a comfortable, upholstered living room 

 chair. 



But not all the inherited furniture 

 needed to be re-upholstered. From the 

 attic of the 70 year old brick house 

 the Neals brought down a chest of 

 drawers. No one thought much about 

 the wood. They hoped by removing 

 the old paint it would make a more pre- 

 sentable chest for the bedroom. Now, 

 after the refinishing (Mrs. Neal uses 

 a commercial varnish remover) the 

 walnut chest with ash insets is a piece 

 of beauty and glows with that look 

 of good wood rubbed and polished. 

 A tall secretaire in the living room 

 was similarly treated. Mrs. Neal says 

 she used hot oil • on this, the wood 

 seemed so dry. This piece was par- 

 ticularly lovely in the high ceilinged 

 room with its marble fireplace and 

 long windows, looking out over the 

 Illinois river. 



As we stood admiring the view from 

 these windows, with the beauty of age- 

 less wood still in our minds, a touch 

 of modernity was added to the picture 

 as the streamlined train, "The Rocket" 

 sounded its penetrating whistle and 

 then slipped quietly and quickly 

 through the valley between the house 

 and the river. 



But going back to learn of all the 

 ways in which Home Bureau had 

 helped, Mrs. Neal took us up the wide 

 walnut stair. At the top stood an old 

 meal chest now cleaned, rubbed and 

 gleaming. It is used for storing win- 

 ter clothing. After the lesson on wall 

 finishing, Mrs. Neal painted a daugh- 

 er's room ivory, then dipped a sponge 

 in yellow and blue-green paints, dabbed 

 it here and there and was rewarded 

 with an attractive stipled effect. 



A simple suggestion by the Home 

 Adviser had helped to make the liv- 

 ing room more livable as well as better 

 looking. The door was removed be- 

 tween the living room and the dining 

 room and the increased wall space gave 

 room for piano and music cabinet. This 

 permitted a better arrangement of all 

 other furniture, also improved utiliza- 

 tion of light for reading. 



"The lessons on buying have made 

 me a more intelligent consumer," said 

 Mrs. Neal. "When one goes about 

 reading the fine print on labels and 

 talking about comparative grades and 

 weights one gets more respectful at- 

 tention from clerks and storekeepers. 

 The same is true of all merchandise. 

 The excellent lesson on rugs proved 

 of great value to me when I recently 

 selected my new living room rug from 

 the dozens of "bargains' shown to me. 



"But what about the other side of 

 the picture.' I might confess that it 

 cost me more than a year's dues when 

 I allowed a high pressure salesman to 



l^llO S l^llO <=^mon.a tke <=ya,tm <=r4-Ji 



.vL^ets 



\\\ —HAT could be more apropos 

 ^vVl/ than the election of a prac- 

 tical dirt farmer who pio- 

 neered in Farm Bureau Organization to 

 head state farm advisers? 



Edmund C. Secor, 

 Sparta, Randolph 

 county, was elected 

 president of the Il- 

 linois Farm Ad- 

 visers' Association 

 during its annual 

 meeting, U r b a n a, 

 January 12. J. E. 

 Harris, Champaign 

 county, is the new 

 vice-president and E. 

 A. Bierbaum, Union 

 county, is secretary-treasurer. 



President Secor was born on a Greene 

 county farm. He graduated from Win- 

 ona Academy, Winona, Indiana, in 1908 

 and from the University of Illinois in 

 1914. He farmed in partnership with 

 his father until 1919 when he started 

 farming for himself. 



He called the meeting which resulted 

 in the organization of the Greene County 

 Farm Bureau, January 3, 1917. Secor 

 signed the first 20 Farm Bureau members 



E. C. Secor 



$5 FOR BEST LETTER 



A CHECK lor $5 will be given by 

 the niinoi* Home Bureau Fed- 

 eration for the best letter of not 

 more than 3S0 words describing 

 uses being made in and about the 

 home of Home Bureau teachings. 

 Letters must be mailed on or before 

 March 31. 1938 to Mrs. W. G. Good- 

 man, chairman contest committee, 

 R. 2, Champaign, III. Letters will 

 be judged on interest, value and im- 

 portance of project, clarity of ex- 

 pression, neatness, accuracy of dic- 

 tion, etc. 



sell me some expensive kitchenware. 

 At a lesson a few weeks later I learned 

 that ware of the type I had purchased 

 was greatly overrated and worth only 

 a fraction of its price. We 'live and 

 learn' or perhaps we 'learn that we 

 must learn more.' " 



Electricity has been in the Neal 

 home for several years. "We may not 

 have the latest model car, but we do 

 have an electric stove, refrigerator, 

 washing machine, iron and sweeper. 

 These things mean much to the family's 

 comfort." she commented. "Home 

 Bureau has such varied possibilities for 

 any one who had no special training 

 in Home Economics. The meetings 

 and demonstrations have been a con- 

 stant source of helpful information." 



in Linder township. He was the first 

 secretary of the organization, a position 

 he held until his appointment as farm 

 adviser in Randolph county in October 

 1923. 



When the new adviser arrived he 

 found the Farm Bureau badly in debt, 

 morale and membership low. In 1927, 

 the membership dues were raised from 

 $10 to |15 per year. Since then the net 

 membership has increased each year and 

 on December 1, 1937, the membership 

 stood at 822. 



One of the most successful projects 

 carried on by the Randolph County Farm 

 Bureau under Secor's leadership has been 

 the development of 15 community units 

 which hold regular monthly meetings. 

 Other thriving projects include a soil im- 

 provement program, 4-H Club develop- 

 ment, rural youth organizations, the 

 Randolph Service Company, and the 

 Farm Bureau insurance services. 



"Our community units were started in 

 1930 when each community was asked 

 to form a committee to serve on a county 

 organization committee. Seven commu- 

 nities responded. Mrs. Secor helped in 

 setting up programs for five months for 

 each unit. The programs included busi- 

 ness disaissions, entertainment and rec- 

 reation. Now unit programs are formed 

 by special unit committees," Adviser 

 Secor says. 



Edmund Secor married Alma Robin- 

 son of Alton, a Blackburn College grad- 

 uate, on August 11, 1920. They have 

 two sons, Edmund Clay, Jr., aged 16 

 years and Arthur Eugene, aged 13 years. 



Whiteside County Farm Bureau has 



cooperative cold storage lockers oper- 

 ating at Prophetstown, Sterling and 

 Erie. A fourth unit will soon be in 

 operation at Morrison. | 



Time of the Chicago Producers* 

 broadcast over WLS on the trend of 

 the livestock markets each Saturday has 

 been changed. Tune in at 12:30 in- 

 stead of 12:35. 



Illinois 4-H Club members are plan- 

 ning to plant 21,700 trees in 1938. 



Uncle Ab says the man who is going 



to start saving next month never does. 



Good prices for inferior cattle make 



this a good time to cull beef herds. 

 Cows and heifers of the long-legged, 

 scrawny type can be marketed readily 

 now thus improving the average merit 

 of the herd, says E. T. Robbins, Uni- 

 versity of Illinois. 



L A. A. RECORD 



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