FIFTY PER CENT 

 of the WPA program In Illinois is directed toward 

 improving farm to market roads. The top dressing of 

 crushed stone will make this road passable in spongy 

 weather. 











DITCHINSrSHOULDERING, AND GRADING 

 Three necessary sfeps in "all-weathering" country 

 roads. -There's plenty of room here to carry the 

 water run-off leaving the roa'd high and dry. 



, As a result, brivii^c's must be iinproxeJ 

 to meet modern reijuirenunts ol liiyliw.iy 

 tr.itttc as road lievclopmcnt programs 

 move forward. Recot;nizin_q this fact, 

 tilt' Illinois VC'FA in the last year lias im- 

 j^roved l6-i bridges. and built fifty-tliree 

 new spans. The bridge reiiabilitation 

 work is almost entirely a part of the rural 

 road program, conhnint; itself to, the im- 

 provement of spans aloni; secoml.iry 

 roads. 



Other iniportant improvements (hat are 

 significant in tlie rural road proi;ram arc 

 the construction of 704 new culverts and 

 the repair of 110; the construction of 

 36^ miles of roadside conveniences and 

 the repair of 16.2 miles, and the construc- 



tion of ~_\?'M lineal feet of i;uard rails 

 and fences and the improvement c)f l'>6,- 

 ')\S feet of the same. 



.Meanwhile, tl.it' *N*A, furnisliin.!,' 500 

 uork^;rs for a rcjad survey to be conducttiil 

 .It .' l.Oot) stations in; every county cxcej 

 (xxjk,. is' rendering 'another worthwhile 

 service to the state. The road iu£vcy nov 

 operating under the federal! 

 {■■ublic roads and the state liipnvay plan- 

 ning division, is designed to proviile the 

 state with a plan fnr^p intfcrnrfdhii'li- 



way system, which will include. all roathK 

 to be improved in the next tw enty years. 

 'Ihe survey wjll include an 'inventory of 

 roatls and bridges, the distribution of 

 roads by population, character and den- 



— sily of rraJffc--iU a;iven points and com- 

 parative use of state roads against other 

 means of transportatioji. 



This work is considered of utmost im- 

 portance to future development of the 

 state's highway system. The bureau of 

 public roads and .riic state liigli^vay plan- 

 fiing commission sporisois^of the VC'PA 

 iroject, arc contributing -$11 2,bOdTor^ 

 nl^terial.s, supplies and supdfvision for 

 tliN purpose. 



linois boasts one of the best net- 

 workVof concrete highways {n the wbrld. 

 With Hjc help of funds provided by tiie 

 Works B{0gress Administration the state 

 at last h.i*,m'ide an impressive start to- 

 ward pulling farmers out of the mud. 



Need Young Leaders 



For Farm Organization 



Rural Young People Meet in Six 

 Conlerences to Plan For Future 



In an effort to assist rur.d young peo- 

 ple s groups in program planning lor 

 1V37. a series of six district conteremes 

 were held in Illinois from September 2'^) 

 to November; \2. These conlerences 

 sponsored by ihe University of Illinois 

 were held .at DeKalb. Charleston. Jack- 

 sonville. Cialesburg. Clarbondale. and 

 Normal. Meeting jilaccs ue,re in college 

 buildings in each case. 



Attendance ranged from ^0 to 90 dele- 

 gates chosen from the various young peo- 

 ple's groups. Ihe largest attendance, 

 yO, was had at the Normal meeting. 



In these meetings one of the great 

 needs in "agriculture was brought out by 

 Frank F. Gingrich, director of '\'oimg 

 People's Activities for the lAA. He 



HAROLD LONERGAN, 

 Morgan County boy from Murrayville. He 

 represented the 47 Skilled Drivers Clubs at 

 Young People's Rural Life Program, Urbana, 

 Sept. 26. 



Stated that "at the pre:sent time, the great- 

 est neeil is for hien with a better back- 

 groimd of knowledge and experience in 

 proper administrafipn and management 

 of farm orgaoiziftions. Policy-making 

 grou|is niust-Iitrmade up of people who 

 see the whole picture and who are big 

 enough to o\ercome personal prejudice 

 .mil individiial selfish interests." 



Quoting Donald Kirkpatrick. general 

 counsel f£u>-'the I A A, Gingrich stated ^ 

 "For years to come, if not alw.iys, a sheet 

 anihor of co-operative service uriits will 

 be a strong educational organization to 

 defend them against attack, supporting 

 them in matters of national and state 

 legislation; yes, and at times, protecting 

 the co-operative service' #nits against 

 themselves." 



As a follow-up of the District Young 

 People's meetings, the Adams County 

 Rural Youth Conference was held in 

 Quincy November 24. Ideas gathered 

 at the district meeting were presented to 

 the group. 



22 



I. A. RECORD 



