ELEVENTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART XII 779 



young man who regretted not bringing his birds added, after telling 

 of their quality, "I got them from my mother." We like to see a man 

 convinced that whatever he gets from his mother is the best, and trust 

 when he gives the exhibitors a chance to be defeated by mother's birds 

 that he will not be disappointed. 



We like to believe that there are numbers of perfect birds in the 

 state, but sometimes we wondered 'when we heard of these good birds 

 at home if the Barred Rocks "never had shown foreign feathers" or 

 "faded, spotted shanks;" if the white varieties "never had shown a fleck 

 of black, or a tinge of cream in ten years;" if the reds had always been 

 a "uniformly beautiful cherry red;" if the buffs "never faded," etc. By all 

 manners of means, next year, let the owners of perfect specimens bring 

 them out. We can personally guarantee that the sales of such high- 

 scoring birds will be equal to the supply at any price the owner cares 

 to fix, and the show will be greatly benefited by their presence. 



THE BOYS' JUDGING CONTEST. 



Forty-two boys furnished the strongest competition which has yet 

 been seen at any of the boys' judging contests at the Iowa State Fair. 

 They were competing for scholarships at the Iowa State College at Ames, 

 totalling to $600; $200 for the boy who took first, $150 for the second 

 boy, $125 for third place, $100 for fourth, and $25 for fifth. Any boy in 

 Iowa under twenty-one years of age who had not been regularly to col- 

 lege was eligible to this contest. Considering the amount of money up 

 it was surprising that more Iowa boys did not take advantage of this 

 contest. The contest occupied half a day's time, and consisted in placing 

 classes of cattle, horses, hogs and corn samples, and giving reasons for 

 the same. The results of the contest follow: 



THE BREEDERS GAZETTE. 



CHICAGO, ILLS. 



A greater Iowa than the public ever has known was introduced with 

 impressive ceremonies by the 56th annual state fair at Des Moines last 

 week. 



Iowa has climbed to its agricultueal renown on a ladder of corn 

 anchored in a fat soil which supports and is fed by a live stock popula- 

 tion having no state equal in breeding and value. Nature did her supreme 

 work in fashioning this giant full breakfast, dinner and supper pail of 

 the Middle West, and men, working through the state fair, the agricul- 

 tural college and other educational agencies, are doing their essential 

 part in working its rich contents into a citizenship which has an eye 

 for beauty, aspirations for useful culture and ambitions to excel in ma- 

 terial wealth. This was the overtowering note in the forceful message 

 of the state fair, and about 240,000 people received it in a spirit of 

 prosperous enthusiasm. 



