Transportation and fhe 

 Farmer 



(Continued from page 17) 



better service from railroads, new 

 fences and drainage along rights of 

 way, more reasonable telephone and 

 electricity rates and facilities for 

 maiketing livestock and handling 

 petroleum products. More than 1000 

 carloads of soybean hay shipped out 

 of the state during the past year 

 were routed the most economical and 

 convenient way. Storage in transit 

 privileges on soybeans secured for 

 shippers saved substantial sums of 

 money. 



11. Illinois farmers have been given as- 

 sistance for many years on public 

 utility matters. The vast develop- 

 ment of electric transmission line.* 

 found farmers who were not familiar 

 with their rights, largely at the 

 mercy of utility companies until they 

 appealed to their organization for aid. 

 Assistance was given at the outset 

 in locating high tension lines so as 

 to reduce to a minimum damage to 

 farm property. A fair basis for com- 

 puting damages to property was es- 

 tablished and needless to say, this 

 basis returned farm owners consider- 

 ably more cash in line with actual 

 damages than had been originally of- 

 fered. The same was true in the lay- 

 ing of pipe lines and building high- 

 ways. 



For example a Farm Bureau mem- 

 ber in Cook county came into the 

 office one day on the advice of a 

 neighbor. This man did not realize 

 the services he could obtain from his 

 own organization. The County High- 

 way Department had taken a strip 

 of land from his farm to widen the 

 existing highway. He had tried for 

 three years to collect for the land 

 taken. An investigation disclosed 

 that the highway department had 

 secured an easement from a party 

 who did not own the land. A com- 

 plaint was personally made to the 

 County Highway Commission point- 

 ing out these errors, and a check for 

 $227.00 was received shortly there- 

 after. 



12. The I. A. A. has served its members 

 for the past fifteen years in collect- 

 ing all sorts of claims aggregating 

 more than $275,000.00 in claims 

 against railroads and public utility 

 companies. The I. A. A. maintains 

 the best freight tariff file of any 

 farm organization. 



Farmers are large users of transpor- 

 tation. Agriculture as an industry com- 

 pares favorably with any in this State 

 in the use of freight service. And col- 

 lectively farmers undoubtedly surpass all 



FOSTER McDonald, mrs. McDOnald and son merritt 



The McDonalds ara 100 per cent co-operators both !n selling and buying, says Farm Ad- 

 viser Charles E. Twigg of Jefferson county. They make it a point to talk co-operation to their 

 neighbors and advertise the Egyptian Service Company, of which Mr. McDonald is a director, 

 on their garage. 



Foster is a Farm Bureau booster. He operates a ISO acre diversified grain and livestock 

 farm, 10 miles northeast of Mt. Vernon. He patronizes the Producers Creamery at Carbondale 

 and the Livestock Commission Association at E. St. Louis. 



other interests in amount of money paid 

 for transportation. Railroads now recog- 

 nize the value of products handled by 

 this organized group. 



Transportation is one of the farmer's 

 most vital problems. It affects the cost 

 of everything he sells and buys. As an 

 individual, he has little or no influence 

 in securing better service, more econom- 

 ical rates and adjustments to meet the 

 change in his financial condition. 



The Illinois Agricultural Association 

 has attempted to give intelligent study 

 to the farmer's transportation problems 

 in Illinois all these years. It has repre- 

 sented him in scores of hearings before 

 rate making bodies affecting his inter- 

 ests. It is difficult to put a price or 

 value on this service, but we know that 

 on controversial issues the fight usually 

 moves in the direction of the most power- 

 ful body. 



In these modern times, when the world 

 is criscrossed with railroads, steamship 

 lines, motor highways, and air routes, 

 man has begun to understand what spen- 

 did aid has been given by transportation 

 to the enrichment and enhancement of 

 human life. It is important that reason- 

 able regulation be given these agencies 

 not only to protect and preserv? them as 

 aids to human progress but to prevent 

 them from taking undue advantage of 

 agriculture which is the source of most 

 of our wealth. 



Transportation service has found a 

 definite place today in the program of 



Indemnity Payment Raised 



The maximum Federal indemnity for 

 grade dairy and beef cattle reacting to 

 the official tests for Bang's disease or 

 tuberculosis has been upped $5, from $20 

 to $25, announces Secretary of Agricul- 

 ture Wallace. The increase was author- 

 ized because of higher cattle prices and 

 more rigid sanitary requirements involv- 

 ing expense to cattle owners in control- 

 ling Bang's disease and complying with 

 the designated means of preventing fur- 

 ther infection. Altho $25 is the new 

 maximum amount, actual payment is 

 governed as heretofore by the appraised 

 value of the animal. The maximum in- 

 demnity for purebreds remains at $50. 



Illinois wheat contract farmers voted 



17,780 for a continuation of the wheat 

 program to 1,954 against — more than 

 nine to one in favor. Non-signers voted 

 3,407 for and 568 against — a vote of six 

 to one. The vote nationally reported 

 June 5 was 349,395 in favor to 42,888 

 against. 



Uncle Ab says the only way to keep 



mentally active is to keep mentally ac- 

 tive. Learn something new every day. 



every enlightened farm organization. It 

 promises to be in the future, as in the 

 past, one important way in which farm- 

 ers can help themselves by working to- 

 gether. 



18 



I. A. A. RECORD 



