Who's Who Among 

 the Farm Advisers 



Freeport. Illinois may be the county 

 seat of Stephenson county and the 

 bailiwick of several medicine com- 

 panies but as far as the farmers of 

 the county are concerned it is where 

 they ca» go and find out from Virgil 

 Banter, the Farm Adviser, about that 

 which is puzzling them at the moment. 

 He's been at it here for 7 years. It's 

 really a treat to watch Banter. He 

 is all ears, listens intently and usually 

 has the answer. He's not a person 

 noted for his wordiness. Fact is, he 

 listens more than he talks. But as far 

 . as can be ascertained at this time, his 

 ear is always wide open to the prob- 

 lems of every farmer in Stephenson 

 county and there are plenty of them. 

 So, you can see. that when a fellow 

 is the kind that good farmers come to 

 talk to, then Banter must be pretty 

 much all right. 



Virgil Banter came to Stephenson 

 county in March 1929, He was born at 

 Marion, Indiana on September 28, 18S9. 

 His parents were farmers and he went 

 to rural grade school. Marion High 

 School saw him through four years and 

 then Purdue University turned him out 

 in 1918, a full fledged graduate from 

 the Ag College. Then Banter taught 

 Vocational Agriculture for 2 years in 

 the Owensville. Indiana, consolidated 

 township school. In January 1920. he 

 accepted the position of 4-H Club 

 leader in Edgar county, Illinois. Febru- 

 ary 1921, he went to Bureau county as 

 Assistant Farm Adviser and 4-H Club 

 leader. There he remained until Au- 

 gust 1923, when he went to JoDaviess 

 county as Farm Adviser. While there, 

 Banter met and married Cleo Lamb nf 

 Ridott who was Home Adviser of 

 Stephenson county. On March 1, 1929 

 he came to Stephenson county where 

 he has been ever since. 



The Banters have 2 children. Betty 

 Jean, aged 6 and Charles Richard, 

 aged 2. While no longer active in 

 Home Bureau work, Mrs. Banter con- 

 tinues to take lively interest and as- 

 sists whenever time from her family 

 will permit. The family attend the 

 Embury Methodist Church in Free- 

 port, and both are active in its af- 

 fairs. 



Soil erosion, seed, community ac- 

 tivities, 4-H Club work are the main 

 interests of Banter, One of the things 

 he thinks the Farm Bureau should 



Tractor Accidents on 

 Increase Over State 



, VIRGIL BANTER 



put over is helping farmers reduce the 

 cost of production. When Banter came 

 to Stephenson county there were no 

 4-H Boys clubs. Now. 186 boys are in 

 Club work in 10 clubs. This, in 5 

 years. Another thing Banter did was 

 to start demonstration plats on hy- 

 brid seed com to show possibilities of 

 use by the farmers of the county. In 

 the last 2 or 3 years, much of this 

 seed has been used resulting in in- 

 creased yields. Banter also conducts 

 dairy feeding schools and has aided 

 materially in effecting economies in 

 milk production. He added a Dairy 

 Herd Improvement Association and is 

 now starting the third. He sponsored 

 13 demonstrations on prevention of 

 soil erosion through use of ten-acers. 

 Four years ago the first county unit 

 community (Kent Twp.) was organ- 

 ized. This last year, 12 communities 

 held one or more meetings. There are 

 17 townships in the county so it won't 

 be long before Banter will have things 

 on a 100 per cent basis. 



But Virgil Banter would be the last 

 to say that he has accomplished this 

 by himself or that it was due entire- 

 ly to the co-operation of Stephenson 

 county farmers. As much as she can, 

 and as Virgil says, more than she 

 really needs to, Mrs. Banter works 

 side by side with her husband advis- 

 ing and, when necessary, getting out 

 and helping Virgil make the grand 

 record he has maBe. It's tBat same 

 old story. A good man can do won- 

 ders. But when he's backed up and 

 helped by a smart woman, there's no 

 limit to what he can do. n , . .-, 



Home Bureau is ON THE AIR! Mrs. 

 B. R. Ryall, Wheaton, State Chairman of 

 radio, announces that every 2nd and 4th 

 Friday of the month. Home Bureau shares 

 the Home Makers Hour on Station WLS. 

 Local programs are also presented at 

 Tuscola, Peoria, and Blooming'ton. 



Uncle Ab says the best collection you 



can make is pleasant memories; and no 

 one can take them from you. 



Chas. McKinley of Shelby County has 



been acting in the capacity of Co. Org. 

 Dir. for approximately a year, Mr. Mc- 

 Kinley and his workers signed 179 mem- 

 bers last year which is 24 more than the 

 quota assigned for the year 1936. Mr. 

 McKinley got off to a good start in the 

 new year signing 15 members in the 

 month of January which only lacks 12 of 

 his quota for the first quarter of the 

 year. ■ • •.•• 



This month, the number of reported 

 accidents caused by tractors have taken 

 an alarming jump. Most of the victims 

 will be unable to resume spring work, 

 many will remain crippled for the rest 

 of their lives and a few have been killed. 

 There are just a few causes for these 

 tragedies. Many of them can be fore- 

 seen, and none can rightfully be called 

 "unavoidable." 



The most frequent accident is due to 

 improper grip and stance while crank- 

 ing the trartor, standing too close, and 

 placing the thumb around the crank 

 handle instead of under it. Many folks 

 have had their wrists, arms, and legs 

 broken, some have had their teeth 

 knocked out, and several have sustained 

 severe sprains. Through neglect to wig- 

 gle the shift lever to see that it is not in 

 gear before starting the machine, a few 

 people have been run over and at least 

 one person was crushed between the 

 tractor and a shed. 



Closely following the cranking acci- 

 dents in frequency, and surpassing them 

 in serious consequences are those caused 

 by the operator in stepping on or off the 

 tractor, or to make motor and other ad- 

 justments, while in motion. A slip, a 

 severe bump, or a miscalculation of dis- 

 tance and the operator is thrown under 

 the wheels or into the plow or harrow. 



When a tractor overturns on the oper- 

 ator, death frequently results. This type 

 of accident is usually caused by the oper- 

 ator attempting to drive the tractor up 

 a steep incline while pulling an imple- 

 ment, or when attempting to move a 

 heaTy load on relatively solid, ground, 

 or by hitching to the axle instead of the 

 draw bar, or by turning on a slope while 

 pulling a weighty tool. 



Occasionally, too, you hear of a boy 

 who falls off the tractor seat while try- 

 ing to reach the clutch pedal or the ad- 

 justing levers. Young boys should be 

 permitted to operate the tractor only in 

 level fields, and then the seat should 

 be equipped with a safety belt to pre- 

 vent falling. 



No one should attempt to get on or off 

 the tractor while it is moving, and every- 

 body should be schooled in how to prop- 

 erly start this piece of machinery. The 

 price of accident-free work in the field 

 is the same as that of accident-free travel 

 on the highway — constant care. If we 

 don't take chances, we seldom have ac- 

 cidents, — C. M. Seagraves. 



Uncle Ab says that the way to* get 



ahead is to use the stumbling blocks as 

 stepping stones. . . ^ - • -■;- ; 



I. A. A. RECORD 



