Page 4 



Th« OlmoU Agricultural Association Record 



Sept 5, 1923 



Rock Phosphate Problems Discussed By 

 Farm Bureau Presidents and Advisers 



At the JIcLean County Farm Bureau office, Bloomington, on 

 Auguat 17tB, 40 Farm Bureau Presidents and Farm Advisers 

 ' met oil invitation of the Illinois Agriculttural Association, to 

 discuss the problems involved in the phosphate supply and the 

 relation of'the Work of the I. A. A. Phosphate-Limestone Depart- 

 ment tlo those problems. 



The wqrk of this 'Department 



has Ueenl attacked repeatedly 

 during the last year or two, 

 Chiefl> by ono of the phosphate 

 producing companies that has not 

 been contracting its product 

 throiugb this Department. 



Some have been disposed to 

 take these criticisms at their full 

 value or as having some founda- 

 tion, w'hile in the minds of others 

 the criticisms have raised hon- 

 est question marks.. The meet- 

 ing was called with the hope of 

 bringing out the facts; making 

 clear the policies and methods of 

 the Department and securing all 

 possfble criticism and suggestion. 

 .\ Dependable Snpply 



H. T. Marshall, of LaSalle 

 County, first chairman of the 

 Phosptiate Advisory Committee, 

 told briefly of the conditions 

 leading to the establishing of the 

 Department nearly four years 

 ago. At that time there was 

 much trouble io securing satis- 

 factorily prompt deliveries. Often 

 shipments were delayed several 

 months after the time they were 

 desired. The quality could not 

 be depended upon. There was 

 no satisfactory way of securing 

 fair analysis. In short, there 

 was nd depend.ible and reliable 

 supply. The price at that time 

 was, temporarily at least, inflated 

 out of : reason. 



The Phosphate Department con- 

 tracted for a large tonnage at an 

 improvenitnt in lirice and an of- 

 fice and laboratory were estab- 

 lished til the phosphate fields In 

 TennesMe so that the many de- 

 tails oC s lipment, sampling, and 

 - accurate \i nalysis would be taken 

 care of oil the ground at the time 

 of shipmeit. , 



Several times during the meet- 

 ing toDiwents were made from 

 the flopi^- which conceded that 

 the work of the Department had 

 solved t;he problem of prompt de- 

 livery and icorrect analysis. 



Tke Present Situation 



In' discussing the present sit- 

 uation, Mr. Frank- D. Barton of 

 Livings^n County, present chair- 

 man of the Phosphate Advisory 

 Committee, stated that the finan- 

 cial coadition of the farmer dur- 

 ing the last couple of years had 

 * seriously reduced the demand Jor 

 ^ rock ptjosphate and that the de- 

 '■mand Has not been sufficient to 

 ketp the mills running economi- 

 cally. Mr. Barton stated that 

 there ia danger that the big com- 

 mercial fertilizer interests will 

 gradually absorb the better 

 properties of the weakened in- 

 dependent producers of ground 

 rock phosphate. He stated fur- 

 ther th«t the Department has en- 

 deavored to keep the phosphate 

 bpsinesa going as much as pos- 

 sible in order to preserve a source 

 of supply for the future need. 

 The demand in July of this year 

 was greater than that for the 

 same month in either of the past 

 two years. 



Fotnr« Snpply Important 

 "There is great opportanity for 

 the Illinois Agricultural Associa- 



tion to preserve an adequate sup- .the Department. Will these prob- 



ply of rock phosphate for Illi- 

 nois fsrmers," sa^id Frank I. 

 Ifann of Iroquois County, a mem- 



JkiAi^ 



ber of the Phosphate Commit- 

 tee. He went on to say — "The 

 farmers must get down to brass 

 tacks in economical production. 

 The Illinois System of permanent 

 agriculture including the use of 

 limestone, the growing of le- 

 gumes and applying phosphate, is 

 the key to .such economical pro- 

 duction. The application of raw 

 rock phosphate is the cheapest 

 and in the end the most satis- 

 factory way of supplylqg the 

 phosphorus which is needed in 

 our soils." ' • 



Phosphate Quality 



Talking On the subject of the 

 measure of quality in raw rock 

 phosphate, t)r. F. C. Bauer of the 

 University of Illinois said that 

 rock phosphate should be pur- 

 chased on the basis of the total 

 phosphorus it contains as deter- 

 mined by the accepted laboratory 

 methods and that the product 

 sboul^ be ground finely enough 

 so that BUbstantVlly all will pass 

 through a 100-i^esh sieve. The 

 fine grinding makes the phos- 

 phorus more easily available to 

 the plant roots. He said that 

 these two determinations are the 

 major considerations and that the 

 quantity of iron or aluminum is 

 of no consequence so tar as raw 

 rock phosphate is conoerned. He 

 pointed out that the manufac- 

 turer of acW phosphate finds it 

 necessary to use only material 

 which is low in iron and alu- 

 minum for the reason- that they 

 effect his chemioal processes. 

 Sondes of Supply 



Speaking of the question of 

 supply, J. 8. Bent, Director of 

 the Phosphate Department, men- 

 tioned the various major sources 

 and markets throughout the 

 world and -particularly this coun- 

 try, and summed up the situa- 

 tion by stating that Tennessee 

 must continue to be relied upon 

 to take care of Illinois- needs. 

 Competition and freight rates 

 eliminate other fields of produc- 

 tion so f^r as we are concerned. 



Secretary Geo. A. Fox said that 

 the I. A. AJ would like to make 

 the phosphate supply work of the 

 Phosphate-Limestone Department 

 as nearly s^lf-supporting as pos- 

 sible. On account of the small 

 business thejpast two years.it has 

 not been quite sejf-supporting. 

 Naturally, t|ie cost of this serv- 

 ice depends largely ^pon the 

 volume of business done. The 

 Association has found it neces- 

 sary to subsidize the work thus 

 far. Mr. tox stated that the 

 Association has determined that 

 it is not proper for It to carry 

 sales of phosphate to its members 

 on open account, thus absorbing 

 large amounts of funds and tak- 

 ing some risk, and that therefore 

 the method now being used is 

 that of shipping on order form 

 bill of lading with sight draft at- 

 tached. 



Permanenty LarKCfit Interest 



"At one time prompt delivery 

 and accurate quantity and qual- 

 ity of the product was a real 

 problem," said Mr. Fox. "These 

 problems have been solved by 



lems rise again If thib work is 

 discontinued? Or are they per- 

 manently in, the past? That is 



one of the questions facing us. 

 Our largest interest in this prob- 

 lem is bound up with the per- 

 manency of our agriculture— that 

 of an adequate future supply. 

 The effort is worth while if there 

 is anything we can contribute 

 toward the safety and economy 

 of this future supply." 



Pro<lncer Finds Fault 



The head of one of the Ten- 

 nessee phosphate companies that 

 has been bitter in his attack upon 

 the Association, was present ^t 

 the meeting and he was invited 

 to state bis criticisms and to 

 make - suggestions before the 

 meetinai He accused the De- 

 partment of selling an inferior 

 and unsatisfactory quality of 

 rock. A major project of the 

 Department has been to secure 

 that grade which gives the maxi- 

 mum amount of phosphorus for 

 the minimum amount of cost to 

 the farmer. Several Farm Advis- 

 ers expressed their satisfaction 

 in the results of this work and in 

 finding that they can depend up- 

 on the Phosphate Department for 

 quality and delivery. 



This Phosphate producer said 

 that the I. A. A. largely con- 

 trolled the business in Illinois and 

 that it would neither push sales 

 itself nor allow other companies 

 to go into the field and do so. 

 His suggestion was for dealers 

 to handle phosphate on a mar- 

 gin of profit and to act as sales- 

 men in pushing Its use. 



Sales CamiiaiKn 



"Shall the Department enter a 

 sales campaign to increase the 

 demand?" was one of the chief 

 subjects of discussion. One Farm 

 Bureau representative expressed 

 the opinion that the Phosphate 

 Department had little grounds 

 upon which to ask for support 

 unless it carried on as active a 

 campaign for sales throughout the 

 counties as would be done by 

 the producers themselves. The 

 general opinion of the meeting, 

 however, was' to the effect that it 

 would not be wise, especially at 

 this time, to allow indiscriminate 

 and promiscuous sales effort. The 

 chief reasons expressed for this 

 opinion were that many farmers 

 might be induced to purchase, 

 the condition of whose soil or 

 whose method of farming or crop 

 rotation were not as yet such as 

 would Insure satisfactory results. 



Another criticism which this 

 producer made was that the low 

 I)rice at which the Department is 

 distributing phosphate will have 

 the effect of driving the producers 

 in Tennessee out of business. He 

 named several companies which 

 had already discontinued and oth- 

 ers that are in bad financial 

 shape. Director J. R. Bent an- 

 swered this point in detail. One 

 after another, he named all of 

 the leading companies — told the 

 history of each and the conditions 

 which have led to the suspension 

 of operation or financial trouble 

 of those- that have gone down or 

 quit. He showed that the effect 

 of the business secured through 

 the Phosphate Department had 

 been to preserve and encourage 

 the producers who had been will- 

 ing to contract through the Asso- 

 ciation and not to discourage Or 

 hurt, and that the difficulties 

 which faced the industry aS a 

 whole find their origin in the 

 general economic situation^and fi- 

 nancial inability of the farmer, 

 which has resulted in small ton- 



TRANSPORTATION DEPARTMENT 



m^ - 



Do You Have Any Trouble 

 In Getting Cars? Write the 

 Transportation Department. 



nage. Mr. Bent emphasized the 

 point that in his opinion the 

 phosphate industry needs volume 

 of business more than it does im- 

 provement in price. He stated 

 that the companies with whom 

 the Association has dealt, endorse 

 its work and Mr. Marshall con- 

 firmed this statement of Mr. 

 Bent's. 



Vnder-SeUini; I. A. A. 



One Farm Bureau President 

 asked why other Independent 

 companies could sell phosphate 

 cheaper than the I. A. A. The 

 criticism of producers has l)een 

 that the I. A. A. price is too low. 

 Mr. Barton answered this by 

 saying that it Is the same ques- 

 tion that comes up every time a 

 farmer's organization attempts to 

 go into business in competition 

 with others. The companies or 

 concerns whose toes are stepped 

 upon retaliate by cutting prices 

 to a point even of serious loss 

 in order to discredit and elimi- 

 nate. If possible, the work of the 

 farmers' organization. Often the 

 price-cut Is at the Sacrifice of 

 quality. 



At the close of the discussion 

 Mr. Fox summed up the matter 

 by saying that the accusations 

 against the work and the per- 

 sonnel of the Departmeit have 

 been without facts or proof. He 

 invited any further statements for 

 discussion which might prove 

 these accusations and told the 

 audience that if the work of this 

 Department is not being conduct- 

 ed along the most effective lines, 

 or is not important enough to be 

 worth while, it is an easy matter 

 to change its character or abolish 

 it altogether. 



The meeting concluded by a 

 motion giving a unanimous vote 

 of confidence lo ths Phosphate 

 Department and urging it .to cpnf- 

 tlnue. 



The DnPoirr Comity Farm Barea* 

 offf-rs a reward of $1^5 to anyone 

 who will pive information that will 

 arrest and i-onviot any person steal- 

 in K, from a Farm Rureau members 

 farm or place of business. 



Little Chance 

 Sefti For Price- 

 Fixing Schemes 



"I see nothing to encourage 

 the belief that Congress will pass' 

 legislation which will fix the 

 price of wheat or that Congress 

 win go into the business of buy- 

 ing and~ selling wheat or in any 

 statutory way do anything to 

 put the Government in the wheat 

 business," stated Gray Silver, 

 Washington Representative of the 

 American Farm Bureau, recently- 



In speaking of the same pro- 

 posed plans. Secretary of Agricul- 

 ture Henry C- Wallace, said, "I 

 am not hopeful of good results 

 from either of these plans. How 

 would the Government dispose of 

 the surplus accumulated? What 

 effect would either action have 

 on wheat acreage? What effect 

 would it have on the aci-eage and 

 price of other, grains and of 

 livestock?- Would .^he same pol- 

 icy be adopted in case of ruin- 

 ously low prices for other farm ' 

 products? 



LOOKING FOB FEEDEHtS? 



If you are in the market for 

 feeder live stock of all kinds — 

 cattle,' hogs, or sheep, write to 

 the Live Stock Marketing Depart- 

 metit of the I. A. A. which can 

 furnish names of parties who 

 can supply the needs of Illinois 

 farmers in feeder stuff. 



POOL YOrK WOOL! 



The Live Stock Marketing De- 

 partment of the I. A. A. an- 

 ilounces that all who have wool 

 to consign to the pool should do 

 so as soon as possible as the first 

 pool win close at a very early 

 date. 



The rlinton Coimtr Farm Bnreaa 



held a public auctign of 75 feeder 

 hogs on August 27. 



The Adamir Conaty Farm Bareao 



picnic. August 27. included a trip 

 !)y steamboat up the Misstssippi 

 river to the Keokuk dam. 



