OWN in Wabash county, 

 where tlie Illinois map begins 

 to taper on the east side, Louis 

 Kei^er, 21, is raising livestock on a 129- 

 acre farm in partnership with his father. 

 The income is divided, two-fifths to 

 Louis, three-fifths to his father. 



"This year we are planning to fol- 

 low the McLean county system of swine 

 sanitation with our eight sows. That's 

 why I'm building these eight by eight 

 sow houses," Louis, who has a flare 

 for carpentry, said. 



The lumber, oak and pine, was home 

 grown. Cost per house: $15. 



"I'm here because I like it. I like 

 the outdoor life and changes in work 

 on the farm. I wouldn't stay though 

 if we couldn't have electricity, running 

 water and modern conveniences. 



"Neighbor's daughter enter into my 

 plans?" repeated Louis in response to 

 a pointed question. "She lives in town 

 but she doesn't figure too much in 

 my plans right now." 



Louis is a high school graduate and 

 studied vocational agriculture four years. 

 He was a 4-H Club member for seven 

 years, and has been a member of the 

 local rural youth group two years. 



LOUIS EEIFFER 

 He ond Dad work together. 



He is the youngest of six boys and 

 the fifth to enter the farming business. 



Says Mr. KeiflFer: "I've got a half 

 a dozen boys and they're all good 

 workers. You can't beat them." 



Ralph "Bud" Watson, vice-president 

 of the Pulaski county Rural Youth or- 

 ganization, lives on a 118-acre general 

 farm. He makes |300 a year raising 

 pigeons. His dove cote, accommodating 

 100 nests, is in the loft of the Watson 

 barn. From each nest Bud gets nine pairs 



Rural Youth 

 Looks At 

 Farm Life 



Conclusion of a 



series of interviews 



by Franii Gingricli 



BUD WATSON 

 *'Pigeons hove no overhead." 



of squabs a year which he sells for 40 

 cents a pair in Cairo. Since the birds 

 rustle their own feed. Bud has no over- 

 head cost. 



Leonard Wilke, 30, Massac county, 

 sold 1500 worth of vinegar pickles in 

 February and March. His business is 

 raising cucumbers, making pickles and 

 selling them wholesale in Cairo and 

 St. Louis. Sidelines are hogs and cab- 

 bages. Four years ago he grew three 

 and one-half acres of strawberries that 

 netted him $1500 profit. 



Ernestine Wilke, 27, Leonard's sister, 

 wouldn't like living in town at all. 

 She likes housework and farm living. 

 Her hobby is quilting. 



Mary Campbell, 18, is a freshman 

 at Southern Illinois Teachers College 

 in Carbondale. She plows, milks and 

 last summer she cut her father's wheat. 

 Says he: "Mary can plow corn bet- 

 ter than I can."' 



Mary is a 4-H Club girl who wants 

 to stay on the farm. If she can't do 

 that she would become a home eco- 

 nomics teacher or home adviser. 



Donald Johnson, 24, newly elected 

 president of the Henry county Rural 

 Youth group, is a hired man on Fred 



MARY CAMPBELL 

 She cut the wheat. 



Nelson s 180-acre farm. He has worked 

 four years as a hired man. 



"Some people want to live too Well 

 and hard times pinch them. I fiave 

 always been able to find work. I work 

 by the month most of the year, pick 

 corn by the bushel in the fall and do 

 odd jobs in the winter," he said. 



Donald, as an apprentice farmer, has 

 a good master to teach him. Fred 

 Nelson has kept farm accounts with 

 the Farm Bureau-Farm Management 

 Service since 1928. He feeds two car- 

 loads of cattle a year and raises about 

 100 pigs. 



Last summer Don took flying les- 

 sons. At $6.25 an hour instruction 

 came pretty high. Since then he. has 

 kept his feet on the ground. 



Don is the eldest of six boys. Al- 

 though he is free to go to the city if 

 he wishes, he prefers the farm arid his 

 life as a hired hand. 



DONALD NELSON & BOSS 

 His ieet are on the ground. 



MAY. 1939 



IS 



