Page:Kansas A Cyclopedia of State History vol 1.djvu/53

 of specimens of coal, building stone, fossils, gypsum, timber, etc., and made preparations for securing a collection of Kansas birds, noxious insects, and anything else that would be of interest to the agricultural industry in the state. Early in the year it was decided to hold a state fair at Leavenworth in September, but owing to the ravages of drought, grasshoppers and chinch-bugs as the season advanced, petitions from all parts of the state came to the board urging that the fair be abandoned, as it was believed to be impossible to show products that would be up to the standard of a more favorable year. The board, however, declined to listen to these complaints, and on Aug. 18 issued an address to the people of the state, advising them to bring the best they had for exhibition, and predicting that, if they would do so, the fair would be a success. Concerning the fair, the annual report said: “The result was all that could be desired as an exhibition. The products of the soil were never so well represented, either as to breadth of country or quality of product. Representatives of Eastern journals were present, and able to correct the prevalent idea that all of Kansas was dried out and eaten up.” (See State Fairs.)

DISPLAY OF KANSAS AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS.

Plans for the annual report for 1874 were made at the beginning of the year. It was decided to include in this report a synopsis of the 