Kutal 



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By a M. SEAGRAVES 



OplC5 



Last year in April, horses were the 

 leading single cause of injuries to Illi- 

 nois farmers. If our horses don't feel 

 frisky this time of year, they should, 

 and if they do, they kick. Solution : 

 Keep the youngsters away from their 

 heels and speak to each horse before 

 starting to pass in back of him. 



Incidentally, 156 injured and 12 

 dead farm folks would seem to be a 

 rather costly way of starting our spring 

 work, but that's the price we paid last 

 April. 



Lightning rods still suffer from the 

 reputation they got 50 years ago when 

 shysters went ab(J6t selling poorly 

 made and improperly installed rods at 

 excessive prices. This was unfortunate, 

 because many persons still look on 

 lightning rods with distrust. 



Maybe this accounts in part for the 

 fact that each year lightning destroys 

 approximately $20,000,000 worth of 

 farm property in the United States 

 alone. As a matter of fact, buildings 

 equipped with rods, made and installed 

 in accordance with Underwriters Lab- 

 oratory specifications, are well over 

 90% effective. However, lightning 

 rods, like any other equipment, must 

 be maintained in the proper manner to 

 insure their usefulness. 



Traffic Officer to hesitant woman 



driver "Hey, lady, the light won't get 

 any greener." 



With housecleaning time here, home 



accidents are being reported in increas- 

 ing numbers. This fact should not 

 only create considerable interest on the 

 part of the home-maker, but should 

 also incite the man of the house to 

 spend a little time and money in re- 

 moving hazards. What with little 

 Willie "skinning the cat" on the chan- 

 delier, Susan dipping into the pie 

 dough, and baby jerking up his knees 

 with the colic. Mother has no time to 

 remember to be careful of that wobbly 

 bottom step, or the edge of the lino- 

 leum that is torn and curls up, or the 

 weak bannister, or the frayed electric 

 cord. 



Most men say "Home comes first." 

 We also aver that the safety and well- 

 being of those in our homes are our 

 main concern. But are they? How 

 many of us will drop everything to fix 

 a fence to stop ft« hogs from getting 

 out on the highway, but have ^ut^ff 

 for weeks the simple job of nailing up ' 

 a handrail for the basement steps? 



Most recently reported farm acci- 

 dents indicate that the buzz saw is still 

 in use around the state; that corn 

 shellers are still pinching off fingers 

 and whole hands. The trend, how- 

 ever, is starting toward tractor and 

 livestock injuries. Falls, which are a 

 constant farm hazard, are reported in 

 increasing numbers during the spring of 

 the year, largely because of the slippery 

 footing caused by mud. Shortly after 

 spring plowing really gets under way, 

 reports will become plentiful telling of 

 tractor operators falling off their equip- 

 ment. 



Many of these mishaps will be 

 charged to causes other than the real 

 one, which is fatigue. We can't get 

 too tired and expect to keep our alert- 

 ness. It just doesn't work. 



Illinois corn production in '37 at 



444,197,000 bushels was just about 

 double the 1936 crop and ranked as 

 the largest since the 1902 crop produced 

 on a larger acreage. Cash income from 

 corn in 1937 is estimated at $94,550,- 

 000, only slightly higher than the 

 $94,050,000 for 1935.". 



Soybeans continued to grow in im- 

 portance with a total of 2,151,000 acres 

 planted in 1937 as compared to 1,887,- 

 000 in 1936. 



Prices for the better grades of 



slaughter cattle will probably not de- 

 cline much further during the next few 

 months, says the U. S. D. A. 



A Dynamic Force 



I am a Farm Bureau member's daughter 

 and my reasons for belonging to the organi- 

 zation have been many. The outstanding 

 ones, however, I shall list. 



My mother was not an expert seamstress, 

 but after taking sewing in the 4-H Sewing 

 Club, 1 was awarded second place on a 

 dress at the Illinois State Fair. 



We happen to live in a coavmunity where 

 people visft; consequently my realm of ac- 

 quaintances was limited to practically my 

 own school district until the organization 

 of our township unit. Now I feel person- 

 ally acquainted with the people of the 

 township and a great many of the county 

 whom I have met at committee meetings 

 and county rallies. 



My parents were very much opposed to 

 my going to public dance halls and, so, my 

 social activities were very nicely taken care 

 of at our local Farm Bureau unit. We 

 have the second largest unit in the county, 

 and, I am sure, the most interested young 

 people's group. We play all sorts of old- 

 fashioned party games and even have a 

 ^square dance once in awhile. One evening 

 'l- heard one mother remark that "Dad ana 

 I were tired, but the young folks wouldn't 



Dnde Henry 



TTnde Henry 



"I don't care if Dad and Mom are 

 older. I get tired of always hearing. 

 Watch out," 'Not so fast,' 'Careful, 

 now," 'My, I was worried.' After all, 

 I'm through high school; I'm not a kid 

 anymore, and I've been driving a car 

 for two years," complained Bob. 



"Wal," said 

 Uncle Henry, 

 leaning back and 

 eyeing a ring of 

 smoke from his 

 pipe, "They's a 

 sight o' things 

 I'd ruther talk 

 on . . . but wc 

 cain't alius have 

 our way, kin we, 

 Bob?" 



"Golly, no," exploded Bob. 

 "Reckon I bin steerin' a car "round 

 these parts long as the next one, an" 

 it 'peers to me most folks go thru the 

 same rigamarole in learnin'. First off 

 we're scairt goggly-eyed. We'd ruther 

 meet a tiger-lynkus than a truck on 

 a gravel road. 



"After a spell this wears off, an" 

 we're kinder careful and realize wc 

 don't know everthing we ought about 

 drivin'. Strikes me we're pretty durn 

 good drivers at this stage o' the game. 

 Then comes a day an' like a chick 

 outta its shell, all our, watchfulness 

 leaves us and we git full o" notions . . . 

 we act like that big motor wuz us . . . 

 we're takin' the same sized chunk o' 

 road as the governor, the banker or the 

 states attorney. We're goin" places we 

 ain't been afore, an' we're goin" faster. 

 "No wonder we git a foot over a 

 trace now an' then. Some folks stay 

 in that class . . . gittin" into trouble 

 every little while. Most folks, though, 

 go one step more . . . When we look 

 back I wonder how in the world wc 

 lived So long drivin' the way we did." 

 "Reckon that's how yer paw and 

 maw feel. Bob. They'd like to help you 

 know the same things they do with- 

 outten your spendin' the years it took 

 them to find 'em out. It you'll listen 

 to "em. Bob, you"ll find a pack o' short 

 cuts ta things you'll be needin" to know. 

 Drivin" and livin", too."' 



have missed, so we came too." 



Fbr three years I have been recreational 

 leader and secretary for two years. It has 

 brought the opf>ortunity of leadership which 

 I would have otherwise missed. 



Lastly, I drive back and forth to school 

 every day and the refund on our gasoline 

 purchases have more than paid our Farm 

 Bureau dues. 



I. as a girl in my twenties, see the Farm 

 Bureau as the influence that has helped to 

 round out mv life; and it is the dynamic 

 force that will lead the youth of today to 

 be prosperous farmers of tomorrow. 

 Ada Masterson 

 Sangamon county, Illinois 



APRIL, 1938 



