J 



1 



and clover seedings. Many had not 

 expected a recurrence in their life time 

 of the 1943 flood, and some are begin- 

 ning to wonder what the future holds 

 for them." • 



J. G. McCall, Jackson-Perry farm 

 adviser, estimated 55,000 acres of farm 

 land flooded of ^hkh 35,000 is crop 

 land with 12,000 acres of it in winter 

 wheat, winter barley and spring oats. 

 On May 19 some farmers in the area 

 were starting work in the fields and 

 there was considerable exchange of 

 labor and equipment. 



Practically every farm in the upland 

 within 10 miles of the flooded area 

 has some livestock on pasture. Milk 

 cows are being farmed out in the hills 

 for their keep. Farmers of the valley 

 are anxious to get back to their farms, 

 but are handicapped for the lack of 

 finance and fear of a recurrence of the 

 flood as of last year. 



The farmers south of Grand Tower 

 in Jackson county have suflfered from 

 the flood for three years in succession 

 due to the breaking of the Big Muddy 

 Levee. The rest of the farms inside of 



the levee have suffered two losses in 

 succession while the farms lying out- 

 side of the levee have had four tough 

 years of it. 



Union county had 39,000 acres of its 

 land flooded of which 22,000 acres 

 was crop land. Some 7000 acres of 

 wheat, 2000 acres of barley, and 2000 

 acres of alfalfa were destroyed. Work 

 is being carried on to repair levee 

 breaks before the June rise. Farmers 

 will plant about 25 per cent more corn 

 than planned before the flood and also 

 will increase soybeans and emergency 

 hay crops. 



Livingston county also had some 

 high water damage in an area east of 

 Pontiac along the Vermilion River. 

 Other parts of the county had land 

 flooded because tile lines clogged up 

 and failed to carry off excess water, 

 R. C. Smith, farm adviser, reported. 



T. W. May, Madison county farm 

 adviser, reported 4321 acres of farm 

 land flooded by overflow waters of the 

 Mississippi. Some 3215 acres of wheat 

 were inundated. As the waters recede, 



farmers are exchanging labor and ma- 

 chinery to work the drier fields first. 

 Field work in mid-May was five to six 

 weeks behind schedule. 



Workers in all of the flood areas 

 praised the work of the state militia. 

 Red Cross, Coast Guard, Army engi- 

 neers and other agencies. The work 

 of these agencies averted much serious 

 damage. 



Leslie B. Broom, Pulaski-Alexander 

 farm adviser, reported that the farmers 

 of these counties suffered property loss 

 of approximately $678,000 from the 

 floods. "The fact that they have been 

 hit two years straight without a chance 

 of recuperating from their losses makes 

 the situation rather critical," he pointed 

 out. However, indications are that there 

 will be no serious movement from the 

 areas. Most everyone is planning to go 

 ahead with their operations. Most of 

 the alfalfa, wheat, and small grain 

 acreage will be planted to com and soy- 

 beans. Loss on wheat, barley and alfalfa 

 crops which were well advanced is esti- 

 mated at $385,000. 



COUNTY COMMITTEES STUDY RURAL SCHOOLS 



CONSIDERABLE progress is being 

 made in many counties of the state 

 in the formation of County Farm and 

 Home Bureau committees to study local 

 rural school problems, according to a 

 survey made in May. 



Of 54 County Farm Bureaus reporting 

 on a questionnaire asking the status of 

 their rural school studies, 28 counties 

 indicated that committees had been 

 formed, and in some cases preliminary 

 discussions had been held. Sixteen other 

 counties reported that committees were 

 planned. In the remainder of the 54 

 reporting, action had not been taken by 

 the Farm Bureau boards. There are per- 

 haps other counties that have formed 

 committees, but did not report before 

 the Record went to press. 



Counties in which committees had 

 been set up included: Adams, Bureau, 

 Champaign, Clay, Douglas, Edgar, Ed- 

 wards, Ford, Greene, Jackson-Perry, Jo 

 Daviess, Knox, Lee, Livingston, Ma- 

 coupin, Madison, Marshall-Putnam, 

 Mason, McDonough, Mercer, Moultrie, 

 Piatt, Pike, Richland, Schuyler, Scott, 

 White, and Winnebago. 



The 16 counties reporting that com- 

 mittees were being planned include: 

 Bond, Clark, Coles, Cook, DeKalb, 

 Grundy, Henderson, McHenry, Mc- 

 Lean, Ogle, Peoria, Sangamon, Stark, 

 Vermilion, Whiteside, and Woodford. 



Clark county reported that three 



school districts in the county had recently 

 been reorganized into one, and that the 

 preliminary report of the lAA school 

 committee was used in the discussions 

 preceding the reorganization. 



Mercer county's committee reports 

 that it has gathered .statistical data and 

 is looking forward to a suitable date for 

 a general meeting. 



Jo Daviess county committee has made 

 a comparative study on school finances 

 and enrollment, and the committee has 

 held two meetings. 



According to scattered reports received ' 

 by the lAA school committee, its prog- 

 ress report has been well received 

 throughout the state by rural people and 

 by educators. 



Members of the department of edu- 

 cation and psychology of the Illinois 

 State Normal University, Normal, com- 

 mended the progress report in a letter to 

 the committee. 



Here are some of the general com- 

 ments from the letter: "We are in 

 hearty accord with the general tone of 

 the report and its forward-looking atti- 

 tude toward rural education in Illinois. 

 We certainly agree that most rural peo- 

 ple want good schools for their children. 

 We emphatically believe that rural areas 

 are entitled to good schools and that 

 those schools should be adapted to the 

 needs of the children they are to serve. 



"We further agree that the majority of 



one-teacher and many secondary schools 

 should be much larger than at present 

 and should provide a greatly enriched 

 curriculum including the subjects of 

 physical education, health, music, in- 

 dustrial arts, home economics, business 

 education, agriculture, as is so well 

 brought out in the report. . . Certainly 

 the control of rural school education 

 should remain in the hands of capable 

 rural people, selected from enlarged 

 community districts. We share with 

 the members of the committee who pre- 

 pared the report a faith in those who 

 make up the rural population of Illi- 

 nois." 



The progress report of the lAA school 

 committee is intended to serve as a 

 guidepost and stimulant to the study and 

 discussion by local people of the school 

 problems in their respective communi- 

 ties. Suggestions from committees mak- 

 ing these local studies are expected to 

 aid the lAA committee in making its 

 final report and recommendations at the 

 annual meeting of the lAA in Novem- 

 ber. 



Valuable assistance in the study of 

 rural school problems in the state is 

 expected from John K. Cox, former 

 principal of the Tri-City High School of 

 Buffalo, Sangamon county, who has 

 joined the staff of the lAA. He will be 

 available to assist County Farm Bureaus 

 in their studies of rural school problems. 



JUNE. 1944 



