i 



President Smith Asks Indus- 

 trialists To Co-operate 



(Continued from page 9) 



prices were held at 20*1- below' the high 

 point. With tires, a 70% reduction in 

 production was necessary to sustain 

 price levels 33% below the high point. In 

 all textiles, prices declined 45%. biit to 

 hold prices at that level a reduction in 

 production of 30% was required. 



"Compare these efforts, if you please, 

 with a comparable situation in agricul- 

 ture. Farmers continued to produce 

 Until the adjustment programs of 1934, 

 there was only a 6% reduction in pro- 

 duction, and price levels declined 63%. 

 I again submit to this audience that, if 

 the principle of planned or controlled 

 production in industry is to be main- 

 tained in order to sustain it, then it be- 

 hooves all thinking citizens of the United 

 States to cooperate with and support 

 American farmers in putting into prac^ 

 tiee and effect the same principle, in 

 order to sustain stable farm price levels 

 and a stable national farm income. 



"I have no hesitancy in saying that 

 a vast majority of the farm people of 

 the nation resent the necessity of re- 

 ducing production," he continued. "They 

 would much prefer to continue normal 

 production if and when outlets can be 

 found and maintained to absorb norma! 

 farm output at profitable price levels. 

 The American Farm Bureau Federation, 

 with severa^ of its state units, has been 

 foremost in supporting efforts to crys- 

 tallize into action and put into prac- 

 tical effect the results of research stud- 

 ies of leading colleges of agriculture, 

 and in some cases, the studies and rec- 

 ommendations of industry covering new 

 uses for farm products. 



"May I cite an example or two. In 

 1924, the College of Agriculture of the 

 University of Illinois recognized the 

 trends toward curtailment of export,out- 

 lets for American wheat. Immediately 

 it promoted a doctrine of curtailment of 

 production of wheat in Illinois, and sug- 

 gested replacement through an increase 

 in production of soy beans. 



"It was not long until the increased 

 production of soy beans resulted in a' 

 potential surplus and the University 

 suggested new outlets for soy bean o'l 

 as a substitution for an imported 

 commodity, linseed oil, in the manufac- 

 ture of paint. It remained, however, for 

 the farmers themselves, through organ- 

 ization, to provide their own outlets in 

 this field. As president of the Illinois 

 Agricultural Association, I had person- 

 ally experienced the opposition of some 

 of the leading paint manufacturers of 

 the nation who stated that soy bean oil 

 was not a satisfactory substitute for 

 linseed oil. 



"Finally we found a friendly manu- 

 facturer who took a grreat deal of inter- 

 est in the matter, and has provided our 

 organization with a splendid paint for 

 a number of years^ Formulas have been 

 used as recommended by the University 

 of Illinois, favorable response has been 

 almost universal, and the organized 

 farmers of Illinois now find themselves 

 among the largest distributors of paint 

 in the state. 



"I call to your attention that, although 

 we have been charged with commercializ- 

 ing organized agriculture, as the result 

 of this effort, yet the fact is, the paint 

 industry practically forced our organiza- 

 tion into the business of distributing 

 paints, as a self-defense measure, in or- 

 der to find and sustain a market tot a 

 home grown product. * 



"The soy bean affords an example of 

 a vast opportunity for constructive work 

 on the part of a conference of this char- 

 acter in developing and stimulating use 

 of a superior home grown product in re- 

 placement of a commodity which we 

 have in the past largely imported. In 

 contrast with our experience with paint 

 manufacturers, I desire, on the part of 

 .American thinking farmers, to pay trib- 

 ute here to Henry Ford and Edsel Ford 

 for their pioneering and effective work 

 in providing new industrial uses for the 

 products of American farms. 



"I have been recently informed that 

 the Ford Motor Company now uses an- 

 nually 69,000,000 pounds of cotton for 

 upholstery, brake linings, timing gears, 

 and safety glass; 500,000 bushels of corn 

 for rubber substitutes, butyl alcohol and 

 solvents; 2,500,000 gallons of molasses 

 for anti-freeze, shock absorber fluids, 

 and solvents; 3,200,000 pounds of wool 

 in upholstery, gaskets, anti-rust, floor 

 coverings, and lubricants; 1,500,000 

 square feet of leather for upholstery, etc; 

 lard oil from 20,000 hogs for lubricants, 

 acid, bristles for brushes; and 350,000 

 pounds of mohair in the making of pile 

 fabric. 



"I also am informed that a vast sup- 

 ply of soy beans is annually used to 

 furnish paints and enamels in the pro- 

 duction of Ford cars. The manifest in- 

 terest of Mr. Ford in using a home 

 grown product furnishes a splendid ex- 

 ample of the possible cooperation be- 

 tween industry and agriculture. It ap- 

 pears that Mr. Ford and his son have 

 done their part; and we only have to 

 look upon any highway in the nation to 

 recognize that the American farmer, as 

 usual, is also doing his part. 



"I want to assure representatives of 

 industry and science, participating in 

 this conference, of the full support and 

 cooperation of the American Farm Bu- 

 reau Federation in every constructive 



(Continued on page IT) 



TAllf AOE SE FREES 



With Our Farm Bureau 



Presidents 



• 



^wo miles east of the town of 

 Smithboro in Bond county is one 

 of the finest 240 acre fruit and 

 dairy farms in Illinois. The owner 

 and operator is Talmage DeFrees, 

 president of the Bond County 

 Farm Bureau during the past five 

 years, and more recently elected 

 vice-president of the Illinois Agri- 

 cullural Association. 



Mr. DeFrees was born within 

 two miles of 

 his present 

 home 56 years 

 ago. As a 

 young man, he 

 secured -an ap- 

 pointment t o 

 the U. S. 

 Naval Acad- 

 e m y at An- 

 napolis, but 

 when he found 

 It impossible 

 to go his 

 brother, now 

 an Admiral in 

 the Navy, 

 went in his 

 place. 



Mr. DeFrees attended Greenville 

 College near his home and later 

 studied at Drake University, Des 

 Moines and at the University of 

 Chicago. 



As one of the outstanding far- 

 mers in southwestern Illinois, Mr. 

 DeFrees was awarded the Master 

 Farmer gold medal by Prairie 

 ^ Farmer in 1930. His chief pride 

 ' is a 40 acre orchard of apple trees 

 although a fiiie herd of Holstein 

 cattle is also relied on for a sub- 

 stantial contribution to the farm 

 income. 



Mr. DeFrees became an active 

 member shortly after the organi- 

 zation of the Bond County Farm 

 Bureau more than 15 years ago. 

 He is completing his fifth term as 

 president of that organization. In 

 1932 he was elected a director 

 from the 22nd district on the I.A.A. 

 ioard at the Rockford meeting, 

 and last January he was chosen 

 vice-president of the state associa- 

 tion at the annual convention in 

 Quincy. ^ ( 



A firm believer in co-operative 

 marketing, Mr. DeFrees sells his 

 fruit through the Illinois Fruit 

 Growers Exchange which he has 

 served for many years as director 

 and more recently as President. 

 One year he sold 22 carloads of 

 apples through the Exchange, and 

 in a single season he has sold up 

 to 7,000 bushels at the packing 

 shed on the farm mostly to auto- 

 mobilists. 



Mr. and Mrs. DeFrees are mem- 

 bers of the Disciples Church in 

 Greenville. He has had much ex- 

 perience as a platform speaker and 

 during recent years has spoken 

 before a large number of County 

 Farm Bureau annual meetings and 

 similar gatherings. 



IS 



' 1. A. A. RECORD 



