smooth, fat white-faces purchased last 

 January at Denver when they averaged 

 585 pounds. Today they are heading for 

 market averaging about 1200 pounds. 

 These cattle had been on full-feed since 

 the second week in August. They ran on 

 35 acres of mixed clover pasture (red 

 clover, alsike, alfalfa, sweet clover and 

 timothy) all summer eating only about 

 nine scoops of shelled corn a day as long 

 as the grass lasted. Shelled corn and hay 

 are self-fed in the cattle shed with a little 

 commercial concentrate bought one ton 

 at a time. 



"I'm out early every morning to get 

 all the steers up," said Marvin. 'It saves 

 losses. The other morning I found one 

 lying in a hole. He couldn't get up and 

 had started to bloat. I pushed his feet 

 under him and helped him up. Might 

 have lost him otherwise." 



Loading up an old Chevrolet car with 

 shelled corn and a molasses protein feed, 

 Marvin drove to a pasture feed lot some 

 distance from the cattle barns where there 

 were 50 white-face yearlings that had 

 been purchased through the Producers. 



Marvin Yontz hasn't a brood sow on 

 the place but he finishes anywhere from 

 400 to 700 feeder pigs a year. They 

 come from Missouri and northern Ar- 

 kansas, are picked up by stock buyers. 

 Some 176 head were received in the last 

 shipment. They averaged 51 pounds and 

 cost 10c a pound delivered. The pigs 

 come vaccinated. 



Yont2 will tell you that water is the 

 cheapest feed you can give livestock. He 

 has three wells, three windmills, five big 

 concrete water tanks which he built him- 

 self. 



In another corn field we saw more than 

 300 lambs, some natives, mostly westerns. 

 "This is the first time I've fed so many 

 lambs," Marvin said. "I bought them 

 through the Peoria Producers. The west- 

 erns came from Wyoming. They aver- 

 aged a little over 60 pounds each and 

 cost $7.75 per cwt. laid down." The 

 lambs are getting a little alfalfa hay, 

 whole oats, and commercial concentrate 

 along with the com in the field. 



The 5 -year rotation on the Yontz farm 

 is com<orn-oats-wheat-and clover. The 



MB. AND MHS. YONTZ 

 Electricity Lightens Her Housekeeping. 



fields are large and include two 40's, one 

 50, and two of 35 acres each. The clover 

 mixture is pastured. There are 15 acres 

 of alfalfa for hay, also several smaller 

 lots of bluegrass close to the buildings. 



The farm and home are modernized 

 throughout. The house and buildings 

 were wired for electricity 16 years ago. 

 Four neighbors paid $1000, and each 

 gave $50 of labor to get the high line 

 extended to their farms. "I wouldn't be 

 without electricity," Marvin said. "It's 

 a great labor-saver and mighty convenient 

 to have around the barns as well as in 

 the house." 



Mr. Yontz is justly proud of his fine 

 new granary and corn crib which he 

 largely planned and built using all the 

 good lumber from the old crib that was 

 torn down. The overhead bins hold 

 3500 bu. of small grain and the cribs 

 5000 bu. of ear corn. The granary is 

 equipped with an electric power dump 

 and cup elevator. 



Continuous livestock farming since the 

 '90's has built up and maintained a high 

 state of fertility on this farm. The first 

 35 acre field of corn to be husked this 

 year averaged 68 bu. an acre despite dry 

 weather in mid-summer. Wheat yields 

 run up to 30 bu. an acre and higher. 



Marvin Yontz feeds annually more 

 corn than he raises but he believes in the 

 Agricultural Adjustment program. He 

 feels that the stockman has a better 

 chance for steady profits when the price 



of com is stable. He kept within his 76 

 acre allotment this year and observed his 

 43 acre wheat allotment for 1939. Part 

 of the acreage usually devoted to field 

 corn was put in sweet corn for the can- 

 nery this year. The balance was planted 

 to soybeans. One field of oats was pas- 

 tured. Marvin is not only an AAA co- 

 operator but he makes effective use of his 

 Farm Bureau membership too. There's 

 an Aladdin gas pump in the barn yard, 

 he carries auto insurance in the lAA- 

 Farm Bureau company and he patronizes 

 the livestock cooperatives. 



The Yontz farm is operated with the 

 help of one hired man, an Oliver row 

 crop tractor, power equipment and four 

 horses. The tractor is used in hauling 

 to and from town. 



Of the three children, James operates 

 another 200 acre farm on shares. Merle, 

 who is a graduate of Bradley, has a re- 

 sponsible job with a road-machinery com- 

 pany in Peoria, Wilma is a senior in the 

 local high school. All three have musical 

 educations. 



In the home, Mrs. Yontz has the as- 

 sistance of an electric stove, refrigerator, 

 and other equipment to lighten her work 

 as a housekeeper. The home and farm- 

 stead are neat and trim. All the tools 

 and machinery are picked up and under 

 cover, fences are in good order, gates 

 swing on hinges and the buildings are 

 painted. 



Whether it's accident, native canniness, 

 or good judgment that prompts some 

 people to buy farms and other things at 

 the right time and price is a moot ques- 

 tion. No doubt some of each is in- 

 volved. Anyone who bought a farm in 

 the corn belt from 1896 on to 1912 at 

 going prices had more than an even 

 chance of paying for it. Anyone who 

 bought from 1914 on to 1920 had less 

 than an even chance of making the grade 

 because of the terrific post-war deflation. 

 But quite as important, if not more so, 

 than "buying right," is thrift and efficient 

 management. It takes both to achieve 

 maximum results. Such a fortunate com- 

 bination has worked together to make 

 Marvin L. Yontz and the farm he and 

 his family operate successful. — E. G. T. 



^^m** 



333 LAMBS SHEEPING DOWN CORN 

 "It's the first year I had so many." 



WEIGHING UP A SAMPLE 

 "I like to see how it weighs out beiore 

 I buy com." 



SHEEP AT WATEH TROUGH 

 'Three wells. Three Windmills. Fir* 

 Water Tanks." 



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