Farmers' Heyday

The 28th annual International Live Stock Exposition, the 9th annual International Hay & Grain Show and the 3rd annual Illinois Master Farmers Dinner, all in Chicago last week, brought heyday to U. S. and Canadian farmers. Exciting were the contests for the best cattle, horses, sheep, swine and grains shown. Herman Trelle, of Wembley, Peace River, Alberta, Canada, brought samples of oats which yielded him 123 bushels to the acre. The judges gave him the prize, and thus for the sixth time in eight years a Canadian won the oats championship. C. Edson Smith of Corvallis, Mont., was champion wheat raiser.

The best steer of the exposition was California Stamp, raised by students at the University of California. It weighed 1,055 pounds, accumulated by feeding on barley, oats, bran & alfalfa. The New Bismarck Hotel, Chicago, paid $2.35 a pound for California Stamp, to slaughter him for its Christmas dinners. Last year's champion fat steer, Rupert B., brought $3.60 a pound on the hoof, highest price ever paid.

King Albert of Belgium, who does all he can to promote the breeding of sturdy Belgian draft horses, sent Prince Albert de Ligne, Belgian ambassador to the U. S., to offer a cup at the Live Stock exposition. Charles A. Wentz of Kirby, Ohio, won it with his four-year-old Belgian stallion Lordeau II. Evert King of Chicago owns the best stallion, Waynesdale King. Champion last year also, Waynesdale King could not compete for King Albert's cup.

The Master Farmers' Dinner was part of a movement as yet little lauded in the U. S. The farmers' magazines have supported these dinners and helped to choose farmers respected in their communities as good citizens as well as good farmers. Such men are "master farmers." At their annual dinners they receive gold medals of recognition. At Chicago last week 13 Illinois men received medals. There had been only 35 awarded in the whole state before.