Pagg Eight 



THE I. A. A. RECORD 



I liLilNOlS 



CCL.T1JRAL ASSOCIA 



RECORiy 



To adiance the purpose for which the Farm Bureau was organized, 

 namely, to promote, protect and represent the business, economic, political, 

 and educational interests of the farmers of Illinois and the nation, 

 and to develop agriculture. 



Editor, George Thiem 



Published once a month by the Illinois Agricultural Association, 

 at 124 So. Fifth St., Marshall, 111. Address all letters to Editorial Office, 

 608 So. Dearborn St., Chicago, 111. Entered as second-class matter 

 June 16, 1930, at the post office at Marshall, 111., under the Act of 

 March 3, 1879. Accepted for mailing at spe<;ial rate of postage provided 

 for in Section 412. Act of Feb. 2», 1925, authorized Oct. 27, 1925. 

 The individual membership fee ot the Illinois Agricultural Association is 

 five dollars a* year. The fee includes payment of fifty cents for subscrip- 

 tion to the Illinois Agricultural Association Record. Postmaster : In re- 

 turning an uncalled for missent copy please indicate key number on 

 address as is required by law. 



OFFICERS 

 Detroit 



President. Earl C. Smith _ 



Vice-President, A. R. Wright- 

 Secretary, Geo. E. Metzger.. 



...Varna 



^Chicago 



Treasurer, R. A. Cowles^ Bloomington 



BOARD OF DIRECTORS 

 (By Congressional District) 



1st to 11th _ H. C. Vial, Downers Grove 



12th _ G. F. TuUock, Rockford 



13th _ - C. E. Bamborough, Polo 



14th „ M. G. Lambert, Ferris 



15th. - - A. N. Skinner, Yates City 



16th - - Geo. B. MuUer, Washington 



1 7tli. _ - - —Geo. J. Stoll, Chestnut 



1 8th _ W. A. Dennis, Paris 



19th _ C. J. Gross, Atwood 



20th Charles S. Black, Jacksonville 



21st Samuel Sorrells, Raymond 



22nd Frank Oexner, Waterloo 



23rd _ _ _ W. L. Cope, Salem 



24th _ _ „ Charles L. S cott, Grayville 



25th Fred Dietz, De Soto 



DEPARTMENT DIRECTORS 



Comptroller J. H. Kelker 



Dairy Marketing - - A. D. Lynch 



Finance - —- R. A. Cowles 



Fruit and Vegetable Marketing A. B. Leeper 



Grain Marketing _Harrison Fahrnkopf 



Information - George Thiem 



Insurance Service V. Vaniman 



Legal Counsel Donald Kirkpatrick 



Limestone- Phosphate J. R- Bent 



Live Stock Marketing _. -'. Ray E. Miller 



Office - - - C. E. Johnston 



Organization - G. E. Metzger 



Produce Marketing F. A. Gougler 



Taxation and Statistics J. C. Watson 



Transportation L. J. Quasey 



ASSOCIATED ORGANIZATIONS 



Country Life Insurance Co _ L. A. Williams, Mgr. 



Farmers Mutual Reinsurance Co _ J. H. Kelker, Mgr. 



Illinois Agricultural Co-operatives Ass'n — F. E. Ringham, Mgr. 



Illinois Agricultural Mutual Insurance Co A. E. Richardson, Mgr. 



Illinois Farm Supply Co - - L. R. Marchant, Mgr. 



Agriculture and the Business 

 Depression 



CC'T'HE difficulty is that as business 

 J- speeds =up and develops into a 

 boom inequa^lities creep in and upset 

 the balance. Production concentrates 

 too much, prices of some commodities 

 rise ifiore than others, and retail prices 

 and wages, salaries and other forms 

 of income lag in varying degree be- 

 hind wholesale prices. Gradually the 

 intricate machinery of production and 

 distribution becomes clogged and has 

 to slow down until the obstructive 

 factors are corrected." 



George Roberts, economist, of the National 

 City Bank comments thus in explaining the busi- 

 ness depression now running its course through- 

 out the United States, and, in fact, throughout 

 the world. 



Since 1920 when deflation hit agriculture, crip- 

 pling the income and buying power of nearly 

 one-third the country's population, farm spokes- 



men warned repeatedly that this condition unless 

 righted would undermine industrial pro3perity. 

 The farm depression alone perhaps was not re- 

 sponsible for the current hard times and unem- 

 ployment, but certainly it has had its influence. 



A general leveling of commodity prices is un- 

 derway in this as well as in foreign countries. 

 There is still too much spread, however, between 

 retail and wholesale prices and the reluctance of 

 the processors and retailers to come down to a 

 price level comparable to that affecting whole- 

 sale goods is holding up buying and aggravating 

 the accumulation of surpluses. 



There has been tco much interference with the 

 laws of supply and demand, too much living on 

 artificial levels to the disadvantage of tlie unor- 

 ganized farmer selling at world prices. Even 

 now organized labcr and industry are offering 

 stubborn resistance to declining wages and prices 

 all of which is reflected in the unemplcyment 

 situation and the wide disparity between what 

 the farmer gets for cattle, wheat and lambs, for 

 example, and what the consumer pays for beef, 

 bread and mutton. This condition will never be 

 righted until economic forces are given freer 

 play all along the line, or until the farmer acquires 

 control of the merchandising end of his business 

 and influences prices thereby as others are doing. 



T\ 



The Rise of Fruits and Vegetables 



'O what extent corn belt agriculture produc- 

 ing the heavy staples for the human diet has 

 suffered from the competition of vegetable and 

 fruit producers is revealed in figures recently re- 

 ported by the U. S. Department of Agriculture. 

 Since the World War shipments of vegetables 

 have increased about 140 per cent whereas popu- 

 lation has increased only 1 5 per cent. Thi^ does 

 not include local marketing from roadside stands 

 or by trucks, which has grown to tremendous 

 proportions with the coming of hard roads. 



Fresh fruits and vegetables in the late fall and 

 winter were once considered a luxury even by 

 those with very comfortable incomes, but today 

 thousands of stores handling perishables exclu- 

 sively do a thriving year-round business. Where 

 only 4,700 cars of lettuce were moved on the 

 railways in 1916, no less than 51,504 cars were 

 reported in 1928. 



Fruit and vegetable growing lands like those in southern 

 Texas, Arizona, California and Florida have been reclaimed 

 from swamp and desert into valuable and high-priced tracts, 

 and it is conceivable that they have taken their toll in in- 

 come from the staple-producing lands of Illinois and Iowa. 

 Consumption of potatoes, wheat and meats has remained 

 relatively stationary because millions of people are eating 

 more spinach, peas, beans, carrots, beets, sweet corn, oranges, 

 grape fruit, melons, tomatoes, etc. The hope of greater corn 

 belt prosperity perhaps lies in the development of new com- 

 mercial uses for farm products to make us more independent 

 of the dwindling demand for heavy foods. 



