive. Those planning it 

 should have the clearest possible conception of all the resources, in- 

 dustries, and products interested and each should be fully represented. 

 Manufactures, transportation, commerce, art, science — all should have a 

 place, and the products of the mines and forests should be included. 

 Products of the field, garden, and orchard and dairy should be lavishly 

 shown and live stock exhibits should be complete in all departments. 

 The various departments should receive evenly balanced attention; a few 

 of them should not have unusual effort put upon them to the neglect and 

 detriment of the others. The various departments when combined in 

 one grand exhibition should have such magnitude, variety and interest as 

 to challenge the attention of visitors and prove an inspiration and educa- 

 tion for all of them. Give little heed to the man who speaks or writes 

 of the decadence of state fairs. There is as much interest in them as 

 ever and their field of usefulness is in no way circumscribed. Make the 

 Institution worthy of the hearty co-operation, interest and support of 

 the press and people and you will find it a more potent influence than 

 ever in the advancement of material interests. Its utility is unquestioned. 

 It presents an illumined record of development from year to year and 

 portends what is to be. In this great nation are many great states — 

 great in domain and accomplishment and possibly greater still in more 

 abundant resources and future development. Fairs are heralds of these 

 conditions. A comprehensive fair also interprets a state to each resi- 

 dent thereof, creating within him a keener appreciation of home and all 

 that home implies and gives a new inspiration to the farmer, the mer- 

 chant, the manufacturer and those in other walks of life, suggesting loftier 

 achievements in education and in the evolution of industrial conditions. 

 Every worthy enterprise is given a new impetus. The spirit of a fair 

 Is one of optimism, of hope, and of promise. It points ever forward. 



