Bot- 



With Our Farm Bureau 

 Presidents 



"Charlie" Smith of Woodford County Is A 100 Per Cent 



Cooperator 



¥1 SEEMS only right that when 

 *■ Woodford county set out to find 

 a Farm Bureau president it should 

 look for a native son, a 100 per 

 cent cooperator and a man of char- 

 acter, substance and action. They 

 found him about five miles north- 

 west of Eureka, getting a real 

 "kick" out of farming the land 

 that has been in his family for 60 

 years. 



Charles "Charlie" Smith is a 

 charter member of the Woodford 

 County Farm Bureau and Illinois 

 Agricultural Association. He has 

 been on the Executive Committee 

 for nine years — ^president of the 

 Woodford County Farm Bureau for 

 five years. Today, under Charlie 

 Smith's leadership, Woodford 

 county has 950 active, militant 

 members. As a neighbor and 

 fellow Farm Bureau member put 

 it, "It doesn't make any difference 

 how impossible the job may be, 

 Charlie will never admit it can't 

 be done. Then he gets it done." 

 Others readily admit that when 

 Charlie Smith smiles and asks 

 them to do something, they find 

 themselves doing it when they'd 

 made up their minds not to. 



Out on the 365 acre Smith farm 

 you'll not find any particular crop 

 specialty. To the east you'll see a 

 flock of 65 ewes and 90 lambs. 

 Across the road to the west, 

 Guernseys, and 150 head of Poland 

 China hogs are separated from the 

 115 Texas Shorthorns being fed 

 for market. The major crops are 

 corn, oats, alfalfa, soy beans, peas, 

 sweet corn and pumpkins. Back 

 of the nine room farmstead, Mrs. 

 Smith raises pheasants. White 

 Leghorn chicJctens, ducks and Chow 

 dogs. Shrubs of every character 

 Srrace the lawn giving significance 

 to the statement of Mrs. Smith 

 who said "I like to experiment 

 with plants and things. It keeps 



KB. AND Vas. SMITH'B TREES. SHBUBS AND 



FLOWERS ADD INTEREST AND CKABM TO 



THE SMITH FARMSTEAD. 



me quite busy but very inter- 

 ested." Mr. Smith is a Farm Man- 

 agement project co-operator. The 

 Smith farm follows the recom- 

 mendations of the University very 

 closely and is one of the most pro- 

 ductive in the county. Two mar- 

 ried men, living on the farm, help 

 Mr. Smith with his varied inter- 

 ests. 



Speaking of the Farm Bureau, 

 he said, "The Farm Bureau has 

 made the job of farming more in- 

 teresting. It has helped in an in- 

 formative way and made farming 

 more profitable. Our Farm Ad- 

 viser 'keeps members informed of 

 new developments and that's what 

 a farmer needs." 



Speaking about being 100 per 

 cent cooperative he said, "I ship 

 my livestock, milk, grain, buy my 

 seed, serum, petroleum product||j 

 life, auto and hail insurance co*- 

 operatively because I think it's the 

 thing for us farmers to do and be- 

 cause I never have to question the 

 quality nor worth of anything I 



buy nor the fairness of the price.'< 

 I get. 



"In my own experience, being 

 100 per cent cooperative has paid 

 me very well in more ways than 

 patronage dividends. Fact is, I 

 don't consider my $15 annual dues 

 any more than a loan for operating 

 expenses of the Farm Bur^u thai 

 I'll get back a good many times 

 before the season is over." 



Regarding the future of the 

 Farm Bureau, he said, "The Farm 

 Bureau must continue to expand 

 and continue its fight for parity 

 prices. We've only started. 

 There's a lot yet to be done." 



Mr. and Mrs. Smith, both of 

 whom attended Eureka College, 

 were married in 1907. Both have 

 spent practically all their lives in 

 Woodford county and have farmed 

 there since 1908. They have two 

 daughters, both married. 



I. A. A. Committee Reports 

 on School Problems 



(Continued from page 23) 

 that safe and rapid transportation of 

 school children is not yet feasible be- 

 cause of the large mileage of unim- 

 proved country roads. 



Increased use of present federal and 

 state appropriations for establishing vo- 

 cational agriculture and other courses 

 of particular interest and benefit to 

 farm boys and girls in the high schools; 

 that the I.A.A. request and support in- 

 creased appropriations therefore; that 

 the Association provide, by an advisory 

 committee or otherwise, for systematic 

 study and consideration of educational 

 questions since "farm people should be 

 second to none in carefully considering 

 school problems and policies and espe- 

 cially in improving the education of their 

 children," were other recommendations. 

 "Farmers should not oppose changes in 

 the school system, including reasonable 

 consolidation whenever they are feasible 

 and can equitably be made," the com- 

 mittee said. 



The report was signed by E. K. 

 Houghtby, DeKalb county, chairman; 

 Harvey Adair, Cook county; Alonzo 

 Bowyer, Willianson county; W. F. 

 Coolidge, Macoupin county; William A. 

 Dennis, Edgar county; and Ira E. Moats, 

 Knox county. John C. Watson and Paul 

 E. Mathias of the I.A.A. staff assisted 

 the committee in its studies. 



Harold H. Gordon, fm-m adviser in 



Pulaski-Alexander county for the past 

 several years, has accepted an appoint- 

 ment with the land plannii\g division of 

 the federal government with head- 

 quarters at Anna. ■.'■■.'•. 



JUNE. 193S 



