246 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



sand dollars. In addition to this the fair will have its fifteen thousand 

 dollars surplus fund which will not be used. 



A complete system of water works has been purchased and is now in- 

 stalled, the same to connect with the city mains. This not only insures 

 an ample supply of water during the fair, but is a great protection in case 

 of fire during the year. 



The contract has been let for an additional electric light plant, which 

 will be a vast improvement. One of a series of large horse barns will 

 also be built this year. 



A slight review of the early history of the Iowa state fair might be 

 interesting in the way of comparison. 



The first fair was held in Fairfield in October, 1854. The first premium 

 list numbered something over four hundred items and offered $1,100.00 

 in premiums. For comparison we will give the report of the swine de- 

 partment of the first fair fifty-three years ago: 



"Class No. 15 was occupied by swine of all classes. There were eleven 

 entries, and the board regrets that the display was so meagre in point of 

 numbers. It is to be regretted that the farmers who have choice breeds 

 or fine animals do not exhibit a stronger disposition to bring them to our 

 fairs for examination and comparison. One difficulty is found in the 

 trouble of moving them and the injury to the animals themselves, but the 

 greater importance of improvement in swine should outweigh all minor 

 considerations. The raising of swine is a source of immense revenue to 

 the farmers of Iowa and no effort should be neglected to produce fine 

 stock of this kind." 



No one will deny the truthfulness of the above statement, and the ap- 

 peal to show at the state fair has certainly been answered when last year 

 over two hundred different herds were on exhibition at the fair, containing 

 in round numbers nearly three thousand head. 



As is well known, the Iowa state fair was on wheels for a time, later 

 being held at Keokuk, then Cedar Rapids, and then at Des Moines on 

 the west side, and was moved from there to its present location. It has 

 been nearly twenty-five years since I first attended the Iowa state fair on 

 the west side. At that time it was more nearly like our best county or 

 district fairs of today. However, in the last few years it has advanced 

 by leaps and bounds, until at the present time it is the greatest fair and 

 exposition in the United States, especially in live stock and agricultural 

 products. 



The object of the Iowa state fair has as its fundamental principle the 

 education of the people. Many an exhibitor views the fair merely as a 

 market place or as a means of winning a little prize money. Hundreds 

 of fair goers see only a frolic in the event. These people being blind, 

 see not; but thinking men who keep their eyes and the avenues to their 

 brains open, understand that education of the farm folk is the underlying 

 idea of the agricultural fair. The state fair is as much an educational 

 factor for the farmer and breeder as is the agricultural college. As an 

 educational force the state fair is as properly the subject of state aid as 

 any other educational factor which deals with the enlightenment of the 

 farmer and breeder. A serious mistake in the management of state affairs 

 has been the temporary appearance of its buildings. \\Tiile the actual use 



