mber 26, 192S 



leges and spe- ■ 

 d.from high-' 



m the self -inter- 

 more disturbing 

 rising from the. 

 he corn belt and 

 le farms have a, 

 r devices in the 

 bad a few years- 

 srences with tl^ 

 pecial indnstrirfr 



t change or two, 

 combelt farmer 

 9 problems since^ 



lUst be made to 



■m. 



Farmer and son" 



snry C. Wallace,. 



•eduction in pro- 



il I. A. A. picnic," 



1 bill will take 

 this next win- 

 lade to put it 

 e to-open a de- 

 fa are keeping 

 rope. 



imported manu- 

 measure. How- 

 his countrj' will 

 ulation, it is pos- 

 itrrng the coming 



September 26, 1925 



t;l 



The lllinoU Agricultural Auociation Record 



if --^li- 



I 

 PMe3 



ILLINOIS FARMERS 

 BREAK RECORD FOR 

 USE OF LIMESTONE 



Illinois Exceed* Other State* 

 In U*e of Agricultural Lime- 

 done, State* Director Bent 





Again Illinois has broken all rec- 

 ords in the use of agricultural lime- 

 stone. Farmers of Illinois have or- 



* dered more limestone this year than 

 any previous year in history. Not 

 only have they exceeded their own 

 record but they have ordered more 

 limestone this year than has ever 

 been used in any state in the coun- 

 try for any year, according to J. R. 



ast of the slogan'| Bent, director of the I. A. A. phos- 

 iinw the demand f Phate-Umestone department. 

 ,ing tne aemanu « ,.^^^ amount of agricultural 

 aintained ip tins umestone being used by Illinois 

 farmers," states Director Bent, 

 "has increased to such a large 

 quantity this year-that many lime- 

 stone plants and , quarries have 



► shipped the entire' reserve supply 

 and are from 20 to 30 days behind 

 on orders. 



"The flood of agricultural lime- 

 stone orders has resulted in de- 

 layed shipments from some plants 

 and serious overloading of orders 

 at other plants. I have written 

 many quarry operators to deter- 

 mine their respective supply on 

 hand and which plants are required 



. to delay their orders. 



'From their replies, we found 

 that many of the quarries have 

 shipped all of their reserve supply 

 and must fill all orders within 10 

 to 30 days while other plants are 

 still in a position to make prompt 

 \ shipments. Before placing their 



' orders, farmers should determine 

 through their farm bureaus from 

 which they can receive the prompt 

 shipments. 



Color Matters Little 



"Good limestone may have either 

 a blue, brown, white, or yellow 

 character in color," states Director 

 t Bent, in referring to several in- 

 quiries that have come from farm 



> bureau offices: 



'Frequently I have received com- 



iroa<i f reiEht rate f Plaints from districts that have been 

 froao ireignt rate j^^^^gj^^jg^ ^g yg^g ^ white stone, 



' especially if such districts have 

 made purchases from some new or 

 ' different source having a stone of 

 a different color. There are several 

 reasons for the color of limestone, 

 farmer, stating ^ ^^y ^^ jlj^^ jl,g supply has come 

 from a layer which contains traces 

 'of iron that are unobjectionable 

 but give the product a dark color. 

 The color often varies with the lo- 

 cation of the quarry and the ledge 

 from which the limestone is taken, 

 have insisted thatT g^,^,j^ Reason for- Coarse Stone 

 he entire needs of I ., . ,^ , , ■ . v 



„ I "Another source of complaint has 



y request. From » ^^^^ ^^^ presence of coarser or 

 hat by asking for^jarger sizes of stone in the ship- 

 ndency toward a 7 ment. This may be due to one of 

 ;ure in its present^ three things: 



Duroose of the v The shipment may have been 



■^ ^j^ loaded into a car that was not clean 



1 and had already some of the coarse 



* stone in it. It may have been load- 

 ed off a stock pile which may have 

 been piled adjacent to another pile 

 of a coarser size and the two got 

 mixed. It has sometimes happened 

 that chutes or bins carrying coars- 

 er sizes at the crushing plant have 



iproving. it would^blocked up and spilled over into the 

 n pos^-wlr'co.fdl' aBricultural bin. When shipments 

 County Farm Bu-f are received which contain too large 

 I percentage of such coarse stone, 

 .hich causes trouble in the spread- 

 W, the facts should be reported to 

 this department in considerable de- 

 tail as to the size and the quantity 

 of the coarse material complained 

 of and also as to whether or not it 

 was scattered or mixed all through 

 the shipment or was found in only 

 one or two spots in the car." 



appears to be the 

 I adopted in their 

 eight rates before 



last session Con- 

 -Smith Resolution 

 >nimis8ion to con 



;he United States, 

 rates on certain 

 tions are deemed' 

 of a plea by farm » 



•ailroads for some 

 ghtSrates on cer- 

 ir request for an 

 ■e on the part of 



Rates 



uly Tth regarding 



IS of necessity re- 



rts productive en- 



This Is not of 



other occupations. 



)I KNOWS. 



>IO. AfiD (TS IHf 



OUR LIFE.Do'teU 



tOMp HfRE 



an" Buiuj it 



tfFICIFNOr.'.' 

 CARtLP' AROUND 



suRei>f A Few 



3.T ANt.THevtl. 



FRO li WASH iHgroiY 



IF VtU.MAD 



OFFICE VISITORS 



Visitors to the I. A. A. office: 

 H. J. Shafer, executive commlt- 

 ti-em^n, Macon County Farm Bu- 

 reau and president of the lUiopolis 

 farmers* Co-operative Elevator, 

 Illiopolis; and W. K. Shafer, his 

 .-^on : J. O. Lawrence, Sales Man- 

 ager, Illinois Fruit Growers Ex- 

 change, Centralia; R. E. Rickheel; 



E. A. Duddy; C. D. Stevens, Ele- 

 [Vator Engineer; Mr. McGann, from 

 the Michigan Central railroad; C. 



F. Nattlehoffer, Naperville, Illinois; 

 A. J. Surratt, Agricultural Statisti- 

 cian, Springfield; Professor Valerian 

 Dbelensky - Ossinsky, Agricultural 



Vcademy, Moscow, Russia; N. A. 

 Olsen, Assistant Chief, Bureau of 

 •Agricultural Economics, U. S. D. A., 

 ashington, D. C; President Set- 



L 



I. A. A. Committee 

 Elects Delegates 

 To A. F. B. F. Meeting 



Delegates to represent the I. A. 

 A. at the annual meeting of Amer- 

 ican Farm Bureau Federation to 

 be held December 7-9 in Chicago, 

 were elected by the executive com- 

 mittee during its last meeting. 



Those who were elected as del- 

 egates are: Sam H. Thompson oi 

 Quincy, president of I. A. A.; Frank 

 D. Barton of Cornell, executive 

 committeeman of the 17th district; 

 Earl C. Smith of Detroit, commit- 

 teeman of the 20th district; and, J. 

 L. Whisnand of Charleston, com- 

 mitteeman of the 19th district. Al- 

 ternate delegates will be G. F. Tul- 

 lock of Rockford, committeeman of 

 the 12th district; A. R. Wright of 

 Varna, committeeman of the 16th 

 district: and Samuel *Sorrells of 

 Raymond, committeeman of the 

 21st district. 



Other principal subjects that 

 were discussed at the meeting 

 were: 



1. Treasurer's report read, ap- 

 proved and placed on file. 



2. Report on the sale of the 111* 

 Mo Co-operative Milk Producers' 

 Association property, St. Louis, 

 made by R. A. Cowles, director ol 

 the I. A. A. finance department. 

 This subject was supplemented by 

 a report made by Wm. Webb, 

 chairman of the dairy advisory 

 committee. 



3i Report of L. J. Quasey, direc- 

 tor of the transportation depart- 

 ment, on Illinois' interest in the 

 freight rate increase of 5 per cent 

 brought before the Illinois Com- 

 merce Commission by the rail- 

 roads. Mr. Quasey told of the 

 means of co-operation with other 

 organizations. No definite action 

 was taken by the committee. 



4. The subject of farm legisla- 

 tion to be taken up at the next 

 congress was discussed and referred 

 to the legislative committee to be 

 reported on at the ne.\t meeting. 



5. H. E. Goembel of Hooppole, 

 chairman of the grain marketing 

 advisory committee, reported on re- 

 cent de\Telopments in- co-operative 

 grain marketing, the formatlon^Tof 

 the Rural Grain Company and its 

 membership on the Chicago board 

 of trade. 



6. Report of the department of 

 taxation and statistics was made 

 by J. L. Whisnand, chalirman of the 

 advisory committee of U^ at. , 4» p art- 

 ment. Mr. Whisnand sfated 'that 

 J. C. Watson, director of the de- 

 partment, is a member of the| tem- 

 porary committee appointed for the 

 purpose of establishing a large per- 

 manent committee of all important 

 organizations in the state tor the 

 purpose' of urging the adoption of 

 the proposed revenue amendment 

 to the state constitution. 



7. Motion made that the I. A. A. 

 give a breakfast to the boys and 

 girls club members of Illinois who 

 will attend the club congress to be 

 held during the week of the inter- 

 national livestock show, Chicago. 



8. Report of the activities of the 

 department of information made by 

 R. v. Karr of Iroquois, chairman 

 of the advisory committee of the 

 departoient. 



9. Report of the phosphate-lime- 

 stone department made by Stanley 

 Castle of Alton, chairman of the 

 advisory committee. 



10. Motion made, seconded and 

 carried that the next meeting of 

 the executive committee be held on 

 October 8. 



V 



Co -Operation is Only Salvation 



For Farmers, Says F. (). Lowden 



"~^ 



J 



"I cannot tell whether rain is a sweet and fragrant bearer of a bene- 

 fit or bankruptcy — when the hot summer winds scorch the fields, I do 

 not know whether to pray for rain or thank the 

 Almighty for the unbroken drought." declared 

 Ex-Governor Frank O. Ijowden, when discuss- 

 ing the fact that a short corn crop has a greater 

 total value and gives greater returns to the 

 farmers than a bumper crop, in his address be- 

 fore 3,500 farmers attending the annual picnic 

 of the Ogle County Farm Bureau, Oregon. Sep- 

 tember 16. 



"Something is wrong with our method of mar- 

 keting when the aggregate money value of a 

 larger crop of a prime necessity is smaller than 

 the value of a smaller crop. " stated .Mr. Lowden. 



"Last winter the Department of Agriculture 

 issued its statement of the estimated value of 

 farm crops for 1924. This was heralded as 

 another proof that agriculture had come into 

 its own. For it found that the 

 total value of the farm crops for 



Fraak O. l>owd«« 



tie of the Indiana Farm Bureau 

 Federation. Indianapolis; J. D. Bills- 

 borough, Assistant State Leader of 

 Farm Advisers, Urbana; S. J. Cot- 

 tington; Henry Wallace, Wallace's 

 Farmer, Des Moines; Mr. Albaugh 

 of the Bureau of Agricultural Eco- 

 nomics, n. S. D. A., Washington, 

 D. C; Mr. Zealand, President of 

 the American Council of Agricul- 

 ture; Mr. Fred Davy, Berry, Illi- 

 nois; Congressman L. J. Dickinson, 

 Algon, Iowa; Herman Steen, Secre- 

 tary Indiana Wheat Growers Asso- 

 ciation, IndianapoliSr Indiana; Wal- 

 ton Peteet, Secretary National 

 Council of Cooperative Associa- 

 tions, Washington, D. C; E. P. 

 Taylor, organization department, 

 American Farm Bureau Federa- 

 tion; Mr. Harvey Hill, Chamber of 

 Commerce; Dr. H. A. Ruehe; Pro- 

 fessor W. H. Smith, State Leader, 

 Farm Advisers; J. W. Lloyd, Chief 

 Olericulturist; F. C. Bauer, Profes- 

 sor of Soils; L. E. Card, Chief of 

 Poultry Husbandry Department, 

 University of Illinois; B. F. Taylor, 

 Midwest Crushed Stone Company, 

 Greencastle, Indiana. 



the year was three-quarters of a 

 billion dollars in excess of the val- 

 ue of the farm crops for the year 

 before. . 



"This, of course, was welcome 

 news. 



"The report, however, disclosed 

 some very perplexing facts. To 

 illustrate, the corn crop was about 

 20 per cent smaller than the crop 

 of the preceding year. The total 

 value, however, exceeded that of 

 the preceding crop by almost two 

 hundred million dollars. And 

 everyone knows that the quality of 

 the crop was far below the quality 

 of the preceding . crop. And yet, 

 under a marketing system which it 

 is claimed is one of the most note- 

 worthy achievements of this com- 

 mercial age, the smaller crop of in- 

 ferior corn was worth more in the 

 market than the larger and ' su- 

 perior crop of the year before. 



"Is it to be wondered at that the 

 farmers distrust the present meth- 

 ods of marketing farm products? 



"Now suppose that the corn 

 growers had been completely or- 

 ganized during those years, do you 

 believe that this depressing and 

 puzzling condition would have come 

 about? 

 SomethinK Wrong With Methods 



"It is safe to say that the larger 

 part of the bumper corn crop of '23 

 was sold at a price which did not 

 cover the cost o( production. If 

 corn growers had been organized 

 and found that the market would 

 not receive their corn at what it 

 cost them to produce it, they would 

 not have dumped tee larger part 

 of the crop upon the market in a 

 few brief months. They would 

 have stored the remainder know- 

 ing full well that seasons of bounti- 

 ful production are always followed 

 by seasons of low production, and 

 that at no distant day they would 

 receive a profitable price for their 

 corn. As it was, only a few of the 

 corn farmers were able to hold 

 their corn for the bighet" prices 

 which they had rightly anticipated 

 and which were later received. 



"Something is wrong with our 

 methods of marketing when the ag- 

 gregate money value of d larger 

 crop of prime necessity is smaller 

 than the value of a smaller crop. 

 There are untold thousands of men 

 and women and children who need 

 more cotton to clothe them than is 

 produced in the world today. To 

 say, therefore, that twelve million 

 four hundred thousand bales of cot- 

 ton are worth more than thirteen 

 million bales is to condemn a sys- 

 tem of marketing which so meas- 

 ures value. 



"Agriculture cannot regain its 

 rightful place in this highly organ- 

 ized world except through organiza- 

 tion. Organization is . the most 

 powerful factor in human progress. 

 The economists as long ago as Ad- 

 am Smith found in organization the 

 key to industrial growth. 



IVfMlncer Set.* Pric* 



"In the modern world, the farm- 

 er alone has been the last to realize 

 the value of organization for its 

 own sake. Therefore, it happens 

 that when the farmers in any com- 

 munity organize for any purpose, 

 they soon find that there are other 

 benefits derived In addition to the 

 one that was their special aim. A 

 finer community life, a widening 

 of sympathies With their neighbors 

 and associates, a broadening of 

 their outlook upon the world, a 

 new sense of the dignity and worth 

 of their calling, an elevation. of the 

 ablest and worthiest among them 

 to places of leadership, are among 

 the by-products of farmers' organ- 

 ization. 



"Agriculture has emerged from' 

 its primitive state. It must there- 

 fore conform to those practices 

 which have been found necessary to 

 the success of other great indus- 

 tries. In all other fields of com- 

 merce, unrestricted, free and open 

 com-petition in the marketing of 

 products has been gradually disaj)- 

 pearing. 



In praMlce in every other indus- 

 try the producer in the first in- 

 stance makes the price at which he 

 will sell his product. He usually 

 arrives at this price by computing 

 the cost of production and adds 

 what he considers a reasonable 

 profit. Of course, he may some- 

 times err as to what the public 

 wllj pay and have to revise his 

 price, downward, but he himself set* 

 the goal. 



St«bilize<l Price is tioal 



"In all industries the marketing 

 problem has been the problem 

 stressed for a generation. In the 

 marketing of farm products alone 

 has the producer been content with 

 the methods of a century ago. 



"In all other industries there has 

 been a growing tendency to sta- 

 bilize prices. This has been ef- 

 fected largely through the organ- 

 ization of a few great corporations 

 which have taken the place of in- 

 numerable smaller indeiioudont 

 units scattered over the land. Not 

 only are there fewer manufacturers 

 relative to production in every line, 

 but they in turn are organized into 

 a great national body which meets 

 usually once a year and considers 

 500 questions of world supply and 

 demand and other subjects of com- 

 mon interest to the industries. 

 These great companies are there- 

 tore able to plan the next year's 

 campaign intelligently and to ad- 

 jus^ their production to the prob- 

 able demand. From time to time 

 they determine the price for their 

 product, which remains until new 

 conditions require a change. They 

 no longer go ahead blindly running 

 full capacity, putting their com- 

 modity upon the market at what- 

 ever price may be offered. 



"In agriculture alone have the 

 methods of marketing made no im- 

 provement, except as to the sale of 

 those products which are now being 

 marketed through co-operative com- 

 modity marketing associations. In- 

 deed, while the farmer generally 

 has retained his old methods, they 

 have lost much of their original 

 efficiency because of the tendency 

 towards organization on the part of 

 purchasers of his product. The 

 number of sellers has constantly in- 

 creased while the number of pur- 

 chasers has cojistantly decreased. 



Intrrest« Oiiimse .Miivement 



".Agriculture; therefore, finds It- 

 self with its 'ii^illions of members 

 freely competing among themselves 

 while it is obliged to sell its prod- 

 ucts in a highly organized indus- 

 trial and commercial world. Now, 

 if the farmers are to put themselves 

 upon terms or equality with the 

 great industries of the country, 

 they too must organize. It is not 

 desirable that they should imitate 

 the great Industries, adopt the cor- 

 porate form of organization and op- 

 erate their farms through corporate 

 management. It would weaken our 

 whole social structure if our mil- 

 lions of farmers were to surrender 

 their individualism in this way. 

 Nor is it necessary. While much 

 improved efficiency in production is 

 still possible, the farmers have 

 made and are making constant 

 progress in this respect. The prob- 

 lems which press hardest upon him 

 today are concerned with the mar- 



(Continued on Page 4, Col. 4) 



FIRST HEARING OIF 



FREIGHT CASE ENDS 



j fL'oi^tinued from I'ag« 1. Col. i- i 

 there Mras no cross exan inatiOD oi 

 the witnesses. This wi 1 be don< 

 when fthe h«3Bring is reopened on 

 Octobflr 26. It is exp<'Cl«d that th< 

 secon<t hearing will take one week 

 At that time witnesses irill be ex- 

 amined and shippers who are read\ 

 to givt their testimony will pre 

 sent eridence. 



Previous' to the hearing it wa.- 

 reported that the weKtern railroads 

 would ask tor an 11 per cent in- 

 crease] -After the seafion was 

 opened an officer of th^ railroads 

 announced tliat "The western rail 

 roads ^re now asking an increasi 

 of but {five \tvir cent in their freight 

 rates. Jalthough an increas*- of at 

 least 1 1 pnr cent would be n«ces 

 saiy tq yield the roads the fair re 

 turn t)o which they are entitled, 

 both by law and by justice. W» 

 are asjciug for but a five per cent 

 increa^ because of the em«rgenc> 

 of. our neceacity. We need addi 

 tional revenue and we ne4d it now. 

 We ha^e hoped that by taking for 

 only ati absolutely essential mini 

 mum (hat we might obttiin mor> 

 prompcly and with less tippositiort 

 this minimum of relief which wi 

 must luave." 



It^rden Ik on .tinirultarv 

 During this hearing it developed 

 that this proposed five per cent in 

 crease 'will not effect to any great 

 extent, many of the important 

 products, such as lumber, coal, and 

 manufactured goods. This is par- 

 ticulari}' true as to lumber and 

 coal, liar Jt was announced that 

 there i^iil be no increase from com- 

 petitive pointK on such materials 

 from lioutheastern territory into 

 St. Lovis and Chicago. Likewise 

 the tht-ough rate to the Pacific 

 Coast tnd adjacent territory to bi 

 determined by the railroads will 

 not be increased. 



-As t^ie liearing adjourned, O. W 



i Sandbag, transportation director 



of the .jVmerican Farm Bureau Fed- 



erationt said: "The railroads liav< 



drawn i a clear line. They havi 



' thrown down the gauntlet to agri 



I culture;" This appears to be e«pe 



I cially tirue inasmuch as the larger 



I share df all freight hauled west ol 



the Mississippi River in made up ot 



agricultural products. 



.^cM*rho«Ne Im WItneMK 

 A suritrising situation apfteared 

 during the hearing . when H. W 

 Moorhfljuse. formerly director of 

 the research department of the 

 American Kami Bureau F'ederation. 

 was called to the stand as a wit- 

 ness iq support j>f the railroads 

 The railroads submitted Mr. Moor- 

 house's testimony as evidence ot 

 the retarn of prosperity to agricul- 

 ture antl said nothing either Tor oi 

 against the proposed freight rat*- 

 Increase. His evidence was chiefl> 

 composid of certain farts to show 

 that thl> purchasing power of thc 

 farmer jfor the crop year 1924-192f. 

 was 14 per cent greater than thi 

 pre-war] level. 



More{ tlfan 30 witnesses repre- 

 senting various vocations, includ- 

 ing ecohomists. bankers and insur 

 ance n^eu, testified for the rail 

 roads. I The last to appear was u 

 represeatative of an insurance com 

 pany wpo stat^Hl that his corpora 

 tion h^ inves4ed largt^ sums ot 

 money [in the Railroads and that 

 upon iijve^tigation were confident 

 that a [rate iacrease was needed 

 When Oil the stand he was asked: 

 "If tne commission should find 

 that a rjtte increase was harmful to 

 western agriculture, would you 

 still urce that this inorease b» 

 granted?" 



"Certhinly not." was his reply. 



(>^>er HeariniCK in Weot 

 Further hearings will be held at 

 St. Paiii, November 9; IVnver, No 

 vember!l6; San Francisco, Noveni 

 ber 23;} Dallas, December 2; and 

 Kansas 'City. December 14. It is 

 understood that although the car 

 riers' iietition for advance is beint- 

 heard at the same time as Docket 

 17,00(1. (the two will be disposed o: 

 separately. It is anticipated that 

 the decision on the five per cent 

 increase: will be made the lattei 

 part of tDecemtwr. while it will r«- 

 quire a( least a year to rearrangi- 

 tlie preient freight rate structure 

 which is expected to reduce thi 

 rate oji certain agricultural prod 

 ucts wHere reductions are advis 

 able. 



Althoiigh the I. .A. A. is poolini; 

 its interests in the fight with th< 

 other i\ western states concerned 

 its identity is being maintained in 

 case anftbing should develop per 

 taining to rates within the stati 

 which Would call for action as an 

 individual orgianizatlon. 



