Horticnltnral Groups 



Hold Annual Session 



THERE was a general note of opti- 

 mism at the Illinois State Horticul- 

 tural Society annual meeting Dec. 13 to 

 15 in St. Louis as growers seemed to be 

 fairly well satisfied with the general 

 prices of fruits and vegetables.. 



Along with this note of optimism, 

 however, there was also some appre- 

 hension because of numerous problems 

 of the fruit growers which are not yet 

 solved. Everyone realized that labor 

 would be difficult to get next year. 

 There also is developing sn extremely 

 serious package shortage and the out- 

 look for transportation is far from 

 good. Ceiling prices now in effect are 

 causing some concern especially be- 

 cause there is no provision tor financial 

 reward to the grower who puts up a 

 fine pack. 



The State Horticultural Society meet- 

 ing this year was really a central states' 

 horticultural conference as the state 

 Horticultural Societies of Missouri, Illi- 

 nois, Iowa, Indiana, Kansas, Nebraska, 

 Arkansas, Kentucky, Oklahoma and 

 Tennessee held their state society meet- 

 ings in connection with it. Also the 

 American Pomological Society held its 

 annual meeting jointly with the state 

 groups. 



Perhaps the highlight of the con- 

 vention was the talk by F. A. Motz. 

 principal marketing specialist, USDA. 

 who discussed "The National and In- 

 ternational Fruit Situation." 



One point emphasized by Motz was: 



South America may be potentially 

 a good customer, but we must remem- 

 ber that at present only about 10 per 

 lent of her population is financially 

 able to buy fruit. 



Other speakers at the meeting were 

 C. C. Chapelle, tax consultant, Illinois 

 Agricultural Auditing Association, who 

 discussed figuring federal income tax 

 returns for orchards, and Ben Kilgore, 

 assistant to the president of the Amer- 

 ican Farm Bureau Federation, who p,iy(; 

 the main address at the banquet, Dec. 

 11, and at which A. O. Eckert, lAA 

 director, and president of the Illinois 

 Fruit Growers Exchange, presided. 



All directors of the Illinois Fruit 

 Growers Exchange, with the exception 

 of Nelson Cummins, who is serving in 

 the U.S. Navy, attended the meeting 

 and held their monthly board meeting 

 in connection with it. 



New officers of the Illinois State 

 Horticultural Society are as follows: 

 president, Hugh Hale, Carmi ; first vice- 

 president, Frank Penstone, Pittsfield ; 

 second vice-president, Dave Perrine, 

 Centralia; secretary, C. C. Mast, Quin- 

 cv, and treasurer, L. M. Smith, Ozark. 



Sal/ 



Improvement 



Fertilizers sold in Illinois durinj; the tirst 



six montlis of 1915 intrc.ised i3'r over the 

 ^.lmc• period in lVi2, according; to the agron- 

 omy department of the Unive<-sity of Illi- 

 nois, wlucli reports a sale of more than 

 77,000 tons. Ninety-seven per cent of the 

 mixed goods sold was covered by IS analy- 

 ses or combin.itions. In siii>!le unit mate- 

 rials, nearly 6i) per cent was in the 18 and 

 20 per cent superphiispli.ites. The reduction 

 in luiiiihers of different combinations is due 

 in l.ir>;e part to government.il orders but 

 this change is regarded favorably by both 

 fertiliser manufacturers and college agron- 

 omists. Fewer ct>mbinatK)ns increase factory 

 efficiency and reduce contusion among pur- 

 chasers, with no loss in effectiveness on 

 crops. 



A limestone property at Cordova in Rock 



Island county has been purchased by oper- 

 ators of the Milan quarry. This change is 

 expected to result in considerably increased 

 output for the Cordova area as the Milan 

 operators produced and sold nearly 100.000 

 tons of agricultural limestone from the 

 Milan plant in iy42. 



Anotlier limestone quarry change in west- 

 ern Illinois is from a site immediately west 

 of Morrison in ^X■|litesidt ccpunty to the 

 Frank Xorrisii place. iH>rth !>f town. In- 

 creased crushing capacity and output is 

 being planned bv the operator. 



There are also rumors of iwit additional 



quarries starting in Wliiteside county for tlie 

 production of agricultural limestone, which 

 would tend to indicate more adequate supply 

 e\ en with one "mortality" or loss of quarry 

 .it the point near Ideal. \X'liiteside county 

 in UM2 used ll.OOO tons of limestone. 



No farmer should pav the s<i-called "sales 



tax' on agricultural limestone, since it was 



dctined as a fertilizer ' back in 1942. This 

 Retailers Occupation Tax Act rule No. 33 

 states. Fertilizer .... means a commodity 

 which contains one or more substances to 

 increase the available plant food content of 

 the soil and which becomes a part of the 

 prtnlucts grown therein .... Persons who 

 sell fertilizer to purchasers who are regular- 

 ly engaged in the business of producing 

 agricultural tsroducts for sale are considered 

 to be making sales for purposes of resale 

 because in suth cases the fertilizer becomes 

 a part of products -which arc subsequently 

 sold. ' believe it or not. four diilerent lime- 

 stone producers were found recently by this 

 department to be charging this tax. (Do not 

 confuse this, however, with the present an<l 

 valid '■^' I transportatifin tax -- Federal) 



According to newspaper comment, manv 



current farm s.ile values are reflecting the 

 known unproved producing ability of soil 

 that 'has been "limed, phosphated, and 



clovered ■ 



The Vil'ar Food Admtnistratitm urges 



farmers who are planning to use commercial 

 fertilizer next spring to apply now and ac 

 cept deliyery during the winter months. This 

 IS important and essential if ftrtilizer mixeis 

 .ire to meet farmers needs. 



A recent letter from Marvin lones, War 

 Food Administrator, to quarrv operators 

 emphasizes the importance of agricultural 

 limestone for increased crop and food pro 

 duction and points out tlieir classification 

 under the war manpower act. 



A. E. Richardson, manager oi Illinois Ag- 

 ricultural Mutual, gives George Thiem, 

 Chicago Daily News farm editor, an in- 

 terview during lAA annual meeting. 



Charter member Thurman McCoy signs 

 his neighbor, Andrew Meyer, as the lOOOth 

 member in the lo Daviess County Form 

 Bureau. .The county went over the lOOOth 

 mark by eight in the 100.000 member cam- 

 paign for the state. 



W. H. Smith, Woodford county, who 

 started in Farm Bureau membership work 

 in Lake county in 1919, chats with Farm 

 Adviser L. E. McKenzie. Edgar county. 



JANUARY, 1944 



21 



