life in all aspects — social and eco- 

 nomic' " 



The principle of understanding each 

 other scored another victory. Many 

 Edgar county ministers are now mem- 

 bers of the Farm Bureau. And many 

 farmers are getting more out of their 

 churches. 



Recent gains in Farm Bureau mem- 

 bership indicate the vitality of the 

 Committee of 90. In 1936, with a 

 quota of 100 new members, 107 were 

 signed. In '37 the quota was 60 and 



Lime and Phosphate Pay 



Big on Bond County Pastures 



H. ZEIS GUMM. 

 county organization director, hangs the 

 ■core-board for the membership drive. 

 Says he: "No trouble when we understand 

 each other." 



117 were signed. In '38, the quota 

 was 55 and 87 were signed. Total 

 membership is around 860. 



Shortly after the first of the year 

 farmers came to town wearing small 

 red or blue buttons on their lapels. Each 

 button bore a solitary question mark. 

 When asked the meaning of the insig- 

 nia, wearers revealed that they were 

 on the red or the blue team in the 

 Farm Bureau membership drive. The 

 winners would have a turkey dinner 

 while the losers ate beans. 



Talk .-' The county buzzed for 

 weeks. And there was plenty of 

 friendly ribbing going on wherever 

 farmers met. 



The Committee of 90 has grown, 

 too. It has about 140 members. A 

 typical one is Fred Smittkamp of Simms 

 township. He rents 160 acres from his 

 father who is retired. The Smittkamps 

 have a daughter, 17, and a son, 15. 

 Fred wouldn't miss a meeting of the 

 Committee for a lot. "That's where I 

 find out what's going on," he says. 



Clifford Morris, a charter member of 

 the Farm Bureau and Chairman of the 

 county soil conservation committee, is 

 another of the 90's. He operates a 

 665-acre grain and livestock farm. Last 

 year he fed 197 cattle and 343 hogs 



Bond County in southwestern Illi- 

 nois, with nine townships and 106,000 

 crop acres has approximately 25,000 

 acres, or about one-fourth of its crop 

 land, in clover and alfalfa. This per- 

 centage has long been recommended 

 by farm management specialists for 

 maintaining and building soil fertility. 



Farm Adviser Green has served this 

 county for about four years during 

 which he has emphasized soil and pas- 

 ture improvement. Last year the county 

 used 18,000 tons of limestone with 

 4,000 tons spread on permanent pas- 

 tures. In addition 179 tons of rock 

 phosphate were used. 



Many farmers do not seem to realize 

 that a fertile soil is as necessary for 



in partnership with his landlord. In 

 addition, Clifford raises purebred Here- 

 fords. His son is married and his 

 daughter is in third year of high school. 



H. Zeis Gumm, county organization 

 director, is in the hog and cattle feed- 

 ing business on 440 acres. Last year 

 he fed 150 cattle and 600 hogs and 

 maintained a herd of 10 Jersey cows. 

 Soil building is a profitable obsession 

 with Zeis. Ten years ago he spread 

 $2000 of rock phosphate and seven car- 

 loads of limestone on his farm. Says 

 he: 



"It paid back more than Farm Ad- 

 viser Waters said it would. Manure 

 has played its part in raising my crop 

 yields, too. We put four horses on 

 the spreader and keep it going all win- 

 ter." 



The Gumms have two sons, Robert, 

 an assistant in the Farm Security Ad- 

 ministration, and H. Zeis, Jr., 17, a 

 student in the ag college at the Uni- 

 versity of Illinois. 



Farm Adviser L. E. McKinzie is a 

 popular and important member of the 

 committee. Through the committee 

 his efforts are multiplied and made 

 more effective. 



Of such men is the Committee of 

 90 composed. 



President Staley says that building 

 a Farm Bureau is like building a house. 

 In selecting the timber, gnarled and 

 knotty trees are passed by. Soft woods 

 like willow and cottonwood are all 

 right but they must be tied in with 

 seasoned oak or walnut that is straight 

 and won't warp. Builders are the Com- 

 mittee of 90. They must know their 

 timber. — Larry Potter. 



If you do not have sufficient feed, reduce 



the number of cows or obtain the feed. 

 Remember no man ever cheated a cow 

 without costly results. 



pastures as for corn. At Ohio State 

 University it was found that treated 

 biuegrass pasture increased the total 

 grass yield three times and the pro- 

 tein content four times. In brief, the 

 treatment was limestone and phosphate, 

 and careful work revealed 4,000 pounds 

 of grass and 540 pounds protein per 

 acre, compared with 1,300 lbs. grass 

 and 123 pounds of protein per acre 

 on the untreated pasture. This tre- 

 mendous increase shows the profitable 

 returns that may be expected on many 

 Illinois pastures. 



Marion File, who has long been one 

 of the "wheel horses" in the Farm Bu- 

 reau, farms about 600 acres of land. 

 He said, "We have limed every acre 

 on the farm that needs it." About 

 200 acres have also been treated with 

 1000 lbs. rock phosphate per acre in 

 the last two years. Answering the ques- 

 tion as to his start he said, "I bought 

 my first car of limestone in 1912 from 

 Columbia quarry — I have used rock 

 phosphate for about 25 years." 



He told of a field treatment on a 

 recently purchased 140 acre farm that 

 is worth looking at. The field was 

 limed at the rate of five tons per acre 

 and 100 lbs. of rock phosphate was 

 applied in May of 1937, except a one 

 rod strip near the edge of the field, 

 and alfalfa seeded in June. This year 

 the alfalfa on the unphosphated strip 

 became feeble, yielded much less and 

 when seen in early December appeared 

 to be dying. 



GREEN & OBERMARK 

 Says Obermark: "Before I used lime- 

 stone and phosphate I couldn't raise any- 

 thing." , . . I 



E. E. Gertz has been converted to 

 the Green philosophy of treating per- 

 manent pastures and has some convinc- 



26 



L A. A. RECORD 



