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Horticiiltiiral Groups 



Hold Ananal 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 an 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 for 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 

 cent 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 gave 

 the main address at the banquet, Dec. 

 14, 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- 

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



S(U/ 



Improvement 



By John A. Spencer. 



Fertilizers sold in Illinois during the first 

 six months of 1943 increased 33% over the 

 same period in 1942, accordmg to the agron- 

 omy department of the University of Illi- 

 nois, which reports a sale of more than 

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

 mixed goods sold was covered by 15 analy- 

 ses or combinations. In single unit mate- 

 rials, nearly 60 per cent was in the 18 and 

 20 per cent superphosphates. The reduction 

 in numbers of different combinations is due 

 in large part to governmental orders but 

 this change is regarded favorably by both 

 fertilizer manufacturers and college agron- 

 omists. Fewer combinations increase factory 

 efficiency and reduce confusion 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 1942. 



Another limestone quarry change in west- 

 ern Illinois is from a site immediately west 

 of Morrison in Whiteside county to the 

 Frank Norrish place, north of town. In- 

 creased crushing capacity and output is 

 being planned by the operator. 



There are also rumors of two additional 



quarries starting in Whiteside county for the 

 production of agricultural limestone, which 

 would tend to indicate more adequate supply 

 even with one "mortality" or loss of quarry 

 at the point near Ideal. Whiteside county 

 in 1942 used 44,000 tons of limestone. 



No farmer should pay the so-called "sales 

 tax" on agricultural limestone, since it was 



Charter member Thurman McCoy signs 

 his neighbor, Andrew Meyer, as the lOOOth 

 member in the Jo Daviess County Farm 

 Bureau. .The county went over the lOOOth 

 mailc by eight in the 100,000 member cam- 

 paign ior the state. 



defined 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 

 products grown therein .... Persons who 

 sell fertilizer to purchasers who are regular- 

 ly engaged in the business of producing 

 agricultural products for sale are considered 

 to be making sales for purposes of resale 

 because in such cases the fertilizer becomes 

 a part of products which are subsequently 

 sold." Believe it or not, four different lime- 

 stone producers were found recently by this 

 department to be charging this tax. (Do not 

 confuse this, however, with the present and 

 valid 3% transportation tax — Federal). 



According to newspaper comment, nMuay 



current farm sale values are reflecting the 

 known improved producing ability of soil 

 that has been "limed, phosphated, and 

 clovered." 



The War Food Administration urges 



farmers who are planning to use commercial 

 fertilizer next spring to apply now and ac- 

 cept delivery during the winter months. This 

 is important and essential if fertilizer mixers 

 are to meet farmers' needs. 



A recent letter from Marvin Jones, War 

 Food Administrator, to quarry operators 

 emphasizes the importance of agricultural 

 limestone for increased crop and food pro- 

 duction and points out their classification 

 under the war manpower act. 



A. E. Richardson, manager of Illinois Ag- 

 ricultural Mutual, gives George Thiem, 

 Chicago Daily News farm editor, an in- 

 terview during lAA annual meeting. 



Vf. H. Smith, Woodford county, who 

 started in Farm Bureau membership vrork 

 in Lake county in 1919, diots with Form 

 Adviser L. E. McKenxie, Edgar county. 



JANUARY. 1944 



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