Gay Mead of Mercer County 



(Continued from page 17) 

 As for the AAA and crop control, 

 Mead said with the air of "that's a silly 

 question to ask," "Something has raised 

 prices. The AAA has helped. You can't 

 deny that. So I'm for it. The corn loans 

 were a big help. And there definitely has 

 to be a crop control plan. I think the 

 present plan is fine. I presume it can be 

 improved. But the principle of crop con- 

 trol is sound." 



In the house, Mrs. Mead and Mrs. 

 Nettie Isaac who says she "commutes 

 between Galesburg and the farm and 

 stays a while in both places," told about 

 their doings. It was just about dusk and 

 the electric lights furnished by a West- 

 inghouse plant filled the rooms with a 

 cheerful glow. 



"There's nothing much to tell about 

 what I do," she protested. "I keep house 

 and Mrs. Isaac helps me and the two of 

 us have a fine time together. The chil- 

 dren are gone, of course, and that does 

 make the house seem pretty large and 

 empty at times. But we have Miss Young 

 here with us who teaches school and 

 that kind of makes it like old times." 

 What did she do for diversion? She 

 laughed, "I do a great deal of em- 

 broidering and then my p'ants. On the 

 other hand I can't say that I'm much 

 of a gardener. The work in the house 

 isn't difficult. We have an electric vac- 

 uum cleaner and electric washer and that 

 all helps. The light plant also furnishes 

 light for the feeding sheds, the silo and 

 barns, and runs our radio. I keep pretty 

 busy socially, too, in town with my 

 church affairs, the Ladies' Aid of the 

 North Henderson Methodist church. I 

 also teach a Sunday school class. 

 Mr. Mead is on the official board and 

 finance committee of the church so you 

 can see with that and the Farm Bu- 

 reau activities we get around and see 

 people quite a bit." 



Gay Mead BELONGS to the Farm 

 Bureau — and right up to his ears. But 

 strange as it may seem he has never 

 held any office in the Farm Bureau. You 

 more or less get the idea that Gay is 

 not so much interested in holding office 

 as he is in throwing his support behind 

 any project the Mercer County Farm 

 Bureau needs him for Farm Bu»'eau 

 is pretty much of a religion with him. 

 But fundamentally his heart is in his 

 family and farm. He, no doubt, would 

 give the same minute attention to any 

 Farm Bureau office he might hold. But 

 Gay Mead believes that being a good 

 farmer and a good Farm Bureau mem- 

 ber is his main job. He is a perfect ex- 

 ample of the driving force behind Farm 

 Bureau. There is substance, loyalty, 

 faith, force, intelligence and energy un- 

 derlying every thing the Mead family 

 does. When you look in on a family like 



SAY MEADS HAMPSHIRES AT THEIR 



VICTUALS 



"The AAA has orfainly helped." 



this you begin to understand why the 

 Farm Bureau is here to stay and grow 

 and become an even greater power in 

 national life than it is today. 



We have an invitation to come back 

 and see the Meads again some day and 

 believe you me, we're not passing it up. 

 We can taste the good things Mrs. Mead 

 can cook. You just know they'll taste 

 good by looking at her. We want to sit 

 and visit with Gay and his wife and 

 listen to them laugh and tease each 

 other. We want to see that twinkle in 

 Gay's eye again and listen to some more 

 of his philosophy. We want to go when 

 the world and its people seem to be a 

 pretty sorry mess — and get a new lease 

 on life from just being with the Meads 

 awhile. 



If you think there isn't any peace, 

 humor and beauty in living, take a run 

 over to the Meads. It's like a breath of 

 fresh, clean air. 



By the way, the little gray spotted cat 

 is the friendliest and the dog makes up 

 to you if you scratch his ear. 



Electrifyinq Illinois Farms 



(Continued from page 16) 

 One meeting called by the Farm Bu- 

 reau in this area started three new farm 

 lines. Farmers are doing most of the 

 signing themselves. At another meeting 

 in Newton township called by Farm Ad- 

 viser F. H. Shuman 40 attended and 13 

 signed up that night for electricity. 

 Company officials say that families with 

 a home electric plant are easiest to sell. 

 They are sold on electricity but want 

 more power afforded by the big power 

 plants. During the depression few farm- 

 ers discontinued electric service, al- 

 though many took out their telephones. 

 As this is written Central Illinois 

 Public Service, Illinois Power and Light 

 and Central Illinois Light — three large 

 Illinois companies — have not announced 

 any new program to extend service to 

 farms in their territory. CIPS and IPL 

 thus far require that farmers finance 

 their own lines. They are not spending 

 any money for new rural extension. Cen- 

 tral Illinois Electric and Gas Co. will 

 build new extensions on the basis of 2% 



gross earnings per month based on a 

 five-year contract with a |3 per month 

 minimum. Thus, a mile of line costing 

 $1,000 serving three farms means a gross 

 of $20 for the three customers or f6.66 

 per month each, the company paying for 

 entire cost of line. 



Western United Gas and Electric 

 builds rural extensions and charges one- 

 sixtieth of the cost per line per cus- 

 tomer subject to a minimum of $3 per 

 month. 



Everywhere we found farmers enthusi- 

 astic about electricity. Henry Hey, Lee 

 County Farm Bureau member, and an 

 extensive dairyman and livestock grower 

 residing near Dixon, says: "It's the 

 cheapest power we have. I couldn't get 

 along without it." Two houses, several 

 large dairy barns, and all the important 

 buildings on his fertile 170 acre farm 

 are wired. Electricity pumps the water, 

 lights all buildings, washes, irons, runs 

 the cream separator, grindstone, bottle 

 washer in the dairy, baby chick brooder, 

 electric fan, and a 5 HP motor for grind- 

 ing feed and other farm operations. His 

 bill last month was $14.40 for 380 kwh. 

 The need for rural electrification has 

 been widely published and needs no fur- 

 ther emphasis. Illinois farms will run 

 above the national average in percentage 

 electrified, yet an overwhelming ma- 

 jority are not being served. The recent 

 stimulus is due primarily to increased 

 farm buying power toward which the 

 AAA program of balanced production 

 has made an important contribution. 

 With a further increase in farm income, 

 and with that income sustained by wise 

 farm planning and production of farm 

 commodities gauged to parity prices 

 (just as electrical appliance manufac- 

 turers fix their prices and produce only 

 the quantity they can sell at that price) 

 rural electrification will go forward at 

 an increasingly rapid rate. 



Electricity is the key to that higher 

 standard of living on the farm toward 

 which the Farm Bureau program is di- 

 rected. Thinking farmers will not ac- 

 cept the philosophy of a Chicago banker 

 who once said: "farming is not a bath- 

 tub and electric light business." They 

 believe that through effective organiza- 

 tion and a wise national farm policy ' 

 farm prices and income can be main- 

 tained so that electricity and bathtubs 

 will go hand in hand with efficient 

 farming. 



Talmage De Frees, lAA vice-president, 



has been on the road much of the time 

 since mid-summer addressing county an- 

 nual meetings and picnics. 



President JEarl C. Smith addressed the 

 Wisconsin Fa^ Bureau Federation an- 

 nual meeting recently and will speak 

 at the Minnesota Federation meeting 

 later. 



20 



I. A. A. RECORD 



