Who's Who Among i 



the Farm Advisers 



y^F A committee of judges set out 



[M to select a county in Illinois that 

 \^ tops them all for the diversity of 

 its agriculture, the chances are they would 

 end up by pinning the blue ribbon on 

 that section deep in southern Illinois 

 bordering the Mississippi known as 

 Union county. 



For here you will find nature really 

 doing her stuff in the production of 

 everything from soup to nuts for the 

 table of the most fastidious consumer. 



When you get down into Union coun- 

 ty in the first place, you are dose to 400 

 miles south of the Wisconsin line where 

 the winters are milder and the sun shines 

 and works with mother earth and its 

 people in growing almost any crop com- 

 mon to the temperate zone. Union 

 county has something about it that re- 

 minds you of Dixie. It has sycamore and 

 gum trees so common in the South. It 

 has a broad, level river plain where cot- 

 ton can be grown, although the season 

 is just a wee bit short for this crop. On 

 its rugged bluffs and hill lands are some 

 of the states best orchards producing 

 peaches, apples, pears and grapes. It 

 also has the necessary climate for the pro- 

 duction of vegetables and small fruits 

 in carlot quantities. So it is that when 

 nature smiles you find this county one of 

 the busiest and most prosperous in all 

 Illinois. Growing and marketing green 

 onions, radishes, rhubarb, asparagus, 

 spinach, green beans, cucumbers, musk- 

 melons, tomatoes, peppers, sweet pota- 

 toes, Irish potatoes, squash, and last, but 

 not least, strawberries and raspberries are 

 Union county specialties. 



It was natural, therefore, when the 

 Union County Farm Bureau started look- 

 ing around for an assistant Farm Ad- 

 viser in 1921 the directors chose Elmer 

 Alfred Bierbaum, junior member of the 

 Horticultural staff, University of Illinois 

 for the job. And while Mr. Bierbaum 

 ("Bierdy") hasn't been employed con- 

 tinuously in Union county since that time 

 he has been there much of the interven- 

 ing period, first as assistant and during 

 the past eight years as farm adviser. 



If and when the future history of Il- 

 linois horticulture and more particularly, 

 the agriculture of Union and Pulaski 

 counties, is written, "Bierdy" will figure 

 prominently in its pages for he has been 

 mixed up with practically every new agri- 

 cultural development in that area since 

 1921. 



26 



E. A. BIERBAUM 

 "He's up on his vegetables." 



Mr. Bierbaum rates as one of the old 

 timers among the county farm advisers 

 today. He has been in extension work 

 for nearly 1 5 years. Like many others in 

 his calling he enjoys a good joke and 

 a little horse play at the annual gather- 

 ings. But when it comes to being up on 

 his vegetables, "Bierdy" can show the 

 pack a clean pair of heels, which doesn't 

 mean that he is not also qualified as a 

 counselor on the problems of the general 

 grain and livestock farmers of the county. 



"Bierdy" was born in 1895 near Alton 

 in Madison county where he graduated 

 from the local high school in 1913. His 

 parents had several farms near the edge 

 of town so it was natural for him to enter 

 the University of Illinois College of Agri- 

 culture that fall to learn more about the 

 business in which his family was chiefly 

 interested. 



Graduating in 1918 he stuck around 

 the Horticultural Department until the 

 call came in '21 to Union county. Two 

 years there and he was off to Pulaski 

 county to the south as farm adviser where 

 he stayed until the University of Missouri 

 decided they could use a certain young 

 man by the name of Bierbaum to do 

 horticultural extension work in that state. 

 For three years — '26 to '29 — he 

 worked mostly around the Mountain 

 Grove, Mo., experiment station until the 

 farmers of Union county decided to get 

 their former assistant back again as farm 

 adviser. 



There are about 1200 farms of sub- 

 stantial size in this county, 1,012 of 

 which are entered in the soil conserva- 

 tion program. 



Most of the soils of the county are 

 acid which is the reason why the Farm 

 Bureau last year tested the soil on ap- 

 proximately 3,000 acres. The acreage 

 in lespedeza grew fast in Union count)- 

 until last summer when most of it was 

 burned out by drouth. Now the farmers 

 are looking to alfalfa as a surer and more 

 profitable crop, although corn and winter 

 wheat still lead in importance on the 

 broad bottom lands which run for miles 

 back from the Mississippi and its tribu- 

 taries. 



There was a cotton boom on in Union 

 county about 1924 when approximately 

 800 acres were grown. The drastic re- 

 duction in cotton prices about that time, 

 coupled with bad weather during harvest, 

 discouraged the boom. As a result you 

 find little or no cotton growing in this 

 county today. 



While fruit and vegetable production 

 are important sources of income in this 

 area, general farming still leads on about 

 41 per cent of the farms. About 12 

 per cent major in fruit, 11 per cent truck, 

 1 1 1/2 per cent of the farms are classified 

 as "self-sufficing," and the rest are di- 

 vided among cash grain, dairy and live- 

 stock farms. 



The Union County Farm Bureau took 

 an active part among others in establish- 

 ing the Illinois Fruit Growers' Exchange. 

 It promotes 4-H Club work and this year 

 it had approximately 140 members. "We 

 go in for quality, not so much quantity," 

 said Bierdy with a chuckle. "We turned 

 out two state champions this year: Bon 

 Spiller of Cobden, a state vegetable gar- 

 den champ; and Janice Blessing, a state 

 champion in first year clothing project. " 



The Farm Bureau also handles serum 

 and virus for its hog growers, and has 

 been active in promoting co-operative 

 livestock marketing. Most of its cattle 

 and hog raisers patronize the Producers. 



Mr. and Mrs. Bierbaum have two chil- 

 dren, Betty Ann who is in high school, 

 and Billy Bob who is in Junior high. 



Union county has 1 2 townships, a com- 

 mission form of government. Forty new 

 members were signed recently by the 

 Farm Bureau during a three-day member- 

 ship drive. 



L A. A. RECORD 



