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 JULY " ' 1937 



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



to develop agriculture. VOL 15 NO. 7 



Published monthly by the Illinois Agricultural Asso- 

 ciition at 1501 West Washington Road. Mendota, 111. 

 Editorial Offices. 608 So. Dearborn St.. Chicago. 111. 

 Entered as second class matter at post office, Mendota. 

 Illinois. September 11, 1936. Acceptance for mailing 

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

 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 3578 and undeliverable copies 

 returned under Form 3579 to editorial offices, 608 S. 

 Dearborn St., Chicago, III. 



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

 Director and Asst, Editor, Lawrence A. Potter. 



Illinois Agricultural Association 



Greatest Slate Farm Organization in America 



OFFICERS 



President, Earl C, Smith Detroit 



Vice-President, Talmage DeFrees Smithboro 



Corporate Secretary, Paul E. Mathus. Chicago 



Field Secretary, Geo. E. Metzger Chicago 



Treasurer, R. A. CowLES _ Bloomington 



Ass't Treasurer, A. R. Wright. _ Varna 



BOARD OF DIRECTORS 



(By Congressional District) 



Lst to 1 1th _ E. Harris, Grayslake 



12th E. E. Houghtby, Shabbona 



13th. _ Leo M. Knox, Morrison 



14th Otto Steffey, Stronghurst 



15th M. Ray Ihrig, Golden 



16th Albert Hayes, Chillicothe 



17th _ C. M. Smith, Eureka 



18th Herman W. Danforth, Danforth 



19th Eugene Curtis, Champaign 



20th „ K. T. Smith, Greenfield 



2 1 sL _ 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 _...Dave Mieher, 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. R-chardson, Mgr. 



Illinois Agr. Service Co Donald Kirkpatrick, Secy. 



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 



SOFTBALLEBS FROM ST. CLAIR 

 "With on* ay* on tho Big Fann 

 Sports FaatiToL" 



^- 



HE rush oi spring vrork over 

 and corn about to be laid 

 by, thousands of farm boys and girls, 

 young men and young w^en from 

 rural Illinois, are making farm life 

 fuller and richer through organized 

 play. Because soft ball provides 

 plenty of fast action and can be 

 played on lighted fields after chores, 

 more and more Farm Bureaus are 

 organizing county soft ball leagues. 

 Nowhere has this sport been more 

 enthusiastically developed than in St. 

 Clair county where there is a team 

 for every township or community. 

 Thousands flock to see the champion- 

 ship county tournament each .year. 

 Lee, Tazewell, Henderson, Vermilion, 

 Champaign, McLean, K^jidiabn, and 

 other counties have similar leagues. 



With one eye on the Big State 

 Farm Sports Festival to be held at 

 Urbana, Sept. 3-4, where county 

 champions will battle for coveted 

 state honors, County Farm Bureaus 

 are speeding up their sports pro- 

 grams and setting dates for Field Days 

 and Tournaments to pick their most 

 promising candidates. Last year it 

 was estimated that 25,000 to 30,000 

 persons, young and not so young, 

 took port in the county sports, musi- 

 cal and folk dance contests. More 

 than 2000 contestants from some 70 

 counties competed in the State Festi- 

 val sponsored by the Illinois Agricul- 

 tural Association and the County 

 Farm Bureaus. And this year even 

 more are expected to take part in 

 this great movement that nowhere 

 has achieved the proportions devel- 

 oped in Illinois. . ■ -. ; . 



Eighteen County Farm Bureau base- 

 ball teams playing in five divisions 

 is evidence that interest in this grand 

 old game still survives despite the 

 competition from soft ball. The farm 

 and small towns have produced many 

 of the best athletes. Bob Feller, the 

 Dean brothers, Dizzy and Paul, Lon 

 Wameke, Dazzy Vance, and scores of 

 others are examples. 



Another record was hung up lost 

 month when I.A.A. membership rolls 

 showed upwards of 71,000 Farm 

 Bureau members — the highest point 

 since the balmy days of ^.50 wheat 

 and $20 hogs in 1919-1920. The steady 

 climb in membership refle<5t8 better 

 income on the form. If also shows 

 more widespread realization of the 

 benefits that come through intelligent 

 organization and cx>-operation to solve 

 farm problems. McLean county 

 stepped up its membership to ap- 

 proximately 2200 in a one-day drive 

 in June when more than 200 new 

 members joined. The Farm Bureau 

 in Illinois was never in a healthier, 

 more thriving condition. 



That farmers beor a hecryy an- 

 nual load educating their boys and 

 girls for the cities long has been 

 known to even casual observers. Dr. 

 O. E. Baker of the U. S. Department 

 of Agriculture estimates this cost at 

 35 billion dollars over a ten year pe- 

 riod. Add to this the annual trans- 

 fer of form ownership and wealth 

 from the farm to the city by inheri- 

 tance and foreclosure, and the mort- 

 gaging of future income by install- 

 ment buying of high-pric:ed manu- 

 factured articles, and together you 

 have the reason why farmers must 

 continue to hght for parity pirices. 



The migration from the form to 

 cities in itself will assure a high per- 

 centage of absentee ownership even 

 when farm income is favorable. 

 Heavy mortgaging of farm lands in 

 periods of prosperity followed by 

 foreclosure of mortgages in periods 

 of depression accelerates the growth 

 in tenancy. Only about 25 per cent 

 of the better farms in the com belt 

 are operated by men who own them. 

 Thirteen per cent of the farms in Iowa, 

 the last census shows, ore owned by 

 banks and insurance companies. 

 Contrast this with upwards of 90 per 

 cent operator-ownership in Denmark, 

 Germany and other countries where 

 there is no substantial migration 

 from farm to city. The best farms, 

 finest buildings, most attractive farm 

 life are found in communities where 

 farmers stay on the land generation 

 after generation. — E. G. T. 



JULY. 1937 



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