IRVING SHAW 

 "Nothing pays batfar than keeping records." 



'W 



SUCCESSFUL farm 

 with efficient use of 



labor and machinery." 



As simple as that did farm manage- 

 ment officials from the University of 

 Illinois designate the Shaw farm on the 

 Farm Bureau-Farm Management tour 

 in Knox county last year. 



A. R. Kemp, the farm adviser, tells 

 you that Irving Shaw who is 37, red 

 haired, ruddy complexioned and husky, 

 is one of the county's up and coming 

 young farm operators. Last year with 

 a valuation of $150 an acre the Shaw 

 farm, or we should say farms, since 

 there are several totalling 730 acres 

 this year, made 15 per cent on the in- 

 vestment. Even the best Illinois grain 

 and livestock farms are not in the habit 

 of yielding 15 per cent on the invest- 

 ment. And when you get into the 

 records kept' by Irving, you find that 

 part of that 15 per cent is due to the 

 increase in inventory values from high- 

 er farm prices. But looking around 



"Farm Bureau Taught Us To 

 Do A Better Job of Fcinning 



The Shows, E. R. and Irving of Knox County, Made 

 15% On the Investment Lost Year 



the farm you find other reasons, such 

 as (1) soil in high state of fertility, 

 (2) high crop yields, (3) large acreage 

 in profitable crops, (4) hogs raised 

 the swine sanitation way, (5) careful 

 application and use of Farm Bureau 

 teachings and services, and (6) all- 

 around good management. 



E. R. Shaw, age 71, is Irving's keen- 

 eyed father who puts a steadying hand on 

 the reins, occasionally. E. R. is a char- 

 ter member of the Knox County Farm 

 Bureau. He joined in 1918, was on 

 the first board of directors, has been 

 a Farm Bureau member ever since. 



"The Farm Bureau has taught a lot 

 of us to do a better job of farming," 

 the senior Shaw said candidly. 



The better farming services of the 

 Farm Bureau, the original reason for 

 the organization's existence, are the 

 things that appeal to him, although he 

 will tell you that the fight the Illinois 

 Agricultural Association and the Amer- 

 ican Farm Bureau Federation waged 

 for parity prices, the corn loan, the 

 AAA and gold revaluation did more 

 to pull agriculture out of the depres- 

 sion and start the wheels of recovery 



in motion during the past five years 

 than anything else. 



In farming, as in any business, the 

 man who can see down the road the 

 farthest often makes the greatest suc- 

 cess. Some call this ability intuition. 

 Others call it horse sense — sound 

 judgment. And still others term it 

 luck. Take your choice. Whatever it 

 is, E. R. and Irving Shaw displayed 

 some of it when they held several 

 crops of corn (20,000 bu.) through 

 the low priced years of ■32-'33 and '34 

 — took advantage of the corn loan in 

 which the lAA had a prominent part, 

 and finally closed out some 15,000 

 bu. at prices ranging from 70 to 80 

 cents a bushel. There you have the 

 story of part of the Shaws' success. 



Ability (or luck) in marketing crops 

 and livestock at the higher price periods 

 during the year or years, some farmers 

 have developed more than others. Farm 

 management records bring out these 

 things in the cold light of day. They 

 enable a farm operator to compare his 

 methods and results in many branches 

 of his business with others. The com- 

 parative records show up the weak- 



IRVING, MRS. SHAW AND CHILDREN 



THE SHAW HOMESTEAD 

 "Prom Knox College in 1837." 



MAY. 1937 



