The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1910-11-20
COUNTY FAIRS AND
MORE ABOUT THEM
People Are Beginning to Sit Up
and Take Notice-One Dis
cordant Note.
nv rnANk 5. woODsoN.

TWO weeks ago l wrote for this sec
ton something about county iaiFs.
smoke of {, number of fairs that We're
held this year and the good they mao
done. and expressed the nope tnat ~
thu not far distant future every couh,
~ in the state may pull OH locat
fair. The article seems to have at
tracted some attention, for have not
less than twenty-five letters from va
rious parts OF the State, In all OF
which. except one, the writer's APP
nroyed the idea OF a hundred or more
fairs in the State. All of the writers
of these letters, except the one, urged
me to keep hammering away on the
subject OF county fairs. Some Oh the
writer's were SO kind as to say ina.
the Industrial Section Is doing good
service in calling the attention of the
state and Of the whole country to
Virginia Industrial. commercial and
agricultural development, and all OF
them, except the one, seemed 10 DC
Impressed with the importance ana
value to the communities and the
counties, and the State In general, OF
county and neighborhood fairs-all eX-
cept the one.
The Croaker's Little Croak.
And now about that one: l do not
know the writer Possibly he did not
sign his real name to the letter; II
had written such a letter would have
been ashamed to put my name to It
maybe he was. But anyhow l nave
seen such letters before and In my
travels have met the sort OF men VINO
write such letters. Although nave
never met the writer In the hesn
know him. or rather l know his kind
He is of the genus homo known as
croaker. a knocker, a GROWER. kicker
with a hob-nailed liver. His letter Is
crowded with Interrogation marks He
wants to know what the folks are
going to show at a county fair? What
will they see there? What do they
want to go for? What good is a
county fair. anyhow? There are whole
lot of other questions he asks. but
these will suffice to show the condi-
tion Of his liver.
What Has Becn Done.
will try to answer the questions
above quoted Ny time, is too vail
liable to be wasted in trying to an
swer the many others in the letter.
At the fairs I visited this fall the
people who made exhibits showed
some of the good things they raised
on the farm this year. AT one of them
a sixteen year-old boy showed 1850
Another boy showed 152 bushels, an
other 14S bushels, from one acre. mind
you. A man showed samples of hay
the like Of which he cut six tons from
an acre. Another man showed a five
and three quarter ton to the acre
product, and showed the papers prov
ing that he got $40 ton for It, An
other showed sweet potatoes that
weighed ten pounds per potato. wo-
man showed yellow butter that she
: had been getting from 25 to 40 cents
per pound for, and had the atf1davits
TO prove that she had sold enough in
the five months previous to pay for the
COW she made the butter from. and
she was on hand to tell the folks how
she managed the business. and she did
not hesitate moment to-. let all of
her neighbors know how they could
30 and dollikewise.
A Few Questions Answered.
What are the folks going to show
at county fair? Why, they are
going 20 show what the live ones
among them are doing to make old
+ Virginia great and what the sleepy
ones can do If they will Just wake up.
That is what "they will see" at the
county fair. and that answers In a
Il way the first and second questions.
The answer to the third question is
that the people want to so to the
county fair to see the things above
Enumerated and to see ono another
Yes, to see one another, and that after
all Is the most charming part of
ropnty fair or any other kind of a
county gathering. and the more the
good folks see of one another the more
they know Of one another, the more