who spoke on "Making a Southeastern 

 Illinois Farm Pay." 



Illinois premier stockmen, number- 

 ing 30 whose animals won grand cham- 

 pionship awards at State or National 

 shows during the past year, were honor 

 guests at the Stockmen's Banquet, Tues- 

 day evening. 



Subjects such as "Shall We Buy That 

 Farm Now" and "What Can We Do 

 About Tenancy Problems in Illinois" 

 created a great deal of interest in the 

 round table discussions and the Ques- 

 tion Box hour of the agricultural eco- 

 nomics program throughout the week. 



In the rural electrification confer- 

 ence, G. W. Baxter, director of trans- 

 portation department of the lAA, 

 stated that 19-4 percent or 45,004 of 

 the 231, 846 farms in Illinois are now 

 served with electricity. 



But not all the time was devoted 

 to study. 



Wednesday evening featured the 

 Winter Festival, when Illinois farm 

 folk made the George Huff Gymnasium 

 fairly ring as they sang community 

 songs, applauded the unique gymnastic 

 program presented by university stu- 

 dents, and participated in folk games 

 of American neighbors. 



Thursday night saw this same gym- 

 nasium converted into a theatre for the 

 Annual Rural Music and Drama Tour- 

 nament. A full evenings entertainment 

 was provided by one-act plays, men's 

 and mixed quartets, double quartets, 

 ladies' trios, double trios, and a com- 

 munity orchestra. 



General sessions with an outstanding 

 speaker and a subject of interest to all 

 Farm and Home Week visitors were 

 on each days program. The weather, 



Eublic health, world peace and the corn 

 elt farmer were some of the topics 

 discussed. 



Donald Kirkpatrick, general counsel 

 of the lAA and AFBF, addressed the 

 Thursday general session in the absence 

 of Edward A. O'Neal, president of the 

 AFBF who was scheduled to speak on 

 "The Farm Bureau of Today." Bring- 

 ing the week's program to a close was 

 the general session on Friday with 

 Louis J. Taber, master National Grange 

 as speaker. 



Hybrid Com 



(Continued from page 14) 



of December. Yields of hybrid corn 

 this past season were up to 100 bu. an 

 acre and more. 



Blue prints are drawn for the Asso- 

 ciation's proposed new $25,000 seed 

 house to be equipped with the latest 

 machinery for drying, sorting, grading, 

 cleaning, storing, treating, sacking, and 

 storing hybrid seed corn. The site 

 for the building has not yet been chos- 



COMMITTEE THAT PRESENTED 1938 PIATT CO0NTY MEMBEBSHIP QUOTA TO 

 G«o. E. M«ts*i on Jan. 14, in lAA oific*. Chicago. Back Row: Balph Boor, Bort Downoy. 

 M. E. Horton. Front: L P. Hendricka, county organization diroctor, S. L. Gtot*. 



en. It is expected that the new bulid- 

 ing will be ready for next year's crop. 



"We have a chance here to render 

 a great service to Farm Bureau mem- 

 bers," commented Mr. Schofield, "a 

 service second to none now being 

 rendered in the state. Hybrid seed corn 

 has universal appeal. It is something 

 every farmer wants or will want. If 

 we can increase the yield only 10 bu. 

 an acre, that's 900 bushels on 90 acres 

 of corn. At 50 cents a bushel it amounts 

 to $450 and on top of that we should 

 be able to pay a patronage dividend. 

 We expect to hold down production 

 costs without sacrificing quality. Where 

 can you match this opportunity in any- 

 thing organized farmers are doing?" 

 The Crop Improvement Association has 

 stimulated Farm Bureau membership. 

 County organization director F. W. 

 Tieken had a batch of 16 signed Farm 

 Bureau membership agreements 

 brought in by stock solicitors for the 

 hybrid seed cooperative. 



The hybrid industry is young and no 

 one can look down the road far enough 

 to see just what the future holds. It 

 seems certain that with greater pro- 

 duction and sales volume seed prices 

 will decline still further. There is 

 some danger that competition will 

 drive prices so low as to hurt seed 

 quality. Thus far a high degree of 

 stabilization in prices has been attained 

 through cooperative action among the 

 hybrid seed growers. Higher yielding 

 varieties are bound to be developed. 

 Corn breeders everywhere are at work 

 searching for the perfect inbred mates. 



Piatt County First 



To Make 1938 Quota 



First to turn in a full 1938 quota of 

 Farm Bureau membershijw was the fast- 

 working Piatt county' organization com- 

 mittee. They needed 80 and on January 

 11 they had 86. A one-day drive that 

 started with an eight o'clock breakfast 

 and ended with an oyster supper resulted 

 in 53 memberships. Committeemen 

 brought membership checks to the lAA 

 offices early, January 14. 



In 1936 the Piatt quota was 150, thqr 

 signed 160; 1937 quota, 100, 116 were 

 signed. 



They are even doubling up by send- 

 ing seed to South America to grow two 

 crops within a year. Competition is 

 getting keen but that is all to the good. 

 Farmers will benefit from it. And 

 with at least one cooperative in the 

 field to provide a yardstick on hybrid 

 seed costs, the outlook is bright for 

 continued progress in lower cost pro- 

 duction and better profits from the 

 corn belt's number one crop. 



Eleven hundred Peoria County Farm 



Bureau members participated in the ninth 

 annual distribution of earnings by Peoria 

 County Service Company, Peoria, December 

 21. 



New alt-time high marks in sales, income, 

 and dividends were announced by Fred Pol- 

 lock, manager. Patronage dividends totaled 

 $28,500, or an average of $25.20 per mem- 

 ber patron. 



T. H. Wasson, president, expressed the 

 appreciation of the board for the splendid 

 increase in business. L. R. Marchant was 

 the speaker. 



C R. Ford, nine years a director, retired. 

 T. L Maher of Brimfield succeeded him. 



FEBRUARY. 1938 



