The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1919-08-21
GIVE SUPPORT TO
OUR COUNTY FAIR
THE REGISTER SUGGESTS WAYS
TO HELP MAKE EXHIBITS
SUCCESSFUL
CONCERTED EFFORT MEANS GOOD FAIR
Bio Program offered BY Management
Indicates That All Visitors Will
Have a Glorious Time.


The Brookings County Fair is less
than two weeks off. To be a real falr
il must be the work of all the people
of the county. 1t is not a sectional
affair. but a meeting of the products
and produce of the whole county.
What has each one of us done to make
the fair better this year than last?
That is the test of the whole matter.
OF course the fair officials keep pound
e ing away with the slogan, This is
your fair" but that will get neither
them or you or the fair anywhere
unless we all believe that it is "our
fair" 1t really is better to say, "our
fair" than your fair" We cannot
shove the responsibility off on the
other fellow by saying "your fair
and we must get success by joining
together and making it "our fair
Have the preparations been made for
the exhibits to show up well? That
is a thing that we must attend to now.
And to help out a little along that
line the Register gives some sugges
tons based on the preparation of one
animal or exhibit. The same line of
care and attention must also be ap-
piled to all the other articles that
you take. changing the method and
procedure according to the needs of
each individual exhibit. If we all get
together and do our best, then the fair
will be the one we want it to be and
a representation of the whole of Brook
ings county and her great
and industries. Keep these ideas in
mind no matter whether it is a pig
or a pie that you are preparing to
take to the fair.
Too many people do not know how
much depends IN preparing exhibits
in the right way, on getting the pig
or calf or corn or canned stuff in just
the right shape n show to the best
advantage. One of the boys club
workers tells a story in point.
"One of our club boys" he says,
grew an acre of mighty good corn
and entered an exhibit in the county
fair. There were four prizes, but he
couldn't get even the fourth one. The
Judge simply tied on the ribbons and
made no explanations. The boy was
disappointed NOT rebellious, but he
wanted to know why his good corn
couldn't get a prize. l went over IT
with him, showed him that some of
his biggest ears had crooked rows and
how others had other defects. Pick
ing out the best ear, I said, If you had
ten like this, you could win a prize
Well, that boy went back home and
carefully examined every ear of his
corn. He only found nine that he
thought were as good as the one / had
pointed out. He went back through
the whole pile again and finally found
the tenth ear. He sent those ten
ears to the State Fair-and won first
prize. Do you see? Knowing a little
of how to prepare the exhibit made
a State winner out of a corn crop that
was an also ran at the county fair"
Now, the boy who is preparing a pig
or a calf for the fair has a more com
plicated task than the one who enters
some corn. With the corn boy, the
whole problem is selecting the right
ears. With the others it is not only
selecting the right individual, but do
ing a great many things to put that
individual in the best possible form,
and to keep it SO.
Weeks or even months in advance
of the fair, the boy must start getting
his calf or pig tame. At a particular
time, it may be necessary to pare the
pigs ~toenails so that he will stand
up straight without too much bend at
the pasterns. But he must be careful
not TO pare them too close. A limping
pig Is not likely to be a prize winner.
Several weeks before the fair he
should trim the hair out of the pigs
ears, being careful to do it in such
way that the ears will not be irregu-
lar in outline. He should provide a
clean wallow for the pig to keep the
hair and skin soft and pliable-and
he ought to know the trick of the
trade that a little oil on the surface
of the water helps a great deal; also
that a little linseed meal, properly fed
to the pig, puts a peculiar gloss on the
hair. He must remember to have the
right kind of crate ready in plenty
of time. Many boys have failed to
get their pigs to the fair because,
when the time came to ship, there
was no crate. A very important thing
to remember in connection with the
craze is that the pig grows at a pretty
rapid clip. The crate must be built
big enough for the pig, not when the
craate is made. but allowing foi
growth between then and fair time.
And it must not be big enough to per-
nit the pig to tur naround. The boy