THIRD ANNUAL YEAR BOOK — PART VI. 381 



This is certainly most favorably situated, being surrounded by the 

 homes of more sellers and more buyers than any other location that can 

 be selected with equal accommodations. The transportation facilities are 

 all that can be desired, both to the city and to the grounds. It is on the 

 line of several great through- lines of railways convenient for the stock- 

 men of the wester 1 states and territories, who are also liberal purchasers 

 of Iowa's pure bred stock of all kinds. 



The animal industry of Iowa is, indeed, of great importance, and is 

 worthy of all the attention and all the consideration that the Department 

 of Agriculture can bestow upon it, consistently with its duty to other im- 

 portant interests of the state. 



The value of domestic animals in Iowa exceeds that of any other 

 state in the union, and constitutes more than 1-11 of tho total value of 

 domestic animals in all the states and territories. The total value for all 

 the states and territories being $2,981,722,945, and that of Iowa, $278,830,- 

 096. Texas with nearly five times the land surface ranks second in value 

 of this industry, but is excelled by Iowa by more than $35,000,000. 



In years past we used to refer to the great commonwealth of Illinois 

 as the leader of all the western states in everything that pertained to 

 agriculture; and although it has an area of a thousand square miles more 

 than Iowa, many cities, and the Union stock yards, within her borders, 

 yet it had about $85,000,000 less value in domestic animals on her farms 

 and ranches than Iowa had; and about two and a quarter millions head 

 of neat cattle less than Iowa had the census year. 



Iowa has more neat cattle than any other state, except Texas, which, 

 as before stated, has about five times the area that Iowa has; and until 

 recently it has made live stock raising its chief industry. But now, I un- 

 derstand, its chief industry is raising oil stock. 



I must not dwell upon comparisons, although to me it is an exceed- 

 ingly interesting subject. But I cannot resist the desire to propound the 

 question. Is there any reason why Iowa should not have the best stock 

 pavilion in America? and without waiting for an answer, for I anticipate 

 that the reply of stockmen would be that there should be none, and will 

 say that there is no reason why this grand state of Iowa, the leader in 

 agriculture, leader in animal industries of all the world, should not only 

 have the best pavilion on earth, but the best of everything that is essen- 

 tial to the welfare of her people. 



Iowa produces the best of everything that it attempts to produce. In 

 our opinion it has the fairest girls and the best boys, for the reason that 

 it is an agricultural state; and it is close to the farm that this kind of 

 boys and girls are generally found; and as our cities are all small, our 

 people are necessarily close to the farm, consequently most of our girls 

 and boys are fair and noble. 



In my younger days, when I heard the statement, "Iowa is the best 

 state in the union," I believed it to be but an impulse of the speaker's 

 loyalty to his state; but I have long since learned that it is not the 

 expression of an idle sentiment, but a conceded fact based upon such an 

 abundance of proof that no one seeks to controvert the statement. 



