BuEBAu OF Ageicultxjbe. 105 



the grand stand and adjacent grounds every afternoon. 

 The popularity of the night horse show in the hippodrome 

 can, also, be attested by the increased attendance and 

 receipts. 



Every year emphasizes more strongly than the pre- 

 ceding one the absolute need of additional buildings and 

 equipment. The fair has been maintained now for eight 

 years, since it has been located in its permanent home, 

 with only two substantial and permanent buildings. How 

 long it will continue to give exhibitions with the present 

 inadequate equipment, in the way of frame bams, tem- 

 porary exhibition sheds and the like, is a problem that 

 will have to be met sooner or later by^the fair manage- 

 ment. At the next meeting of the State Board, I expect 

 to be able to submit a plan for the erection of a suitable 

 Exposition Building, which, I believe, would prove a 

 great acquisition to the fair and a valuable addition to 

 the fair plant. There is another matter upon which I 

 feel that every member of this Board is fully advised, 

 and that is, if this fair is to continue to grow and prosper 

 and to keep pace with the other great institutions in the 

 north and west, it must necessarily be planned on a 

 larger scale from year to year, and this will mean a cor-, 

 responding increase in expenditure. Such an increase 

 of expenditure can only be met by an increase in attend- 

 ance, which is the main source of receipts. To attain this 

 end, a stronger appeal must be made to the people of the 

 State to patronize their State institution, and an especial 

 effort should be made to enlist the interests of those more 

 directly concerned in agriculture, which is the basis of 

 the State Fair exhibit, and the promoting and foster- 

 ing of which is the sole purpose of the institution itself. 

 A like effort should be made to awaken an interest in the 

 city people. This interest can only be aroused by stag- 

 ing popular attractions. Great crowds from the city can- 

 not be assembled on the fair grounds without the aid of 

 some spectacular amusement or attraction. While such 

 features are necessarily costly, they almost invariably 

 pay in the end. In other words, they are a necessity to 

 a growing, expanding fair, in that they both draw 

 erowds and help pay the expenses. 



