II^N 



THE ILLINOIS AGRICULTURAL ASSOCIATION RECORD 



To advance the purpose for which the Farm Bureau was ' organized '; ' *' 



namely, to promote, protect and represent the business, economic, political FEBRUARY 1937 



and educational interests of the farmers of Illinois and the nation, and ' 



to develop agriculture. VOL. 15 NO. 2 



Published monthly by the Illinois Agricultural Asso- 

 ciation at 1501 West Washington Road. Mendota. 111. 

 Editorial Offices. 6C8 So. Dearborn St.. Chicago. 111. 

 Entered as second class matter at post office, Mendota, 

 Illtnois. September 11, 1936. Acceptance for mailing 

 at special rate, of postage provided in Section 412. Act oi 

 Feb. 28, 1925, authorized Oct. 27. 1935. Address all 

 communications for publication to Editorial Offices. Illinois 

 Agricultural Association RECORD. 608 So. Dearborn St., 

 Chicago. The individual membership fee of the Illinois 

 Agricultural Association is five dollars a year. The fee 

 includes payment of fifty cents for subscription to the 

 Illinois Agricultural Association RECORD. Postmaster: 

 Send notices on Form 35'^8 and undeliverable copies 

 returned under Form 3579 to editorial offices. 608 S, 

 I>earborn St., Chicago, III. 



Editor and Advertising Director. E. G. Thiem ; Assistant 

 Director and Ass't. Editor. Lawrence A. Potter ; Assistant 

 Editor, Howard C. Hill. 



Illinois Agricultural Association 



Greatest State Farm Organization in America 



OFFICERS 



President, Earl C. Smith Detroit 



V^ ice-President, Talmage DeFrees Smithboro 



Corporate Secretary, Paul E. Mathias Chicago 



Field Secretary, Geo. E. Metzger Chicago 



Treasurer, R. A. Cowles Bloomington 



Ass't Treasurer, A. R. Wright. ^ Varnar 



BOARD OF DIRECTORS 



(By Congressional District) 



1st to 11th E. Harris, Grayslake 



12th E. E. Houghtby, Shabbona 



13th Leo M. Knox, Morrison 



I4th Otto Steffey, Stronghurst 



15th M. Ray Ihrig, Golden 



I6th Albert Hayes, Chillicothe 



17th ; C. M. Smith. Eureka 



18th Herman W. Danforth, Danforth 



19th .-r. Eugene Curtis, Champaign 



20th K. T. Smith, Greenfield 



21st .,.-. Dwight Hart, Sharpsburg 



22nd.... A. O. Eckert, Belleville 



23rd Chester McCord, Newton 



24th Charles Marshall, Belknap 



25th _ August G. Eggerding, Red Bud 



DEPARTMENT DIRECTORS 



Comptroller R. G. Ely 



Dairy Marketing Wilfred Shaw 



Finance R. A. Cowles 



Fruit and Vegetable Marketing H. W. Day 



Legal and General Counsel Donald Kirkpatrick 



Live Stock Marketing...- _ Ray E. Miller 



Office _ C. E. Johnston 



Organization _ G. E. Metzger 



Produce Marketing F. A. Gougler 



Publicity .George Thiem 



Safety C. M. Seagraves 



Taxation and Statistics J. C. Watson 



Transportation-Claims Division G. W. Baxter 



Young Peoples Activities „ Frank Gingrich 



ASSOCIATED ORGANIZATIONS 



Country Life Insurance Co L. A. Williams, Mgr. 



Farmers' Mutual Reinsurance Co.. .J. H. Kelker, Mgr. 



Illinois Agr. Auditing Ass'n F. E. Ringham, Mgr. 



Illinois Agr. Mutual Ins. Co...A. E. Richardson, Mgr. 



Illinois Agr. Service Co Donald Kirkpatrick, Secy. 



111. Farm Bureau Serum Ass'n Ray E. Miller, Mgr. 



Illinois Farm Supply Co L. R. Marchant, Mgr. 



Illinois Fruit Growers' Exchange....H. W. Day, Mgr. 



Illinois Grain Corporation. .Harrison Fahrnkopf, Mgr. 



Illinois Livestock Marketing Ass'n...Ray Miller, Mgr. 



Illinois Milk Producers' Ass'n Wilfred Shaw, Mgr. 



Illinois Producers' Creameries....F. A. Gougler, Mgr. 



■ .. • . J. B. Countiss Sales Mgr. 



GEORGE THIEM, Editor 



y^^ -OST of us take town 

 J^-\yy meetings, assemblies, 

 C -y yl and annual conventions 

 for grantee! because they are pecul- 

 iarly a part of the scheme of life in a 

 democracy. We like to go to annual 

 meetings, hobnob with our fellow 

 workers and tradesmen, exchange 

 ideas, and sometimes give serious 

 thought to problems affecting not 

 only our own industry, but the coun- 

 try as a whole. 



We seldom stop to consider that 

 such assemblies are either barred or 

 controlled by public officials in coun- 

 tries where dictatorship either by a 

 "strong man" or a political p>arty, 

 such as in Russia, is the form of 

 government. How dull life would 

 be if we couldn't get together oc- 

 casionally, have a little fun, blow off 

 steam, pass resolutions, criticise the 

 government if we so desire, and feel 

 important. Yet a substantial part of 

 the world's population is denied this 

 privilege largely because it is expen- 

 sive. 



At the bottom of the unrest abroad 

 and the rapid change in forms of 

 government, is poverty. That poverty 

 springs from increasing population 

 without a similar growth in the area 

 and natural resources of the country, 

 or in profitable trade. Poverty-strick- 

 en people are nearly always ready for 

 a change, no matter what the change, 

 if it promises some improvement in 

 their lot. Under-privileged persons 

 are willing to surrender their right 

 to vote, their liberties and freedom 



of action if they get jobs, food, and 

 security in return. And you can't 

 blame them. Life comes before 

 liberty and the pursuit of happiness. 



Most organizations in this country 

 including our own, are patterned 

 after the American constitutional 

 government. Through regular elec- 

 tions of officers and representatives 

 the members rule. If they don't like 

 their representation, or the adminis- 

 tration of adopted policies, both can 

 be changed in annual meeting. The 

 Farm Bureau, county, state and na- 

 tional is thus directly responsive to 

 the members. The members have 

 the power once a year, or more often 

 if they want it, to change things. In 

 the end the organization is as good 

 or as bad as the members make it, 

 for theirs is the choice of officials to 

 run it. The Farm Bureau movement 

 in Illinois is a high-grade -farm or-- 

 ganization becatise. it has that kind 

 of persons as members. ' . 



#rhe big floo^ ijfi ttie Ohio Valley 

 has washed more than 300,000,000 

 tons of soil into the streams and 

 valleys ajsov? tairo, according to H.- 

 H. Bennett, chief of the Soil Con- 

 ■ seryation Service. Soi»ething to 

 think about. Oa cultivated land of 

 average slope 95 per cent of the rain- 

 fall ran off carrying a Load of topsoil, 

 one report shows. On grass land of 

 similar slope only 25 per cent of tlie 

 precipitation ran off with little ^il 

 loss. Well managed fdrest areas have, 

 fared as well. 



The Ohio drainage basin contains 

 127 million acres and originally 98 

 per cent was in forest. Today only 

 37 per cent is forested and much of 

 this is in poor condition. Around 

 65 per cent of the area is moderately 

 eroded, 4 per cent severely eroded, 

 7 per cent slightly eroded, and only 

 23 per cent is not eroded. This new 

 flood dramatically emphasizes the 

 imjxjrtance of terracing, strip crop- 

 ping, reforestation, putting more 

 rolling land in grass, building water 

 reservoirs, and thus reducing the 

 volume and speed of water runoff. 

 — E.G.T. . _ 



FEBRUARY. 1937 



