ftige 2 



4IL(L«I NOIS Ji 

 CULTURAL ASSOCUiBn 

 "RECQRir^V" 



Published twice a month by the Illinois AsricuiturAl 

 Association, 608 South Dearborn Street, Chicago, Illinois, 

 fidited by Department of Information, H, C. Butcher, 

 Director. 



Entry as second class matter Oct. 10, 1921, at the post 

 ofBce at Chicago. Illinois, under the act of March 3, 187s, 

 Accsntance for mailing at special rates of postase pro- 

 vided for in Section 1103, Act of October 3, 1917, author- 

 l»«d Oct. 31. 1921. 



Tfc» IndlTldual memberslxlR fee of the Illinois A*rlcul- 

 tural Association Is Ave dollars a year. This fee Includes 

 payment of fifty cents for subscription to the IlllnoU Ag- 

 ricultural Association Record. 



OFFICERS 



President, S. H. Thompson, Qnlncy. 



Vice-President, C. B. Watson, DeKalb. 



Treasurer, R. A. Cowles, BloominKton. 



Secretary, Geo, A. Fox, Sycamore. 



EXECUTIVE CXJMMITTEB . ' 



By Congressional Districts 



11th Jacob Olbrleh, Harvard 



12th G. F, Tullock, Roekford 



13th C. E. Bamborough, Polo 



14th W, H, Moody, Port Byron 



15th H. E. Goembel, Hooppole 



16th A. R. Wright, Varna 



17th F. O, Barton, Cornell 



18th R. F, Karr, Iroquois 



IMh J. L. Whisnand, Charletton 



eoth Earl C. Smith, Detroit 



21«t Samuel Sorrells, Raymond 



22nd Stanley Castle, Alton 



23rd J. E. Llngenfelter, Lawrencevillo 



24th Curt Anderson, Xenia 



tsth Vernon Leaaley, Sparta 



Directors of Departments 

 I. A. A. OfBce 



General Office and Assistant to Secretary, J. H. Kelker; 

 Organization, G. E. MTeUger; Information, H. C. Butcher; 

 Transportation, L, J. Quasey; Statistics, J. C. Watson; 

 Finance, R. A. Cowles; Fruit and Vegetable Marketing, 

 A. B. Leeper; Live Stock Marketing, C. A. Stewart; 

 Dairy Marketing, A, D, Lynch: Phosphate-Limestone, 

 J. R. Bent; in charge Poultry and Egg Marketing, F. A. 

 Gougler; special representative on Tuberculosis Eradi- 

 cation, M. H. Petersen. 



The lUiBou Agricultural Ajtodatimi Record 



June 7, 1924 



— ^ 



Call Nation-Wide Conference 



Following Defeat '■.■ y.. . 



Immediately after the defeat of the HcNary- 

 Haugen bill in the House June 3, the following 

 fitatement was issued by the farm organizations 

 ■which were fighting for the bill: 



"By failing to enact into law the principles of 

 the McNary-Haugen export corporation bill, con- 

 gress has refused to concede to American agri- 

 culture equal opportunity and equal protection 

 with that which the nation grants to other indus- 

 tries and institutions. 



"Congress has freely admitted the plight of 

 the farmer, but it has refused to take the steps 

 dictated by simple justice toward correction of 

 conditions that have precipitated nation-wide agri- 

 cultural coUapse. 



"We cannot believe this decision of congress is 

 to be taken as final. Otherwise we should have 

 no choice except to return to the millions of people 

 who compose the farming industry of the country 

 with the word that the American nation no longer 

 held a place for them, their work, or the produc- 

 tion of their hands and toil. 



"We believe the decision of congress in refus- 

 ing juKticQ to agriculture is dictated more by mis- 

 understanding of the underlying causes of present 

 conditions than by a cold blooded purpose of in- 

 dustrial Hiul financial aggrandizement accom- 

 plished through the niin of the farming industry. 



"With this belief, we are taking what steps are 

 Within our power to continue the work for the 

 principles of the McNarj--Haugen bill. A nation- 

 -wide conference of farm organizations will meet 

 in St, Paul July 17 and 18 to perfect arrange- 

 ments f or ,ezpanding and carr>-ing on the campaign 

 for agricultural justice and equality," 



What Doea the Farm Bureau Mean? 



What does the Farm Bureau mean to agricul- 

 ture? The above question is constantlj' recurring 

 to. the mind of the American farmer whether he 

 gives much time to thought or not. It keeps com- 

 ing up because every farmer knows that there is 

 something radicdUy wrong with farming as a 

 business, and what is more important, if some- 

 thing is not done and done soon, American agri- 

 culture will go on the rocks. Now, this is not a 

 calamity howl, it is a plain truth backed by facts. 

 When the price received for any commodity is 

 less than the actual cost of production, the chances 

 for a solvency for that enterprise are rather re- 



ite. This is ttue of farming now. 



JjOOl 



When the ta.xes on a piece of property operated 

 for profit are more than the gross returns from 

 the property, what does it mean? Confiscation. 

 That is true of many farms in some of our most 

 prosperous counties. Now what's the answer! 

 Vou know. Organization. 



Solution in Organization 



You ask how we know that organization is the 

 answer? Because we have the organization and 

 we are already beginning to se*- the effects of its 

 activities. Already our taxing bodies, state and 

 county, are responding to the demands of the 

 Farm Bureau committees regarding the lowering 

 of taxes on farm lands. Already cooperative live- 

 stock shipping association in the county, and Pro- 

 ducers' Livestock commission firms in our great 

 livestock markets are correcting many evils which 

 have existed for generations. Legislative bodies, 

 state and national, have hearkened to the voice of 

 the farmer coming through the State Farm Bu- 

 reaus and the American Farm Bureau Federation 

 to the effect that many comprehensive laws have 

 been pa.ssed, not as special legislation for the 

 farmer, but for the purpose of correcting abuses 

 and givihg the farmer an equal opportunity. 

 Farmers' Demands Win 



Now the farmer lias not been given these so- 

 called boons because some other agency recognized 

 his need. Not by any means. He has been recog- 

 nized because he has demanded recognition and 

 has an organization strong enough to enforce that 

 demand. If any one doubts this he has only to 

 turn to the fight put up by the "Farm Bloc" at 

 Washington and its results. After one of the 

 bitterest fights in legislative history, the farmers 

 won practically evei-y point contested for, and the 

 reason they won was because their cause was just. 



Or, the battle waged by the Illinois Agricultural 

 Association before the State Tax Commission and 

 the Railway Commission for tax and rate reduc- 

 tion. In both of these instanees, reductions were 

 secured amounting to more than the Farm Bureau 

 dues to each member of the Farm Bureau. 

 We Must Not Quit 



Well, we say, if we have accomplished so much, 

 isn't that enough? We ought to feel pretty well 

 satisfied, and surely have no need to worni-. Don't 

 think for a moment that the enemies of farm 

 organization will ever sleep ; they have too much 

 at stake and are right now at work among the 

 members of the Farm Bureaus, distributing propar 

 ganda and trying to create dissatisfaction and 

 discontent, so that the integrity of the organiza- 

 tion — the very life of the Farm Bureau — depends 

 upon the individual member. 



Every live, thinking member of the Farm Bu- 

 reau in every countj', of every state in the union, 

 should recognize this, should realize that it is not 

 sufiBcient for him to be just a member. He must 

 be a fighting member, spreading the truth about 

 this organisation among his neighbors and ex- 

 plaining to them the need of united action. 



I , 1 — Logan County Reflector, 



i*rfce Fixing and the Teeter-Board 



The term "price fixing" has muddied the water. 

 Some people use the term without thinking what 

 it means. Some people mean one thing and some 

 another. It has come to be a handy term for 

 propagandists. 



.The merchandising of any commcxlity requires 

 the fixing of a price. The r-etail or wholesale mer- 

 chant, the blacksmith, the profes-sioiial man, the 

 elevator, the creamery, the maiiufactiiri-r, in short, 

 all trade requires price fixing of some sort. Com- 

 merce is impossible without prici- fixing. 



What does the propagandists iiicaii by price fix- 

 ing? Time is an element. In c(jiiimcrcial practice, 

 some prices are fixed for a short length of time — 

 others for a longer time. What influences changes 

 in price? The theoretical economist says that sup- 

 ply and demand regulates the price. The most 

 casual observation proves beyond doubt that prices 

 and changes in prices are artificially determined 

 for selfish reasons. . Supply and demand forces 

 changes in prices only when other influences are 

 unable to resist its influence. Supply and demand 

 is a regulating and not a direct determining factor 

 in price fixing. As a regulatitig factor, it is irre- 

 sistible within certain limitations, and, on the 

 whole, a most wholesome influence. 



Some price fixers would attempt to eliminate 

 the law entirely. They would have a fixed price 

 for a more or less long period of time disregard- 

 ing supply and demand altogether. Other clear 

 thinking and sensible folks know that prices are 

 not determined, but regulated, and that in only a 

 limited way by supply and demand. These people 

 do not object to the introduction of new factors 

 in fixing prices for either a short or long time but 

 do recognize as futile every attempt to entirely 



eliminate the supply and demand factor as a 

 regulator.V force. 



Some say that cost, plus a reasonable profit, 

 should fix prices. Cost plus determines whether 

 or not a business is profitable. Everyone wants 

 his business profitable; therefore, he naturally 

 wants to determine prices on a cost-plus basis 

 wherever possible and naturally will do so when- 

 ever and wherever possible. Everyone is doing 

 his best at all times to fix prices on a cost-plus 

 basis. However, we never have and never will be 

 able to resist absolutely the regulation of supply 

 and demand except by regulating supply and de- 

 mand itself. We have not done enough thinking 

 about regulating supply and demand as a means 

 of maintaining a cost-plus price. 



There is undoubtedly an irresistible relation be- 

 tween cost-plus price fixing and supply to demand. 

 Artificial means are resorted to everywhere by 

 everybody in fixing prices in an attempt to main- 

 tain the one and overcome the regulatory force of 

 the other. Cost-plus and supply and demand are 

 the two ends of a business equation. They each 

 occupy opposite ends of a teeter-board. The im- 

 portant thing is to keep the teeter-board on a 

 level. A little artificial pressure on one side of 

 the fulcrum or a little less on the other will often 

 maintain the equilibrium. The important objec- 

 tive for farmers today is to obtain and maintain 

 that equilibrium. \ 



One, Two, Three, Four 



For the past four 3'ears the American Farm 

 Bureau Federation has energetically represented 

 American agriculture on every public question af- 

 fecting the welfare of the farmer. It has been the 

 farm bureau's aim to secure farmer-minded repre- 

 sentation on all national boards and commissions 

 as one step in its program to see that the farmer 

 is not forgotten when questions of national im- , 

 portance are under consideration. 



THE LIARS' CONTEST 



The Liars' Contest is getting warmer. We 

 have selected three this week. The question 

 which now confronts us is what to give as a 

 prize to the biggest liar at the next annual meet. 

 Ing. Suggestions will be welcomed. Let 'em 

 come, lies and all. Someone suggested a gas 

 mask; what do you think? 



Here we go: 



A farmer having one acre which he wished to 

 divide into building lots, decided the land would 

 sell much better if the weeds were killed out and 

 the plot sown to bluegrass. Accordingly, he of- 

 fered the entire crop to anyone who would cul- 

 tivate the ground and sow it to bluegrass. A 

 Scotchman who was more frugal than common 

 and who lived in a shack nearby, accepted the 

 offer, hired a teamster to plow and prepare the 

 seedbed at a standard price per hour. The 

 ground was a mass of sweet clover since it had 

 been left idle for years, so It took twice as long 

 to plow the plot as the Scotchman calculated. 

 After paying the teamster, the Scotchman had 25 

 cents left to buy seed. 



He spent IS cents for. potatoes and 10 for to- 

 mato seed. He cooked all the potatoes except- 

 ing the eyes, which he dried in the sun. Having 

 heard that Luther Burbank had grown potatoes 

 and tomatoes on the same plant, he went Luther 

 one better by mixing the potato eyes witli the 

 tomato seed, grinding them to a fine powder 

 and carefully broadcasting the dust over the 

 acre plot, A fine shower fell that night and in 

 three days the field was covered with as fine a 

 stand of tomato plants as there had been of 

 sweet clover. There was no necessity for cul- 

 tivation. He sold 27 tons of tomatoes to the 

 local canning factory and then harvested 776 

 bushels of fine potatoes. — John C. Brissenden, 

 Hillcrest Farm, Clay City, Illinois. "Where we 

 groiw them big." (And where you tell 'em 

 bigger — the editor.) 



Mr, Brown had a wonderful, swift team of 

 horses with which he drove to town in his wagon 

 one day taking his little dog. A dreadful storm 

 came up soon after he reached town and he 

 decided to beat he storm home if possible. 

 Everyone in town advised him not to start out. 

 The sky was black with clouds moving rapidly, 

 but he "allowed as how" he could beat that 

 storm home with his wonderful team of horses. 



Although driving madly, the storm caught 

 him before he was halfway home. Upon reach- 

 ing home, he found his wagon bed half full of 

 rain water caught by moving so quickly through 

 the rainstorm. The water was piled up in the 

 back end of the wagen and his little dog was 

 drowned. The horses didn't get wet. — Mrs. Paul 

 Wilson, Sullivan, III. 



The biggest liar is the farmer who says, "The 

 farm organizations haint doin' nuthin' fur th' 

 farmer." Keep smilln'. — C. T. Crofton, Savanna, 

 III. 



Good lies are coming In every day and extra 

 good ones every other day. Let's see if you 

 can "make" the Liars' Cornerl 



