Page Twelve 



THE I. A. A. RECORD 



CONTACT with the forces of nature 

 seems to draw humanity together. 

 People drop their customary reserve and 

 indifference toward each other when con- 

 fronted with an unusual happening. The 

 recent blizzard in Chicago demoralized 

 transportation, disrupted business, and made 

 hordes of daily commuters conscious of the 

 brotherhood of man. The big snow was 

 secretly enjoyed by all. 



The storm broke the monotony of the 

 daily trip to the office and shop. Trains 

 normally filled with strangers coldly oblivi- 

 ous of each other, buzzed with conversa- 

 tion. Everyone had an experience to tell 

 and told it. The majority accepted their 

 plight with good humor. They got a kick 

 out of it. 



One man forcing his way through a 

 packed coach yelled "Ouch" and was 

 greeted with an uproar of hilarity. "Tick- 

 ets please" yelled by the conductor as he 

 sought in vain to penetrate an impenetrable 

 wall of flesh and blood, was the signal for 

 more laughter. The ticket-puncher good- 

 naturedly made the best of the situation. 



Paradoxically as it may seem the big 

 city normally is the lonesomest place on 

 earth. You get lost in a crowd. City peo- 

 ple invariably let you severely alone. "Mind 

 your own business and I'll mind mine" is 

 the prevailing attitude. New York and 

 Boston are even more that way than Chi- 

 cago. Some people like this kind of soli- 

 tude. They are temperamentally suited to 

 city life. Affability is more characteristic 

 of the small town and country; more 

 noticeable in the South and West than in 

 the North and East. 



The United States is too rich to be loved, 

 says Owen D. Young, president of General 

 Electric. A wise observation. We may 

 envy rich people but we seldom love them. 

 And here in America we are more tolerant 

 of wealth than in other countries. In Rus- 

 sia, Carroll Binder tells us in the Chicago 

 News, poverty is considered a virtue. The 

 poorest family in one village he visited re- 

 ceived the most favors from the local Soviet 

 officials, in spite of the fact that the man 

 of the house squandered his earnings on 

 vodka. 



r E. G. T. 



ff 



Too Many Farmers** 



TTITHEELER McMILLEN'S new book, 

 T ▼ "Too Many Farmers," discusses 

 everything agricultural from farm insects 

 to fertilizers to farm relief. It b more or 

 less a rehash of his many years experience 



and observations as a feature story writer 

 for Farm and Fireside. While parts of the 

 book are a bit draggy and elementary to 

 those who are familiar with the problems 

 of farm production, marketing, organiza- 

 tion, and economics, yet it reveals much 

 keen observation and a good sense of hu- 

 mor. The reading is enlivened with clever 

 digs and quips. 



The title of the book is catchy but not 

 particularly relevent to the subject matter 

 contained. Written in popular style and 

 very readable, the book runs the whole 

 gamut of farm subjects discussed in agri- 

 cultural literature and from the legislative 

 floor and platform during the last decade 

 or more. 



It is a scrambled eggs sort of a book, but 

 interesting and worth reading. While 

 you may not agree with all of McMillen's 

 conclusions, you must admit he has been 

 a close observer and offers many construc- 

 tive suggestions to improve the lot of the 

 man on the farm. 



One Man in Washington 



He suggests one legislative representative 

 in Washington to speak for aU the farm 

 organizations. He believes that chemistry 

 and the utilization of farm crops and crop 

 wastes commercially offers the surest path 

 to a more prosperous agriculture. 



The author's point that politicians and 

 politically-minded farm leaders have 

 wrought fearful damage to agriculture by 

 "exaggeration of every evidence of depres- 

 sion" so as to cause loss of confidence to 

 farmers and discouragement in young peo- 

 ple contemplating farm careers is not con- 

 sistent with the point emphasized in the 

 title, "Too Many Farmers." 



One can argue that many should be dis- 

 couraged from continuing with or going 

 into farming. How would the government 

 have been brought to a recognition of the 

 need for a national policy for agriculture if 

 farm spokesmen had not continued talking 

 until something was done. 



McMillen's sympathies in spite of his 

 criticisms, most of which are fair, are with 

 organized agriculture and co-operative mar- 

 keting. He believes that agriculture needs 

 a highly organized, intelligent, and ever 

 functioning class consciousness willing to 

 demand more than it needs and expects to 

 get. He shows that farmers are a dwin- 

 dling minority and must unite to get at- 

 tention. 



Must Reduce Costs - 



"I am not very hopeful of the results 

 to be expected from the adjustment of pro- 

 duction to demand; I am exceedingly hope- 

 ful of the results that can be obtained from 

 the cost of production," he writes. 



In conclusion he emphasizes the fact that 

 there are too many farmers. "The shift 

 from farm to city must go on. Had I the 

 power I would hurry it up for the good 

 of those who will be farmers in the years 

 to come and for the good of the whole 

 people. The change does not inevitably 



mean that the countryside must become de- 

 serted and the cities more congested. Some 

 of it means that the country side will be- 

 come richer, a better place to live." In 

 like manner it is suggested that decentra- 

 lization of industry into smaller towns and 

 cities will make possible better living con- 

 ditions for the thousands of workers so af- 

 fected. The book is published by William 

 Morrow & Co., New York, price $2.00. 



Grain 



Marketing' 



By Harrison Fahrnkopf 



JUST AS SURELY AS THE sun rises and 

 sets the producer of Illinois is gradually 

 waking up to the fact that he is "THE 

 FARM BUREAU and the ILLINOIS 

 AGRICULTURAL ASSOCIATION." 



WHO RUNS the Illinois Agricultural 

 Association? "Persons only engaged in the 

 production of agricultural products, etc.," 

 and furthermore, "The members of the 

 Board of Directors must be members of 

 this Association, in good standing, and 

 whose principal occupation and interest is 

 farming." 



THE MANAGER OF AN elevator or 

 the elevator itself, in ftmctionlng properly, 

 is not and should not be buying grain from 

 the community. The elevator should be a 

 unit in an efficient machine that is selling 

 grain. We have had our grain "bought" 

 for a long time; let us become sellers of 

 the grain we produce. 



WE SHOULD NOT WASTE our time 

 thinking of a grain marketing program 

 that will increase prices a quarter cent or 

 one cent per bushel. In joining forces we 

 should aim for results that will raise the 

 general level of prices fifteen or twenty 

 cents per bushel. We can do this with 

 corn. 



THE SLOGAN— "Keep the Stockholder 

 and Producer Ignorant" has prevailed alto- 

 gether too long and can be applied in the 

 field of farmer elevators as dominated by 

 the grain trade. 



IN GRAIN MARKETING we have not 

 kept step with the trend of the times. We 

 must go forward on a plan, the structure 

 of which is soimd. We are not building 

 for a day but for a hundred years. 



THEN THERE IS THAT term, "con- 

 tract" everybody is talking about. We 

 should remember that the term "Contract" 

 or "Agreement" in and with one's own 

 (Continued on page D) 



