Pace 4 



The OEaoH AgricuhnnJ Aw ocia ti on Record 



April 2S, 1928| 



USTENERS CONCUR IN 

 VIEWS ON PROBLEMS 

 VOICED BY LOWDEN 



Success Marks First Radio Club 

 Meeting. Replies Reveal 

 Thoughtful CcKninent 



That the first "Midwest Radio 

 Community- Meeting" was a success 

 is attested to by the letters of con- 

 gratulation and comment received 

 by WLS after the program in which 

 former Governor Frank 0. Lowden 

 was the principal speaker, with his 

 talk on **Co-operative Marketing.'* 



Following are copies of just a 

 few of the many replies received. 

 The entire stack of letters will be 

 bound permanently in a "scrap- 

 book" andi presented by the I. A. A. 

 to the farm leader: 



"I want to congratulate you on the 

 Midwest dommunity Club program. 

 It proves aja Mr. Kvana re*'ently said, 

 that the I. A. .\. i? looktid to aa a 

 leader and is a leader in things worth 

 while. 1 afti proud to be a member of 

 the Ford I'ounty Farm Bureau and 

 the I. A. A.— F. W. Tieken. Piper City. 

 III." 



"Heard TOur program "Mid -West 

 Community Club" last night and wish 

 to congratplate you on Oie flne ar- 

 rangement! of your program. Am 

 thoroughly! In accord with the views 

 expressed ^y your speakers. Let us 

 have more of them. Former Oover- 

 nor L^wdeti certainly knew what he 

 was talking about and we hope for a 

 speedy action to bring about co-op- 

 erative marketing. \VL£ is certainly 

 trying to improve the situation in 

 agrlculturet— H. W. Jeske. Batavia. 



111." 7 



All Agree with Lowden 



"It was with a great deal of pleas- 

 ure I listened in last nighit. I wish 

 there werei more men likei you. 



"I feel that you know and are doing 

 all one man can possibly dc to set the 

 farmer right 



"It waa almply great. — Dfn O. Dav- 

 ies. Sugar Grove. 111." 



"I listen4d w^ith great appreciation 

 to the entire speech of Esi-Governor 

 Lowden last night. It v^a so inter- 

 esting and informing thai I lost not 

 a word of it. Congratulations. I'm 

 not a farmer, but this ape«ch ought 

 to do a gk*eat^ deal of^'^good. — C. T. 

 Watson. Brookfleld. III.*" 



These from the Ctty 



"While as a would-be broad minded 

 individual I have always respected 

 the farmer and his calling, giving the 

 latter its proper niche in importance, 

 I somehow never visualized in mind 

 him and his vocation as being gov- 

 erned by the same economic laws and 

 methods of development as other in- 

 dustrial, oommercial and financial 

 lines of endeavor. Your speech con- 

 vinced me of the desirability of the 

 farmers being "like other men" in 

 their marketing habits, and the ben- 

 efit to accrue to the consumer there- 

 by. 



"Hoping that very many doubting 

 or hesltatiag farmers were as easily 

 convinced as I was in your propa- 

 ganda, and congratulating myself on 

 the accidental chance that caused me 

 to hear your talk. 4tnd thanking you 

 for my pleasure and profit in it. — 

 Very truly yours, H. N. Madge. Chi- 

 cago." 



"I enjoyed your R. F. D. program 

 last eveninig. The address by Hon. 

 Frank O. Liowden on farm conditions 

 was a get)!. The deep atudy and 

 knowledge of farm conditions, no 

 doubt gained by actual experience, 

 should be heeded by all fttrmers to 

 band together and better their con- 

 ditions through the mediuim of co- 

 operation. 



"I also enjoyed the good points 

 brought out by Mr. Evans of the A. 

 F. B. F. In his talk —John Klein, 

 Chicago." 



Farm Bureau Projects 

 Are Subjects of Talks 

 by County Farm Advisers 



Farm advisers' talks have filled 

 the air oni the I. A. A. programs 

 broadcast j over WLS, Chicago. 

 "What thelFarm Bureau Is Doing" 

 was the gjeneral subject ^^of these 

 talks. 



J. W. Whisenand, Henry county 

 farm adviser, spoke on "Saving Dol- 

 lars for Henry County Shipper's." 

 He stated that Henry county is the 

 heaviest shipper of live stock in 

 Illinois an4 that it has a shipping 

 association at every one of its 19 

 shipping points. All of these asso- 

 ciations, he safa, have been organ- 

 ized since the coming of the farm 

 bureau in Ithat county in 1917. 



A. A. Otisen. speaking on the co- 

 operative marketing of live stock 

 in Warren county, told of the estab- 

 lishment of the Warren County 

 Shipping Association, in answer to 

 the realization that the farmer to- 

 day needs the best possible market- 

 ing service. The association ships 

 live stock from 1 1 points in the 

 county, alTof th^m being supervised 

 by a county manager whose head- 

 quarters are in the farm bureau 

 office. 



J. H. Checkley in talking to his 

 farmer constituency told of the 

 many activtties taken part in by the 

 members of the 70 community clubs 



in. Logan county. Boys and girls 

 club work, he said, is one of the 

 major activities of the county Varm 

 Bureau. His clubs are strong on 

 community singing, too. 



DeKalb County Farm Bureau Ad- 

 viser T. H. Roberts in his talk on 

 "Clean Farms and High Yields" 

 stressed the importance of buying 

 none but weed-free seed. "Contin- 

 ued cultivation and hard work," he 

 said, "will clean up a farm provided 

 you don't re-sow it with weeds 

 every time you sow your small grain 

 and grass seed." 



I. A. Madden, Sangamon county 

 farm adviser, voiced the sentiment 

 of farmers in his county by saying 

 that "corn testing is one of the most 

 profitable projects we have ever un- 

 dertaken. We are lookirig forward 

 and making plans for the time when 

 all our members will select, cull, 

 and test their seed corn. We con- 

 sider our seed cora testing project 

 One of the most important services 

 We have ever offered because corn 

 Is our money crop. 



The gas ta.x problem, so pressing 

 tight now, occupied the center of in- 

 terest on Friday evening, April 24. 

 *vhen WLS broadcast a debate on 

 the subject, "Shall Illinois Have a 

 Gasoline Tax?" The affirmative 

 tvas upheld by J. C. Watson. I. A- A. 

 director of taxation and statistics. 

 While Zack C. Elkin, leglslativp di- 

 rector of the Chicago Motor Club, 

 took the negative. 



The following program Is sched- 

 uled for the week of April 27 over 

 WLS; 



Monday, April 27 at 12:30^Dan G. 

 pavies, director of the Kane County 

 Farm Bureau, on ""Community Hap- 

 jjiness." 



Tuesday. April 28 at 12:J0 — D. C. 

 Cooke, director of the Stephenson 

 County Farm Bureau, on "Our Farm 

 Bureau Live Stock Project;" and at 

 t;4t> — Lfc M. Swanzey. president of the 

 Stephenson County Farm Bureau, will 

 Speak. * 



Talks by farm advisers over WLS 

 for the first half of May are sched- 

 uled as follows: 



Monday, May 4 at 12:3)>^Oeo. T, 

 Swaim. farm adviser of the Ford 

 County Farm Bureau, on "How Farm- 

 ers In Ford County <!et Higher Cream 

 Prices." 



Tuesday, May 5 at 12:30 and 8:40 — 

 F. E. Fuller, farm adviser pf the 

 Marshall-Putnam Farm Bureau on the 

 accomplisments and services of this 

 Farm Bureau. 



Monday. May 11 at 12:30 — C. C. 

 Turner, farm adviser of the Moultrie 

 County Farm Bureau on "Moultrie 

 County Farm Bureau Has the Budg- 

 ets." 



Tuesday, May 12 at 12:30 and 8:40 

 — Enos Waters, farm adviser of the 

 Edgar County Farm Bureau on ac- 

 complishments and services of the 

 Edgar County Farm Bureau. 



On Friday. May 8. at 8:40 P. M.. 

 R. F. Karr, I. A. A. executive com- 

 mitteeman for the 18th district, will 

 apeak on "The Farmers' Niche." 



LOWDEN SPEAKS ON 



CO-OP MARKETING 



(Continued from page 3.) 

 becoming more competent and are 

 able to understand their difficulties, 

 and work out methods for their re- 

 lief. This is as it should be. If it 

 were not so it would be a sad com- 

 mentary on the agricultural teach- 

 ing of the last flfty yearS. 

 Discontent Is a Protest of Intelli- 

 gence 



"Farmer discontent — I want you 

 to get this and I want everybody 

 else, as well as farmers, to get it. 

 Farmer discontent may ite looked 

 upon as a protest of intelligence. I 

 believe, as never before, that farm- 

 ers have had real grievances, and 

 they have been increasingly suc- 

 cessful in getting a larger number 

 of people to recognize that fact." 



Carrying this thought further. 

 President Thompson stated that the 

 American public does not fully 

 realize the actual condition of agri- 

 culture. They get their ideas from 

 the unusual reports of individually 

 Successful farmers who are given 

 publicity and through the propa- 

 ganda sent out by interests to whom 

 It is desirable to make things ap- 

 pear to be running smoothly. 



President Thompson then intro- 

 duced Frank Evans, general mar- 

 keting counsel of (be American 

 Farm Bureau Federa^on, who ex- 

 tended a greeting to the farmers of 

 the Middle West, a part of which 

 is as follows: 



"The mission of the Farm Bu- 

 reau, as conceived by the leader- 

 ship of the present, is not less — in- 

 deed, it is much greater In Its scope 

 and purpose — than it was in its 

 earlier years. If there are any who 

 look upon the farm bureau move- 

 ment as designed merely to meet a 

 momentary emergency, let them be 

 disabused of the thought, for it is 

 00 temporary expedient, but a de- 

 liberate, determined and ever in- 

 creasing effort designed to build and 

 io foster a digniOed, efflcient and 



A Short Story On 



the Adventures of . 

 A Motoring Friend 



The genial Kentlenutn scoot- 

 in|: along In the automobile at 

 th^ left is enjoying the good 

 roads of Uli. 

 nols — the 

 ones which 

 have been 

 an4l are he- 

 Ing built by 

 fhe two bond 

 lN.stieN totaling 9160,000,000, 



L'nfortunately, our motoring 

 friiend tume<I onto a state aid 

 roa<1 which appears to have 

 been neglected. He is now 

 traveling the farmers' princi- 

 pal farm-to-market road. We 

 hol»e his springs are gcMKl ! 



Quite likely this fellow will 

 write his Senator and Repre- 

 sentative asking tiieni to vote 

 foit the (^uthbert.son gas tax bill 

 be^au.«e money from its apply 

 callon will help make these 

 faitm-to-inarket roads better. 

 Hej will tell his legislators that 

 hi.<j ex|ierience illustrates the 

 reoent statement of John C. 

 Watstm, director of taxation 

 an4 statistics of the Illinois .4s- 

 .sodiatlon, that Illinois Is rapid- 

 ly ileveloping the best primary 

 rowls in the country, but the 

 worst secondary roads. Our 

 motorist wouldn't have to pay 

 as nigh upkeep bills if his roads 

 we^ kept in better sliai>e. 



I Of course, if our hero in the 

 Rough Riding .\utomobi1e is a 

 pniperty owner, either in the 

 cit)- or country, he should write 

 anyway, because lliis bill saves 

 him from 



pacing his . #%^ M 

 cointy high- -^.itjJlWrm 

 wa}' tax. If t^^StSf%'j') 

 t hie legisla- •JHSPPkJ' ^x 



t or s got fL -^"^ "*- 



wlilole lot of 



let^rs down at Springfield, 

 they'll be more likely to vote 

 riight. A letter from you, too, 

 will help.) 



permpnent agricultural policy 

 throughout the country." 



I Lowden Begins 



"Itiere is no music sweeter to 

 my fars than the patter of rain 

 drop^ upon the roof breaking- a 

 drought in summer time, and yet, 

 to saVe my life, I cannot tell wheth- 

 er toe fain is a sweet and fragant 

 bearar of benefit or bankruptcy," 

 said former governor Lowden. 



"I^ it to be wondered at that the 

 farmers distrust the present meth- 

 ods Of marketing farm products?" 

 the farming governor asked. "They 

 see t^eir 1924 crop of two billion 

 four hundred million bushels of 

 corn, [inferior in quality, worth more 

 by solmething like two hundred mil- 

 lion ^ollars than their 1923 crop of 

 thre^ billions bushels of high grade 

 corn. I 



"This, it is agreed upon by all 

 hands, was due largely to the un- 

 favorable growing season In 1924. 

 But Vhile the season, wet and cold 

 as it was, was unfavorable to com, 

 it w^s exactly what the grasses 

 needid. And so, because of the 

 abundance of moisture, there was a 

 larger production of milk, with the 

 resull that this larger quantity 

 brought five hundred million dol- 

 lars less in the market than the 

 smaller production of the year be- 

 fore. 



"Now suppose that the corn grow- 

 ers and milk producers had been 

 completely organized during these 

 vears^ do you believe this depress- 

 ing ^nd puzzling condition would 

 have;come about? 



I Organization Is \ee<led 

 "It) is safe to say that the larger 

 part jof the bumper corn crop of 

 1923 was sold at a price which did 

 not cbver the cost of production. If 

 corn I growers had been organized 

 and found that the market would 

 not deceive their corn at what It 

 cost them to produce it, they would 

 not have dumped the larger part of 

 the ci-op upon the market in a few 

 brief! months. They would have 

 =ioId Sparingly. They would have 

 'torei the remainder, knowing full 

 well ^hat seasons of bountiful pro- 

 ductibn are always followed by sea- 

 sons Df low production, and that at 

 no distant day they would receive a 

 fair frice for their corn. 



"As it was, only a few of the 

 corn farmers were able to hold their 

 corn for the higher prices which 



they had rightly anticipated and 

 which were later received. _ Of 

 course, even if organized, ' they 

 could not have expected to receive 

 as much per bushel for a three mil- 

 lion bushel crop as for a two billion 

 four hundred million bushel crop. 

 They doubtless would have asked a 

 price — and would have received it 

 — which would have made the three 

 billion bushels of corn worth more 

 to them than the very next year's 

 crop of two billion four hundred 

 million bushels of poor corn actu- 

 ally brought on the market. 



"In other words, the corn farm- 

 ers, if organized, would have ad- 

 justed the supply to the actual de- 

 mand. 



Slight Surplus Depresses Price on 

 Whole Crop 



"Under the present system of 

 marketing farm products, a surplus, 

 no matter how slight, seems to have 

 the effect of depressing the price 

 with a total disregard for the cost 

 of production of even the absolute 

 necessities of life. 



"1 have been studying this ques- 

 tion of surplus, and I have come to 

 the conclusion that it exists mainly 

 In the minds of those whose inter- 

 est it is to depress prices." 



In defending the present efforts 

 put forth by farmers' co-operative 

 marketing, Mr. Lowden said that 

 those who oppose the farmers' co- 

 operative movement seem to think 

 it Is an effort to arbitrarily fix prices 

 upon farm products. They assume 

 that there are only two ways in 

 which prices are made: first, 

 through monopolistic control; and 

 second, by an indiscriminate throw- 

 ing upon the market, as at present, 

 of the products of the farm, taking 

 whatever offered. 



Iltere Is a Third .Method 



"They say that monopolistic con- 

 trol is impossible and that there- 

 fore the present system must con- 

 tinue to be employed," the former 

 governor said. "I insist that there 

 is a third method and that Is co- 

 operative marketing. No one that 

 1 know of denies the validity of the 

 law of supply and demand and its 

 influence upon farm prices. Some 

 of us, however, deny that it is self- 

 supporting so as to preserve nicely 

 a perfect balance between supply 

 and demand." 



A buyer and a seller must meet to 

 dicker in order to establish some 

 price. Mr. Lowden said In carrying 

 this thought further. The sellers, 

 in the case of farmers selling in- 

 discriminately, are at present al- 

 most entirely unorganized while the 

 buyers are organized. 



Does Rain Bring Benefit or 

 Bankruptcy? 



"These perplexing facts lead me 

 to wonder whether a rain pattering 

 on the roof Is bringing benefit or 

 bankruptcy. 



Due to the change of dates, farm 

 bureau presidents from Iowa, Indi- 

 ana and Michigan were unable to 

 be present, but sent messages of 

 greeting instead. 



R. A. Cowles, I. A. A. treasurer, 

 reported to the unseen audience on 

 the financial condition of the asso- 

 ciation, which, he said, is of the 

 very best in the country, there lieing 

 over a quarter of a million dollars 

 of surplus. This reserve, he pointed 

 out, is earning interest for the or- 

 ganization and the fact that the 

 association has it gives a great de- 

 gree of dignity to the activities and 

 undertakings. 



Takes a Day to Hear of Work 



Geo. A. Fox, I. A. A. secretary, 

 gave a short report on what the as- 

 sociation is doing. As an illustra- 

 tion of the great amount of work 

 under way, he told of the directors 

 of each of the departments present- 

 ing their 1925 progrartsN^ work 

 to the executive committee> Each 

 took a half hour and the executives 

 put in a whole day at nothing but 

 listening to oral tales of what the 

 I. A. A. is actually doing in serving 

 the farmers of Illinois. 



Arthur C. Page, editor of Orange 

 Judd Illinois Farmer, among other 

 things, drew attention to the won- 

 derful possibilities of radio. In this 

 instance, he said, it made it possible 

 for farmers who never before had 

 heard these agricultural leaders 

 speak to get almost a first hand im- 

 pression from them. 



John Got Sleepy 



John Turnipseed, scheduled to 

 speak for Prairie Farmer, was on 

 hand all evening, but got sleepy be- 

 fore his turn came. He caught the 

 9:31 train for Wheaton. 



Community clubs in many parts 

 of the Middle West stood at atten- 

 tion during the final song, the "Star 

 Spangled Banner." Other big 

 speakers will be scheduled later, it 

 was decided following the success- 

 ful reception accorded this one. 



SPREAD THE RISK OF 

 FARM LOSSES IS THE 

 AIM OF RE-INSURANCEi 



Officers Look to SucccMhil Ez-j 

 ample* in Other States ilkl 

 Laying the Olinoi* PlanJ 



Plans for re-insuring farm mu- 

 tual companies in Illinois are get- 

 ting under way as conferences ar^'| 

 being held and as similar coqipa- 

 nles in other states are being in- 

 vestigated. 



Wm. B. McFarland, Hoopeston. 1 

 president of the newly organized [ 

 Farmers Mutual Re-insurance Com- 

 pany of Illinois, l^as been studying I 

 the situation in Indiana, and he and'l 

 J. H. Kelker. I. A. A. office man- f 

 agef. Investigated the Iowa situa-"| 

 tion. ' 



Both of these state re-insurance'1 

 co|ipanies are reported as perform- [ 

 Ing much valuable service to the I 

 farmers of their commonwealths in I 

 the matter of spreading the risks] 

 of losses incurred by farm mutuais I 

 in cases of fire and tornado. It ' , 

 is hoped that some satisfactory plan | J 

 may be evolved whereby farm mu-. I 

 tual insurance companies In Illinois )| 

 may pool their losses In a common 

 state fund such as the re-insurance 

 company would provide. 



On April 21, President McFar- l| 

 land conferred with Mr. Kelker and- j 

 E. A. Myers, I. A. A. Insurance 

 counsel, relative to formulating a' 

 system which is to be presented to 

 the executive committee for ap-' 

 proval. Vernon Vaniman, field or- j 

 ganizer for the Illinois Agricultural 

 Co-operatives Association, will pre- ', 

 sent the state re-insurance plan to'|' 

 Illinois farm mutuais. There are 

 2 37 farm mutual insurance com- 

 panies in the state. 



Voli 



Here Are the Main 



Points in Tice Bill 



As Petssed by House 



The main points of the Tice bill, 

 as passed by the House, are as fol- 

 lows : 



(1) Whenever the owners of 75 per 

 cent of the herds of breeding and 

 datry cattle in any county operatinflr' 

 under the county area plan, shall 

 have signed agreements with the 

 State Department of Agriculture, the 

 Department shall enroll the county ' 

 under the accredited area plan and 

 notify the state's attorney and the 

 board of supervisors or board of 

 county commissioners of such county 

 accordingly. 



(2) The sale of all tuberculin in the 

 state is placed in the hands of the 

 State Department of Agriculture. 



(3) Female cattle used for feeding 

 purposes must be branded. 



<4> All reactors, whether tested by 

 irivate veterinarians or under the 

 .^b-operative plan, must be branded 

 and reported to the State Department 

 of Agriculture. 



(5) A 60-day retest is required on 

 all dairy and breeding cattle coming 

 into modified accredited area coun- 

 ties. It is also required on all dairy 

 and breeding cattle coming Into coun- 

 ties whenever the owners of 75 per 

 cent of the herds have signed agree- 

 ments to test with the Department of 

 Agriculture. The 60-day retest; Is re- 

 quired of pure breds coming Into any 

 county. The retest is also required 

 of all grade dairy and breeding cat- 

 tle coming into any Illinois county 

 after July 1. 1927. 



(6) All breeding and dairy cattle to 

 be sold or offered for sale at public 

 auction within the state of Illinois, 

 unless from an accredited herd or a 

 modified accredited area, shall be tu- 

 berculin tested by a qualified veter- 

 inarian within the 30 days immediate- 

 ly preceeding the date of sale. 



The bill, if passed by the Senate 

 and signed by the Governor, bot-h of 

 which are expected, will go into ef- 

 fect July 1. 1925. 



The principal difference between 

 the bin as passed by the House and 

 the original as drawn by the*I. A. A. 

 is in the extension of time until 

 July 1, 1927 for grade cattle to be 

 subject to the 60-day retest. 



An appropriation of $3,000,000 

 for paying indemnities during the 

 next two-year period is deemed nec- 

 essary to carry out the t. b. eradica- 

 tion program. 



I 



PRODUCER FACTS 



The Chicago Producers Commission 

 Association, established in 1922, han- 

 dled 17.917 cars of live stock carry- 

 ing 1,240.226 animals In 1924. Total 

 sales amounted to }27, 225.247. and 

 1103.461 patronage dividends were de- 

 clared for the year. 



The Producers Live Stock Commls- ( 

 slon Association of National Stock 

 Yards. Illinois, established In 1922, 

 handled 14,053 cars carrying 1,036.- 

 858 animals. Total sales amounted to 

 $18,977,387. and patronage dividends 

 to $58,932. 



The Producers Commission Associa- 

 tioii. Indianapolis, established In 

 1922. handled 902.833 animals in 12.- 

 782? cars. Total sales amounted to 

 $16,864,568, patronage dividends to 

 $77,404. 



K 



) 



