The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1919-05-30
SHALL MARION co.
HAVE A FAIR?
Prof. John NJ. Scott Tells OF Their
Advantages--if Successful Will
Aid All Branches Of Farming


Who is responsible for making the
county fair a success?
The object Of a county fair should
be educational TO the largest degree
possible. This can be accomplished by
having exhibits Of the best crops and
OF the best live stock in the county,
along with some information, such as
the name and variety of the crop
shown how many bushels per acre
were grown and the expense Of grow
ing the crop, including the amount
and analysis Of the fertilizer. This
will bring before the people of the
different sections the best crops that
are being grown, and will be help to
others In growing these crops. With
exhibits OF live stock, the breed, age,
and weight should be given. If il is
a dairy COW, give the gallons or the
pounds Of milk produced in the year,
and the pounds OF butter made. It
would be interesting also to state the
kinds of feed and the amount given
a day.
Exhibits must be made attractive,
so that people will take time to stop
and examine them thoroughly. Looks
count for a great deal in exhibits, asI
well as in other things. The writer
has seen many good exhibits at fairs
that were not appreciated simply be-
cause they were not arranged in an
attractive manner. Other exhibits
that were not so good, but arranged
more attractively received more rec
ognition
In exhibiting live stock it is abso
lutely necessary to have the animals
in good condition if you wish to make
a good showing They should receive
little extra feed and care for sixty
days before they are put on exhibi-
ton, and should be in good flesh
E It will be necessary to use shears
or clippers to remove any long hair
around the horns and ears of the eat
tie, and especially inside the ears.
Oftentimes the clipping of the long
hair on the rump and tail will greatly
improve the appearance of the ami
mails. The shearing and clipping
must be done with considerable care
so as not to disfgure the animal.
Practically the same treatment
should be given the horses and mules.
This preparation should be done at
least month before the animals are
put on exhibit. Don't be afraid to
use soap and water. See that the
skin is in good condition. Use the
curry-comb freely, and also a good
brush. See that the hair is bright
and shiny. The horns of the cattle
should be polished. This can best be
done by the use of sandpaper or en-
cry paper, which will take on the
rough edges. After these rough edg-
es are taken of, polish with a wool
len cloth, and little Oil applied to-
the cloth will be found helpful. The
hoofs of both the cattle and horses
should have attention. See to it that
the hoofs are trimmed and clean.
Horses, mules and cattle when shown
as individuals should be broken to-
the halter. so that they can be shown
to better advantage.
PLAN Ahead for Exhibits
Getting exhibits is usually diff
cult problem. This is not because
the farmers have any objection to ex-
hibiting material, but because they
do not have the material. To have,
an abundance of good material for ex-l
hibits means that plans for having
it must be made in advance of the
planting season. The same is true
with live stock. The cows and sows
must be bred at the proper time so
that the calves and pigs will be the
proper age to enter in the various
classes.
The individuals Responsibility
A successful county fair should
have exhibits from all sections OF the
county. II all sections of the county
are not represented it is not truly a.
county fair. II all sections OF the
county are represented as they
should be, it means a good deal of
Individual responsibility. 1t means
that some one must be responsible
for exhibits from each section of the
county. Are you willing to take this
responsibility? There is no reaosn
why you should not take that respon-
s;hilitv and see to it that there is