Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1901-05-23
artesian water and other minerals and
are especially interested for the pros.
poets for gold and oil.
BIG STOCK SHOW PROMISED.


BIG STOCK SHOW PROMISED.
Plans for Iowa State Fair Discussed by
President Johnston.
yDes Moines, May 20.-"This is 90.
ing to be the greatest year on record
In the stock breeding business, said
r. j. Johnston of Humboldt, president
of the state board of agriculture.
There is a great demand for the best
breeding stock Sales are well at
tended and prices are high. Up in our
part of the state there are two or
three farmers ready to buy every first
class animal that is offered for sale,
especially bulls. All this indicates
that the stock show at the state fair
this year is going to surpass anything
that has ever been seen in Iowa be-
fore. We are offering five premiums
in every class, so, there is a chance for
a great many meritorious exhibitors
to get share of the money. l know
of a great many breeders who are
arranging to take good care of them
Instead of building a permanent
pavilion for showing stock at the fair,
to be used at the same time as a sale
pavilion, We have decided to follow the
plan which was so successful at the
Kansas City stock show--that of us
ing large oblong tent. Seats will be
placed around this tent, like those in
a circus tent. Next the seats will be
a woven wire fence making q small in
closure in the middle for the accom-
mediation of judges, stockmen, newspa-
per men, etc. The stock will be shown
in the space between the two fences.
'We will arrange this year to seat
about 1000 people in this tent, and
they will be able to see the stock as it
is shown and be comfortable at the
same time. Next year we can use
larger tent, if necessary. have talk
ed with great many stockmen about
this matter and find that they are
agreed that pavilion cannot be con-
structed to be used both as sale pa
vilion and an exhibition ring. A sale
pavilion should not be so large that
buyers cannot readily see all the
points OF the animal offered for sale
from any part of the building. The
show ring must be a great deal larger
than this. So we have decided to
leave the erection of a sale pavilion to
the people in the city. The location
of a sale pavilion on the fair grounds
would not be as good as it would be
to have it down in the city, where
the railway facilities are better"
The fair management will offer ev-
cry facility for stock sales during the
fair. Last year nearly every man
who brought stock to the fair sold
everything he cared to sell. 1t is re-
garded as the best market in the state.
and breeders are preparing to take adj
vantage of it this year. Last year ey-
erything was sold at private sale be-
fore the time for auction arrived, and
the auctioneer had nothing to do. Not
only cattle. but hogs, sheep and horses
were sold in large numbers, and will
be this year in still larger numbers.
The prosperity of the Iowa farmer
makes this market what it is. The
demand for the best stock is greater
now than ever before This has led
in some cases, it is claimed, to the
placing of fictitious values upon cat
tie. 1t is done in this way. Two
breeders will agree ito attend each
others sales and buy certain animals
for $1,000 or more apiece. The re-
suit is they have traded animals with
out cost and have advertised sales at
high prices. Incidentally it may have
resulted in some actual sales at prices
nearly as high.
Among the improvements decided
upon by the executive committee of
the state board of agriculture, which
consists of President r. j. johnson,
Vice-president ]. C. Frasier of Bloom
field and Secretary George H. Van
Houten, is the erection of a large dry
air closet, adding greatly to the sani-
tary conditions of the grounds This
will cost $4,000. The entries in the
speed department are so large that
another barn or two will be required
to accommodate the fast horses. The
owners of lot of the old sheds and
weatherworn buildings on the grounds
have been notified to remove them i'm
mediately or they will be torn down
by the fair management. The grounds
are to be put into heater and more at
tractive condition. AS soon as posi-
Bile better grade of buildings will re-
place the cheap wooden sheds.
The Fifty-first Iowa band has been
engaged to furnish the music during
the fair This band furnished the nu-
sic for last years fair. and its per-
formances were so satisfactory that
the band had been re-engaged.