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as and when he needs it and should largely do away with the annoying and 

 expensive need for the farmer on short notice to meet and unload one 

 or more carloads within a couple of days' time, regardless of the condition 

 of the roads or of his work or other demands upon his time or that of his 

 teams. There can be storage at the point of production; there can be com- 

 munity storage at the rural railroad stations, or there can be individual 

 farm storage, but the only one of these that meets fairly satisfactorily the 

 foregoing requirements, is that of storage at local railroad stations. It is 

 our hope that the time will come when practically all rural stations through- 

 out the state will have such storage provision; and it is our desire to assist 

 in every way we can to bring this condition to pass. 



There are many types of storage sheds, bins, equipment, etc. Some pro 

 vide thorough protection from the elements; some provide labor savin? 

 devices and conveniences; others are relatively crude and simple. The re 

 quirements and financial ability of the various communities will differ, but 

 the essential aim should be that of storage itself. Let ,me repeat that 1 

 believe that this will in time prove to be one of the most profitable lines 

 along which thought, effort and money may be spent. 



LIMESTONE FBEIGHT BATES. 



At the outset of 1921, it was evident that something must be done 

 regarding limestone freight rates. There seemed to be a general feeling 

 that the Illinois Agricultural Association should take the lead in efforts to 

 relieve the situation. Accordingly, we called a large and representative con- 

 ference for February 1st a year ago. In addition to the officers and executive 

 committeemen of the Illinois Agricultural Association and members of the 

 Phosphate-Limestone Advisory Committee of that association, representatives 

 of the following organizations were invited: The American Farm Bureau 

 Federation; the Farm Advisors of Illinois; the Illinois Farmers' Institute; 

 the Agricultural College and Extension Work of the State University; the 

 Southern Illinois Development Association and various representative indi- 

 vidual farmers and limestone producers in and adjacent to Illinois; also 

 representatives of the phosphate producers of Tennessee. The response was 

 very complete and all of the interests numerated were well represented at 

 the conference. The decision to not include at this first conference represen- 

 tatives of the carriers was deliberate but by no means based upon an un- 

 friendly or hostile attitude toward the railroads. 



The prime purposes of the meeting were to bring out, discuss, and co- 

 ordinate the various views and angles of approach to the problem from the 

 standpoint of the consumer's needs and interests and to develop a program 

 upon which all of these closely related interests could unite in the one great 

 interest of the continuance of soil building and maintenance. The plan 

 being to limit the consideration rigidly to the effect of the transportation 

 costs upon the use of these commodities and the extent to which we should 

 seek relief, it was thought that the producers might add material help in 

 the discussion and so be properly included. It was felt that the discussion 

 should not be allowed to take the form of a mere impotent complaint, but 

 should be encouraged into lines of constructive analysis, criticism, and 

 suggestion, and it is a pleasure to record that the meeting actually developed 

 along these lines. 



After a thorough discussion, a Committee of Fourteen was appointed to 

 go into a more detailed analysis of the conditions and to prepare and present 

 the case. The Committee was divided into sub-committees which prepared 

 the facts and arguments from the various angles of scientific agriculture, 

 commercial problems, and technical transportation problems. The work was 

 most thoroughly done and, during the late summer and early fall, nego- 

 tiations with the railroads began. It was necessary to have many individual 

 interviews with the higher officials of each of the mort important roads 

 concerned. To make a long story short, we finally arrived at a basis 

 for a single line mileage scale, lower at all points than the then existing 



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