8 OBSERVATIONS ON EASTERN FARMERS AND EASTERN FAIRS. 



outside department is common to all Eastern fairs, some of them 

 covering as much as twenty acres with this character of exhibits, and 

 it is this department, where everything can be found from the latest 

 hayrake or stacker to the newest corn-husker or traction engine, that 

 particularly interests the farmer who is looking for the best device to 

 economize his labors or outlay. 



Iowa charges $2 for exhibitors' tickets, and in addition $2 a stall 

 for horses and cattle, and $1 a pen for swine and sheep. In other than 

 the live stock department the exhibitor's ticket carries with it space 

 and other privileges. 



ILLINOIS. 



Mr. W. E. Garrard is the able secretary of the Illinois State Agri- 

 cultural Society. He has held the office for more than twenty years and 

 is as clever and accommodating as he is well informed. His office is 

 also in the State Capitol building. Indeed, all the secretaries of all 

 the states I visited have their offices in the capitol building, along with 

 other State officials, excepting in Minnesota. 



In Illinois they charge $2 for exhibitors' tickets, and in addition $2 

 a stall for horses and cattle, and $2 a pen, or 50 cents a head, for swine 

 and sheep. In the machinery and dairy departments they also charge 

 exhibitors 5 cents a square foot for space. In the other departments 

 an exhibitor's ticket carries with it space and other privileges. The 

 Society has twenty-six directors, one from each congressional district, 

 elected for two years by a convention composed of representatives of 

 county societies or other farmers' organizations, similar to the Iowa 

 method. Mr. Garrard says there is no party politics at all in the 

 Society, and they don't want any, as they are organized for another 

 purpose. 



They have running and harness races, entrance fee in running races 

 five per cent of purse, and in harness races five per cent to enter and five 

 per cent of winnings. They have no pools or books, and admit no 

 gambling devices, strong drinks, or other objectionable features on the 

 grounds, and they issue no return tickets. Their program includes 

 five races a day two for runners and three for harness horses. Their 

 stakes for runners are from $200 to $500, and for harness horses from 

 $600 to $1,500, the latter amount being for a free-for-all trot. They 

 approve and practice the single- judge idea in determining the merit 

 of all exhibits. Their buildings and exhibits are all in one inclosure, a 

 park and race track embracing 156 acres, to which they charge a 

 general admission for adults of 50 cents, and 25 cents extra for a 

 seat in the grand stand. Their grand stand contains a row of one 

 hundred boxes along the front, and each box contains six. chairs. 

 These boxes are sold for $10 each for the season, and they always sell. 



The Illinois fair grounds contain some splendid buildings. The 



