niinois Needs a Perishable 



Farm Commodities Act 



By H. W. Day 



V^ ^^ UE to the perishable nature of 

 ^^/ 1 practically all fresh fruits and 



^ f y vegetables which require quick 

 handling, most transactions in hanaling 

 these commodities are done by telephone, 

 telegraph or by word of mouth. Noth- 

 ing much more is involved than the moral 

 rating of the dealers. With the number 

 of transactions and the amount of money 

 involved, one might guess that many 

 complaints would arise from these trans- 

 actions. It is true that there are numerous 

 complaints arising out of interstate deal- 

 ings, yet the number of complaints is 

 relatively small when one considers the 

 total volume of business done. 



Regardless of good intentions and even 

 tho the number of complaints might be 

 relatively small, we have a Federal Perish- 

 able Agricultural Commodities Act which 

 sets up and defines certain practices for 

 those engaged in the industry. This Act 

 was passed in 1930 and under this Act 

 many cases of dispute have been settled 

 satisfactorily. The Act provides for fil- 

 ing complaints, investigations and pen- 

 alties for failure to carry out certain trade 

 practices. 



This Act applies to inter-state com- 

 merce only and does not have jurisdiction 

 over business conducted within the state, 

 or intra-state commerce. At present no 

 regular provision is set up for recourse 

 in such transactions in Illinois. We be- 

 lieve the fresh fruit and vegetable indus- 

 try in Illinois shoud be protected to the 



same extent that it is in inter-state com- 

 merce, and we believe there should be an 

 Illinois Perishable Agricultural Commod- 

 ities Act with provisions similar to those 

 of the Federal Act. 



We are informed there are 27 states 

 that have some type of laws for regula- 

 tion of this business. In Illinois we do 

 have a Commission Merchants Law which 

 refers only to transactions done on a 

 consignment basis. We are told that the 

 State of Wisconsin has a law which bears 

 the closest resemblance to the Federal 

 Act. 



Recently the Illinois State Horticultural 

 Society adopted a resolution favoring the 

 passage of an Illinois Perishable Agri- 

 cultural Commodities Act and requested 

 the Illinois Agricultural Association to 

 consider including such a proposal in its 

 legislative program. In the fruit and 

 vegetable conference held in connection 

 with the annual meeting of the lAA on 

 January 31st, a resolution was adopted 

 favoring such an act. As a result of 

 these requests the Illinois Agricultural 

 Association adopted a resolution at its 

 annual meeting favoring the enactment of 

 such a law. 



A proposed perishable commodities 

 Act was mtroduced in the State legisla- 

 ture last week. The combined efforts of 

 all fruit and vegetable producers in the 

 state will be needed to pass this legisla- 

 tion. 



"7% Qet liuf. IfieMi, 



Corn yields of 80 to 90 bushels is 



the reward Carl O. Johnson, Marshall 



county grain farmer, and his landlord, 



James Foster, get for applying plenty of 



rock phosphate 



to Foster's 300- 



acre farm. ^ 



In 1927, Farm 

 Adviser F. E. 

 Fuller r e c o m- 

 mended p h o s- 

 phate treatment. 

 Johnson said he'd 

 spread all the 

 phosphate Foster 

 would buy. Since 

 then Johnson has handled a carload a 

 year with an extra one in 1938. The 

 first applications were made at the 

 rate of a ton to the acre. Later the 



Carl O. lohnson 



rate was reduced to one-half ton. Half 

 the farm has been phosphated twice. 



Only two carloads of limestone have 

 been applied on the farm which is 

 on Muscatine silt loam and Drummer 

 clay loam. Limestone application 

 showed no results. 



"We've used phosphate every pos- 

 sible way," Johnson said. "We now 

 think the best time and place to spread 

 it is in September as a top dressing 

 for clover fields." 



Johnson is a director of Illinois 

 Grain Corporation, a local AAA com- 

 mitteeman, active in church affairs and 

 has long been a cooperator in the Farm 

 Bureau-Farm Management service. 



Oscar Brissenden 



Heads Organization 



Oscar D. Brissenden, Pontiac, organ- 

 ization director for the Illinois Agricul- 

 tural Association in the northeast district, 

 will head the organ- 

 ization department 

 of the Association 

 April 1, under the 

 general supervision 

 of Field Secretary 

 George E. Metzger. 



The change will 

 enable Mr. Metzger 

 to give most of his 

 time to coordinating 

 O. D. Brisgenden activities of the live- 

 stock, grain, pro- 

 duce, milk, and fruit and vegetable mar- 

 keting departments of the Association. 

 Brissenden a native of Clay County, 

 III., entered Farm Bureau work in April, 

 1931, as one of eight district directors. 

 When the lAA redivided the state into 

 three membership divisions, he directed 

 the work in 37 northern and eastern coun- 

 ties. 



Harry B. Claar, organization director 

 with the LaSalle County Farm Bureau, 

 was appointed director of the northeast 

 district comprising 37 counties to suc- 

 ceed Brissenden. Claar took over his 

 new duties April 1. Before coming to 

 LaSalle county in December, he held a 

 similar position with the Effingham 

 County Farm Bureau. 



Scrubbing the brooder house with hot 

 lye water before starting the chicks pays 

 big dividends. 



McDonougli Farm 



Bureau 20 Yrs. Old 



March 15 was the 20th anniversary 

 of the McDonough County Farm Bu- 

 reau. Its greatest accomplishment in 

 20 years has been the development of 

 leadership, says Fred Herndon, presi- 

 dent of Illinois Farm Supply Company 

 and a charter member. 



"McDonough county men who have 

 served or are serving organized Illi- 

 nois farmers include Farm Advisers 

 E. C. Foley, Boone county; Ernest 

 Walker, now with the agricultural ex- 

 tension department University of Illi- 

 nois; and Lloyd Welch, formerly in 

 Hancock county. Other leaders are 21 

 service company managers, the presi- 

 dent of the Producers' Creamery of 

 Mt. Sterling, H. B. Smith; the vice- 

 president of Illinois Livestock Market- 

 ing Association, Harvey Herndon; and 

 the president of IFS." 



Present membership is 848. There 

 are 73 charter members who have 

 maintained memberships during the en- 

 tire 20 years. R. C. Doneghue is 

 McDonough county's only farm adviser. 



by 



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L A. A. RECORD 



