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The niinou Agricultural Association Record 



August 16, 1924 



LEADERS IN 25TH 

 DISTRICT MEET TO 

 DISCUSS PROBLEMS 



Variety of Practical Topics 



Features Meeting; Indorse 



Stand Taken By I.A.A. 



On Grain Merger 



Leaders in Pulaski, Union, 

 Jackson, Randolph, Williamson 

 and Franklin county farm bu- 

 rqaus, ineeting in Benton, Aug. 

 6,, for the third 25th district con- 

 tdrence, passed a resolution ap- 

 • proving the stand taken on the 

 gfain merger by our I. A. A. ex- 

 edutive committee in demanding a 

 thorough Investigation of the 

 Grain Marketing Company. 



[The grain merger was a secon- 

 dary topic of discussion, however, 

 in the variety of practical farm 

 problems which the conference 

 considered. Fruit and vegetable 

 mfarketing, egg marketing, the 

 American Council of Agriculture, 

 the tax situation and mutual fire 

 and lightning insurance were dis- 

 cussed thoroughly by farm ad- 

 visers, farmers and I. A. A. offi- 

 cials. 



Three Franklin county girls, 

 tl^e McCoUum sisters, or better 

 ktiown there as the West Frank- 

 fort Vocal Trio, provided a novel 

 feature in the farm bureau con- 

 ference world by singing groups 

 o( old familiar songs. They 

 oSened both the morning and 

 alteraoon session of the meeting 

 with songs which brought un- 

 usual applause. 

 I Unite Farm Organizations 



In the morning meeting, R. A. 

 Cpwlea, treasurer of our I. A. A., 

 discussed the American Council 

 ■ot Agriculture and the Grain 



Miarketing Company. "The Amer- 

 ican Council of Agriculture is aftive and to the West Frankfort trio 



single purpose organization," he 

 said. "Its aim is to unite farm 

 organizations in order that we 

 can enact legislation which will 

 eSibody the principles of the de- 

 feated McNary-Haugen bill. 



"Agricultural o r g a n i zations 

 h»ve been speaking in several dif- 

 ferent tongues and they must 

 leiarn to speak with one voice. 

 The Council aims to speak for the 

 principal farm organizations on 

 the subject." 



A. B. Leeper, director of our. 

 I. A. A. fruit and vegetable mar- 

 keting department and manager 

 ot the Illinois Fruit Growers' Ex- 

 cfeange, outlined briefly a new 

 plan of organization which the 

 Ebicbange has adopted. The new 

 plan centralizes the management 

 and operation of the marketing 

 problems and thus far has been 

 vtry successful, Mr. Leeper 

 stated. 



A general round table discus- 

 silon resulted from an egg cand- 

 ling and grading demonstration 

 by F. A. Gougler, of our I. A. A. 

 poultry and egg marketing de- 

 partment. He illustrated the 

 wlay eggs should be graded and 

 ut-ged the sale _of eggs on the 

 seven-grade basis advocated by 

 tile United States department of 

 agriculture. 



"We wouldn't think of dump- 

 iig our entire wheat crop on the 



local market and receiving what- 

 ever we were offered for it, yet 

 that is just what we do under the 

 present system of marketing our 

 eggs," Mr. Gougler said. "The 

 graded system of egg marketing 

 is coming sooner or later. The 

 farmer should learn now how to 

 produce eggs on a graded basis 

 so he will be ready for it when 

 it comes." 



Every farm bureau county in 

 the district was represented in 

 the group of 60 who attended the 

 meeting. The 4th meeting of 

 this district will be held in Ma- 

 rion, Williamson county, during 

 Otiob^. 



Approve I. A. A. Stand 



The following resolutions 

 passed at the close of the con- 

 ference summarize the general 

 sentiment of those who attended 

 the meeting; 



Resoflved. that the various farm 

 bureaus in the 25th district . lend 

 their E^ctive support to a campaign 

 to establish gradins of egps, as the 

 Urst step in better marketing. 



Resolved, that it is the sense of 

 this meeting that ive express our 

 approval of the stand of the I. A. A. 

 regarding the grain merger as ex- 

 plained by Mr. Cowles. 



Resolved, that our vote of appre- 

 ciation be extended to J. R. Bent for 

 liis services in connection with the 

 limestone producer.s of Illinois and 

 the farm bureau and it.s members. 

 and that eacli county farm bureau 

 Blake a special effort to put on a 

 limestone campaign at the present 

 lime. 



Resolved, that a letter be sent by 

 this conference to Congressman K. 

 E. Dennison. expressinB our appre- 

 ciation for his support of the Mc- 

 Xary-IIaugen bill. 



Resolved, that it is the opinion of 

 this assembly that the American 

 Council of Agriculture has a field of 

 nsefulness which cannot be filled by 

 the .American Farm Bureau Federa- 

 tion and that we look with favor 

 npon the new organization. 



Resolved, that this conference ex- 

 tend a vote of thanks to our district 

 representative. J. V. Lessley. and to 

 the Franklin County Farm Bureau 

 and its officers for their efforts in 

 arranging this conference which has 

 been both interesting and instruc- 



that has entertained us so well. . 



Whiteside county's j n n i o r 

 cliaiiipion dairy judging team, 

 which defeated their English op- 

 ponents at Haywardsheath last 

 month, thereby winning the gold 

 trophy given by the London 

 Daily Mail, did so because In- 

 dividiial members of the team 

 won first, second and fourth in- 

 dividual honors In the contest. 

 America's team scored 1,590 

 points and England's 1,484. Don- 

 ald Williams, of Sterling, was 

 the highest scoring individual of 

 the contest with 645 points to 

 his credit, while Harold Gaul- 

 rapp, of Rock Falls, was second 

 with 540. Elwyn Folkers, the 

 third member of the team, scored 

 605 points. 



B.V processing explosives left 

 on hand after the World War, the 

 federal government has made 

 available 100,000,000 pounds of 

 pyrotol, an explosive which is 

 used in clearing lands and build- 

 ing roads. 



Over i>,0<M> liogs were vacci- 

 nated during June and July by Pe- 

 oria county farm bureau mem- 

 bers. 



The production of milk in the 

 United States was 110,000,000,- 

 000 pounds last year. 



Outing Secretary, , .. 



Illinois Agricultural Assoclatioii, 1 ■■ . ; 



«08 .<?. Dearborn St., Chicago. 



I will give poor Chicago children a 10-day vaca- 

 tion starting as soon after August 19 as the children can be 

 got to me. It is understood that the United Charities of 

 Chicago assumes the liability in case of accident or illness; 

 however, we pledge to e.xercise precautions in care and treat- 

 ment. 



Description of children wanted (sex and age); 



We will meet the children at or 



(Railway Station) 



(Please name one optional station) 



Remarks; 



(Name) 



(Town). 



(County) 



(Rural Phone No.) 



WATS' TALKS TO 

 MIDWEST FARMERS 

 ON TAX PROBLEMS 



Investigations Made Decrease 



of Hundred Million Dollars 



in Assessed Viduation of 



Farm Lands 



J. ('. WntMon 



"I hope none of you have the 

 mistaken notion that you pay no 

 ta.xes and so are not interested 

 in taxation," John C. Watson, our 

 I. A. A. authority on taxation, told 

 an audience of WLS radio fans 

 recently. "Do not think that the 

 only people who pay taxes are 

 those who pay money to the coun- 

 ty treasurer and get tax receipts 

 for it. Do not forget that you 

 also pay taxes in the costs of near- 

 ly every article or service you buy. 

 When you pay the rent for your 

 room, or for your house or apart- 

 ment, or for 

 your office, 

 ^ -j^^^K your rent 1 n- 

 / j^^^H eludes some- 

 [^^^^^^B thing for taxes 

 [^^^^^^m Oh the proper- 

 ^^^^^^^ ty. When you 

 pay for the coal 

 for heating 

 your property, 

 your coal bill 

 has something 

 for taxes on the 

 property of the 

 dealer who sold the coal, the rail- 

 road that hauled it, and the mine 

 that produced it. So with your 

 bills for gas, electric power, gro- 

 ceries, clothing, and nearly every- 

 thing else you buy. You get only 

 a receipt for the payment of rent 

 or other bills. But you are pay- 

 ing ta.xes on the property of most 

 of the people who sell to you or 

 serve you, because they are able 

 to include the cost of taxes on 

 their property in the prices of the 

 articles and services they sell. 

 Reasons for High Taxes 

 "There are two principal rea- 

 sons for the jireat increase in 

 taxes in recent years," explained 

 Mr. Watson. "The first is the de- 

 crease in the purchasini; jiower of 

 the dollar to about Bfi per cent of 

 its purchasing i>ower before the 

 war. It now requires about 50 per 

 cent more money than it did be- 

 fore the war to buy the same ser- 

 vices or the same articles, except 

 most farm products and some 

 mining products. The second im- 

 portant reason for the great in- 

 crease in taxes is the -notable in- 

 crease in the number of purposes 

 lor which taxes are levied. For a 

 longer time than most of us will 

 live this country will be paying 

 for the cost of the great war. We 

 ale also asking the federal, state 

 and local sovernment to do many 

 things which we did not ask them 

 to do only a few years ago. We 

 may have gone too far in this di- 

 rection." 



Mr. Watson outltned bripfly the 

 tax situation in Illinois as it es- 

 pecially aflects farmers, home 

 ownei's and city tenants. He re- 

 viewed tor his audience the plan 

 adopted by many farm bureaus in 

 correcting unfair property valua- 

 tions. 



Investigate .'>« Coanties 

 The results of the investigation 

 in 56 counties were interesting. 

 In about halt of the counties it 

 was found that in spite of wide 

 variations in individual proper- 

 ties, city and country real estate 

 was assessed with fair uniformity 

 between the two classes. In about 

 one-half of the remaining coun- 

 ties or one-fourth of the total 

 number land was found to be as- 

 sessed at a higher percentage of 

 its actual value than lots, but the 

 differences were not, large. In 

 the remaining one-fourth of the 

 counties the differences were larg- 

 er; farm land in a few counties 

 running as much as 40 per cent 

 or 50 per cent higher than lots. 



"The result of our tax investi- 

 gation in Illinois last year was a 

 decrease of over one hundred mil- 

 lion dollars in assessed valuation 

 of farm lands," Mr. Watson said 

 in concluding his talk. "If half of 

 this decrease was reflected in de- 

 creased taxes, Illinois land owners 

 paid about $2,000,000 less taxes 

 last winter than they would have 

 paid, had the high valuation of 

 past years remained. 



"What has been done by the 

 farmers of Illinois this year can 

 be done by the farmers of any 

 other state. Organization, how- 

 ever. Is necessary for individuals 

 cannot get very far with this 

 kind of work." 



Our 1. A.^ A. transportation 



tiepartnieiit received a letter last 

 week from Otto Heuer, a Du- 

 Page county farmer, acknowledg- 

 ing receipt of a check for JlOO 

 in settlement with a railroad 

 company for loss of a cow killed 

 on the right of way. Damages 

 were collected through our I. A. 

 A. because the railroad fence 

 along Mr. Heuer's farm was in 

 such condition as to allow the 

 cow to get out on the right of 

 way. 



The claim had previously been 

 declined by the railroad company 

 before our I. A. A. filed a claim 

 for Heuer. The railroad com- 

 pany also repaired the fence. 



"The Farm Bureau has 

 brought more returns to the mid- 

 dle west than the members will 

 pay out in dues in the next 25 

 years," said L. J. Dickenson, 

 Iowa congressman, in a recent 

 picnic address. 



Congressman Dickenson also 

 stated, his belief that the prin- 

 ciples of the McNary-Haugen bill 

 will be enacted into law. "The 

 fight is still on," he declared, 

 "and with the active support of 

 the farmers, through their organ- 

 izations, success is certain." 



Checkley Explains 



Horseshoe Rules 



The state farm bureau horse- 

 shoe pitching championship will 

 be played off at Lincoln, at the 

 I. A. A. picnic Tuesday, August 

 26. 



In order to eliminate down to 

 the contenders for the champion- 

 ship in the limited tiine, the fol- 

 lowing rules have been adopted: 

 The preliminaries will start 

 promptly at 9 A. M. All county 

 teams entered will draw for 

 places at court and play one 

 game. The winners of this game 

 will draw for places pitching 

 against winners and the losers will 

 pitch in a similar manner against 

 losers. The same method of win- 

 ners playing winners and losers 

 pla.ving losers will be used until 

 a total of four preliminary games 

 have been played. The eight 

 highest scoring teams in points 

 won will be chosen to go through 

 a similai' semi-final contest and 

 from the highest point scorers 

 two teams will be chosen, and 

 they will i)Iay the three best out 

 of five of games won and lost. 



This system we believe will be 

 more satisfactory than one where 

 a team is eliminated when they 

 have lost one game, as it may 

 happen that the two best teams 

 would accidentally draw one an- 

 other at the start of the elimina- 

 tion. In the above system of to- 

 tal points won in preliminary 

 ^mes good consistent players 

 will sift out to the top of the 

 contest. 



J. H. Checkley, Farm .Adviser, 

 Logan County Farm Bureau. 



Preniiuiiis totaling; more than 

 iMiOOW aie being offered this year 

 by the Illinois State Fair in its 

 junior department for club and 

 school exhibits. 



.A report of tlie executive coin- 

 niittoe meeting shows that Clark 

 county is checking up on delin- 

 quent farm bureau members. 



BOARD OF REVIEW 

 OF PEORIA COUNTY 

 PONDERS PROTEST 



Expect a Later Hearing for 

 Consideration of Figures Pre- 

 sented By Our I.A.A. 

 Offidal' 



Following a hearing on August 

 6. before the board of review of 

 Peoria county by the Peoria 

 County Farm Bureau, the board 

 decided that it would be well to 

 consider the figures compiled by 

 the taxation department of our 

 I. A. A. which showed that city 

 property was assessed on valua- 

 tions at least 11 per cent below 

 that of country property In Pe- 

 oria county. 



Last year figures were com- 

 piled by the taxation department 

 which indicated a 25 per cent dif- 

 ference between valuations on 

 city and country property. As- 

 sessors made their assessments on 

 the 25 per cent reduction basis, 

 but the board of review allowed 

 only a cut of approximately eight 

 per cent. 



It is probable that another 

 hearing will be called to consider 

 further the figures presented in 

 the first hearing by J. C. Watson, 

 director of the taxation depart- 

 ment. 



Considerable feeling had been 

 aroused in Peoria county between 

 the board and the farm bureau 

 before the first hearing. The 

 board claimed, through the city 

 papers, that it had been treated 

 with "scant courtesy" by the 

 farm bureau when it sent out 

 1,200 tax complaint blanks 'to its 

 members without first consulting 

 the board. 



In the hearing Chas. R. Ford, 

 president of the Peoria County 

 Farm Bureau, pointed out that 

 in 1923 the farm bureau had sub- 

 mitted a tax protest, but the ap- 

 pearance of the farm bureau rep- 

 resentatives before the board had 

 not even been recorded in the 

 minutes. There are three city 

 men on the board. 



To Winneb»BO county,- Iow», 



goes the honor of being the first 

 county in the state to be classi- 

 fied as a modified-accredited area 

 with reference to tuberculosis 

 eradication. The order confer- 

 ring this classification to the Iowa 

 county came from the Bureau of 

 Animal Husbandry at Washing- 

 ton, D. C, July 25. 



Farmers living in Winnebago 

 county who ship hogs to the vari- 

 ous markets will now receive a 

 price of 10 cents per hundred 

 pounds more than those coming 

 from counties that do not have a 

 modified-accredited classification. 



.August 26 is a holiday for Illi- 

 nois farm bureau members. Plan 

 now to go to our annual I. A. A. 

 picnic. 



The Illinois .Agriculttu^ Coop- 

 eratives Association now has a 

 membership of 47 organizations. 



Seventeen cotuities are now 

 carrying on educational cam- 

 paigns through our I. A. A. tu- 

 berculosis eradication project. 



Whit«side county farm bureau 

 members have used 3,250 tons of 

 limestone since February 4. 



Last Chance To Buy 



WOOL BLANKETS 



Only 500 Left 



These blaid<ets, made up for the I. A. A., are pure 

 wool, 6-lb., double blankets, 72 x 84 inches. 



Colors — Gray and White checks. Blue and White 

 (diecks. 



These same blankets woidd cost $3.50 more if made 

 up under present wool and manufacturing prices. 



TO FARM BUREAU MEMBERS $11.00 



to NON-FARM BUREAU MEMBERS. $13.00 



Order early, through your County Farm Bureaa 

 Cash must accompany order. Blankets will be closed out 

 during the summer and early fall; no more blankets will 

 be manufactured for the I. A. A. 



I. A. A. LIVESTOCK MARKETING DEPARTMENT 

 608 South Dearborn Street, Chicago 



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