"U. S. Only Started on 

 Solution Farm Problem" 



WHILE much has been accom- 

 plished to improve agricultural 

 income and welfare. America 

 is only well started toward a solution 

 of the farm problem. Its sound and 

 final solution is basic to the disposal of 

 all other social and economic questions, 

 Earl C. Smith, president of the Illinois 

 Agricultural Association, told several 

 hundred agricultural students and 

 faculty members at the University of 

 Illinois Ag banquet recently. 



"Consumers in the cities are com- 

 mencing to Idealize that their welfare is 

 inseparably bound up with the wel- 

 fare of farmers. 



"Unemployment, still a major con- 

 cern of the nation, is directly connected 

 with the farm problem and will only 

 be eliminated to the extent that the 

 farm problem is honestly and com- 

 pletely solved," Mr. Smith said. 



Until farmers .secure a fair share of 

 the national income they can not buy 

 enough of the products of industry to 

 put unemployed men back to work pro- 

 ducing those products, he explained. 



The city consumers are commencing 

 to realize they have much at stake and 

 will increasingly lessen their resistance 

 to measures such as the present soil 

 conservation program and other meas- 

 ures for the relief of agriculture. Presi- 

 dent Smith predicted. 



"People in the city already are be- 

 ginning to see that their food supply, 

 their shelter, their income, their em- 

 ployment, and, in fact, their entire wel- 

 fare are related to prices of farm prod- 



ucts. They have more at stake than the 

 farmer because the farmer and his fam- 

 ily will be the last to go hungry or to 

 lose the roof over their heads." 



He made a plea for honest, clear or- 

 ganized thinking on the part of farmers 

 and of young people who are training 

 themselves for agricultural careers. 

 Such thinking, he said, is needed to 

 cut through the propaganda with re- 

 spect to exports and imports and to 

 form sound judgment on other agricul- 

 tural questions. 



"Opponents of current farm policies 

 tell us, for instance, that the way to 

 solve the agricultursJ problem is to in- 

 crease the exports of this country." 



Tracing the history of present eco- 

 nomic problems from over-expansion 

 during the war, President Smith ex- 

 plained how industry had put agricul- 

 ture at a serious disadvantage by con- 

 troling supply and holding up prices, 

 while farmers, faced with prices that 

 went lower and lower, were compelled 

 to produce more and more in order to 

 meet their fixed charges for interest, 

 taxes and other bills. Resulting sur- 

 pluses pushed prices still lower, leav- 

 ing farmers worse off with each new 

 harvest. 



The present soil conservation pro- 

 gram not only enables farmers to more 

 nearly adjust their supply of products 

 to demand and thereby insure them- 

 selves a fair price but also is an in- 

 telligent step in protection of the na- 

 tion's soil reserves. President Smith 

 said. 



Fewer Peaches and 

 Hpples Is '36 Outlook 



Fruit Growers Exchange Takes Another 

 Hitch in Its Belt and Plans for Future 



THE 1936 peach crop will, without 

 doubt, be no larger, and probably 

 much less, than the 1934 crop, Man- 

 ager Harry Day Reported at the Illinois 

 Fruit Growers Exchange annual meet- 

 ing May 12 in Carbondale. All peach 

 buds north of a line through Carbondale 

 and Harrisburg are dead, and the num- 

 ber of live buds in the southern part of 

 the state is very questionable, he added. 

 The recent pear bloom might indicate 

 that a Kieffer pear crop similar to the 



one which was had in 1934 and 1935 

 should be produced. If it is true, it is 

 reasonable to presume that about 100 

 cars might be had through the Exchange 

 in 1936. 



Practically all reports indicate that 

 the 1936 apple crop will be much smaller 

 than was produced in 1935. A smaller 

 crop of apples in the midwest than was 

 obtained in 1935 would return more net 

 money to producers. 



The Fruit Growers Exchange stands 



EARL C. SMITH 



'Unemployment is Directly Connected 



With the Farm Problem." 



ready to continue its promotional pro- 

 gram to construct and install apple 

 washing and grading plants, but the 

 board feels growers should have a cer- 

 tain financial interest in these plants. 



.\ brief review of what the organiza- 

 tion has done the past year follows: 



.Strawberries marketed for g^-ower!- 

 were largely confined to three districts 

 with most of the activities around Paris 

 and Anna. A total of 22,159 cases were 

 marketed. The Exchange urged mem- 

 bers to carry on a better grading and 

 packing program and. as a result, most 

 berries were pan-graded and sold under 

 the ILLINI label. Records for the season 

 show that prices for pan-graded No. 1 

 ILLINI berries averaged $3.38 f. o. b. 

 Paris for a 24 quart case. No. 1 berries 

 not pan-graded and not labeled averaged 

 only $2.94. a difference of 44c. This dif- 

 ference justifies growers in carrying on 

 a more careful grading and selling pro- 

 gram. A further expansion of volume in 

 the strawberry business is looked for- 

 ward to. 



The cantaloupe crop for the Poag 

 Growers Association consisted of 1,985 

 boxes, a short crop due to heavy rains 

 early followed by drought and insect in- 

 jury. Prices secured were reasonably 

 good; the net average for all grades was 

 52 '/2C per bushel box to the grower. 



The peach crop in Illinois was esti- 

 mated at 4.000 cars. The Oriental fruit 

 moth gained headway and caused a situa- 

 tion which was reflected in the mar- 

 keting of the peach crop, making the 

 quality rather poor and the trade a bit 

 skeptical. Prices ranged from 50c to 

 $2.00 per bushel. The Exchange handled 

 a total of 160,564 bushels, equivalent to 

 405 carloads. 



The crop of Kieffer pears was about 

 (Continued on page 15) 



JUNE, 1936 



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