Not Far From Lincoln, 

 Logan County 



(Continued from page 23) 

 This year, he is crossing his Shropshire 

 sheep with Oxfords. Then he'll recross 

 with the Shropa. He's trying to increase 

 their size he says, and get away from 

 the blockiness they have now. The lambs 

 look good and he thinks he'll get a type 

 that will be good wool and meat pro- 

 ducers. The wool is marketed coopera- 

 tively. The hogs and sheep go to the 

 Producers. Then, Merle has 7 milk cow*. 

 The chickens are White Rocks and Mrs. 

 Houston sells the eggs in town. Most of 

 the farm work is done with a tractor 

 but there are 4 work horses also for 

 the .smaller jobs. 



"I use Service Company gasoline and 

 kerosene mixed in my tractor," Merle 

 says. "What little extra it costs you save 

 on the oil." He uses Blue Seal Oil and 

 lubricants exclusively. There is white 

 Soyoil Paint on the barn and he is plan- 

 ning on using more. And of course, Serv- 

 ice Company products are used in his 

 auto and truck. 



Both Merle and Marie Houston be'ieve 

 thoroughly in Farm Bureau. "My dad 

 was a charter member," says Merle, "and 

 I don't see any good reason why a 

 thinking farmer shouldn't be a member." 

 Merle attends all the Farm Bureau meet- 

 ings he can get to. He likes to go and 

 hear Larry Williams, manager of Coun- 

 try Life. Marie has a policy in Country 

 Life and the hired man, Paul Holmes, 



has one also. Merle thinks that if the 

 Farm Bureau goes right along the road 

 as it is they will be doing a swell job. 

 "Of two angles of co-operation, I lean 

 a little more to the marketing end than 

 the buying. I feel that co-operative mar- 

 keting is definitely a farmer problem. 

 1 don't want to see the Farm Bureau go 

 into too many co-operative buying ven- 

 tures just to go into them." That would 

 antagonize a lot of people, he thinks. But 

 he thinks the Farm Bureau is doing all 

 right as they are at present. 



One of the recreations most enjoyed 



HOUSTON'S NEW REFRIGERATOR. 

 It nin< on gas. 



Creamery Makes New 

 Gains Despite Drouth 



WITH volume steadily gaining and 

 profits mounting, directors, pa- 

 trons, and employees of the 

 Producers Creamery of Carbondale held 

 a rousing meeting July 14 in Carbondale 

 with the thermometer hitting 112 and 

 over, to celebrate and pledge themselves 

 to renewed effort in making their co- 

 operative one of the best in the state. 



Under the able management of Chelsea 

 Williams and the spirited leadership of 

 President Frank Easterly the creamery 

 is gaining momentum with the twice-a- 

 week pickup service bringing in many 

 new patrons. Carbondale was the only 

 Producers Creamery in the state making 

 a gain in volume during June over May. 



Frank Gougler reported that member 

 units of Illinois Producers Creameries, 

 despite hot weather, drouth and lowered 

 production of cream made the largest 

 net profit during the month of May in 

 history of Creamery Companies, or at 

 the rate of nearly one-fourth million 



Si 



dollars per year after paying the going 

 price for cream which is higher for all 

 farmers with relation to the Chicago 

 market, than was paid before the co- 

 operatives were organized. 



To prove this point Chas. Eidelman, a 

 Creamery patron from Union county, 

 pulled cream tickets out of his pocket 

 that were gathered in Missouri and Ken- 

 tucky adjacent the southern Illinois terri- 

 tory. The tickets showed that one pri- 

 vate cream buyer was paying 4c less 

 per pound butterfat in Missouri and 

 Kentucky than the same company was 

 paying in Southern Illinois. 



"Our creamery is responsible for the 

 higher price we southern Illinois ship- 

 pers are getting for our cream," he 

 -said, "And it's time the farmers of this 

 section wake up and give credit where 

 credit is due. If anything happened to 

 our creamery and we had to close up, 

 we'd get the same treatment we got 

 before." 



by the Houstons is their reading. On 

 the living room table you wi.l find the 

 American, Saturday Evening Post, 

 Prairie Farmer, Wallaces Farmer, 

 Country Gentleman, Farmer's Wife. 

 Ladies Home Journal, McClures, L A. A. 

 Kecord, and many others. Marie likes to 

 go visiting, work in her garden, take 

 trips in the car and listen to the radio. 

 But to Merle, reading and keeping posted 

 about everything all over the world is 

 his greatest pleasure. There is a nice 

 social life with the family and friends 

 in Lincoln and around the countryside. 

 Marie Houston does as much church 

 work as possible. She attends the St. 

 John's Evangelical Lutheran Church in 

 Lincoln. Merle goes to the Presbyterian 

 Church in Lincoln and takes part in its 

 activities as his time will allow. He also 

 belongs to the Odd Fellows lodge, and 

 enjoys their meetings. 



By and large. Merle and Marie Hous- 

 ton live a happy normal life. They are 

 getting along in fine shape. They are 

 both still young with many happy years 

 to look forward to. And every day, 

 when the mail plane drones over the 

 house. Merle looks up with a wistful 

 eye and a critical ear. They are a far 

 cry from the old crates in the air serv- 

 ice back in those days at Orley, France. 

 If you're a pilot, you might drop down 

 on one of the Houston pastures some 

 day. Be sure and have something wrong 

 that needs fixing. Merle hasn't souped 

 up an old crock in many years. — But 

 a fellow doesn't forget how, he says. 



Manager Wiliams reported plant pro- 

 duction had increased 60'/< in June com- 

 pared to April. Rains in extreme South- 

 ern Illinois have helped pastures and 

 forage growth while extreme drouth a 

 little farther north was burning up 

 pastures and stunting crop growth. 



Dave Smith, butterraaker, told the 

 group that one creamery he worked for in 

 good times paid for its plant in a year's 

 time out of profits. "There used to be a 

 much greater margin of profit in making 

 butter before the co-ops came," he said. 

 "I know because I worked for private 

 creameries then. The co-op. competition 

 has lost the private creameries a lot of 

 money. One that I worked for in Indiana 

 lost $40,000 in a single month. It was 

 surrounded by co-operatives. If the 

 farmers of this territory give their Pro- 

 ducers Creamery here only half-way sup- 

 port it will make the best market for 

 cream they can get." 



Frank Easterly, president, and Harold 

 Williams, fieldman for the Creamery, 

 Frank Gougler and J. B. Countiss of the 

 lAA, creamery directors, and Farm Bu- 

 reau presidents from counties in the dis- 

 trict made impromptu talks. E. G. Thiem 

 and Roy Johnson explained the Farm 

 (Continued »n page 25, col. 2) 



I. A. A. RECORD 



