The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1905-10-05
HOPEFUL HARRY

HOPEFUL,HARRY
Draws Comparisons of Past and Present
Productions of the Soil.
The State and county fairs are
among things of the past and it will
be useless for us to attempt to enlarge
on what the city papers have already
published in regard to the State fair.
That the State fair was good, yes,
better than some of former years, no
one is justified in denying, but from
our point OF view we cannot see why
the superlative degree should be
used. 1t is true that in some depart
ments the exhibits excelled those of
former years. The exhibits of sheep,
horses, some breeds of cattle and
swine were grand "a real feast to the
eye,-and we could not see how it
would be possible for man to improve
on them. And yet it is possible that
impro vement can be made, but we
have seen as good exhibits of the
above mentioned stock in the past as
in the present. The agricultural
building was tastely arranged and the
exhibits by counties were worthy of
the praise they received. The ar
rangements of grains and grasses
was very conspicuous, yet only one
county exceeded the exhibit at the
Mile Laos county fair the past two
years. One county at the State fair
had 81 varieties of grass and Mile
Laos had A varieties. Great genius
was shown in the arrangement of the
exhibit from the Lake City nursery.
The large variety of apples in the
form of a bell was very attractive, but
the fruit did not exceed in size that of
some past years. The display of
fruit in the horticultural hall was ex-
cellent. So it has been in years past.
The fruit was not larger than it has
been in the past. Some new varieties
were shown, which proves that we are
making progress in the fruit industry.
Now, we do not wish to be understood
as trying to belittle the State fair or
any OF the exhibits. Far from it, for
we believe the fair to be one of the
great institutions in the State for
bringing about Improvement in all
the departments of agriculture, horti-
culture and the arts. It stimulates
men to vie with each other to produce
the best. Some men are inclined to
exaggerate so much that it has be-
come a fixed habit. The last storm
OF the last season was the worst they
ever saw, when in fact they have seen
many such, and the same is true in
regard to fairs, the last was the best,
yet they have seen others as good.
The past can boast of great artists,
wise men and model farmers. We
will illustrate this in the department.
or agriculture. Some years ago,
when the Minnesota State fair was in
its infancy, at the time the great Cali
fornia potato was first introduced,
a man then living in Wabasha county
planted field with those potatoes
and he raised 525 bushels from one
acre. How many farmers have we in
Minnesota that exceed that amount?
The same farmer a few years later
planted some mammoth squash seeds.
Only three seeds came up and from
those three seeds he obtained ten
squashes the weight of which aggre-
gated 1,067 pounds. The smallest
squash weighed 63 pounds, the three
largest weighed 1873 pounds, 1877
pounds and IA pounds respectively.
The large one was one of the wonders
at the State fair that year. Will some
one tell us how many squashes of the
above weight were on exhibition at
the State fair this year? When we
have climbed to the top rung of the
ladder we can climb no higher with
out an extension. Let US try to get
that extension and try to progress in
the good work being done by the
State fair association, but do not for
get that great things have been done
in the past as we'll as the present.
Adhere to the truth and give due
credit to each period of time.
In the near future some suggestions
will be made in regard to the Mile
Laos county fair.
HOPEFUL. HARRY.
Printing and Education.
A printing Office is good place in