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Beport Resalb of Tests 



On New Alialfar Variety 



Ranger, a relatively new variety of 

 alfalfa, has demonstrated its resistance 

 to wilt and winterkilling in a three-year 

 •demonstration on the William Rohlwing 

 farm in Cook county. 



In 1941, nine varietal plots of alfalfa 

 were seeded in plots 300 feet long and 

 12 feet wide at the crossroads of high- 

 ways 53 and 58, under the supervision of 

 C. A. Hughes, Cook county farm adviser. 

 Seed was provided by J. C. Hackleman, 

 professor of crops extension, U. of I. 

 College of Agriculture. 



This year there was a near-perfect 

 stand in the Ranger seeding, and about 

 a 50 per cent stand in the plot of Ores- 

 tan. All other varieties showed little 

 or no resistance to bacterial wilt. The 

 front 50 feet of each plot will be main- 

 tained through the 1945 growing season 

 for additional comparisons. The remain- 

 ing portion of each plot will be plowed 

 under this fall. Other varieties tested 

 ■were Dakota Common, Beehive, Cossack, 

 Ladak, Utah Common, Kansas Common 

 and Grimm. 



Ranger alfalfa was created by plant 

 breeders of the U.S. Department of Agri- 

 culture and the Nebraska Experiment Sta- 

 tion and, according to Hackleman, is 

 especially adaptable to the northern sec- 

 tions of Illinois. 



Possible Farm Land Boom 

 Ahead, Economists Warn 



Land prices in Illinois have advanced 

 as far as long time farm earnings will 

 justify, and a farm, land boom may lie 

 immediately ahead, according to Prof. 

 . H. C. M. Case, head of the department 

 of agricultural economics of the U. of 

 I., and Prof. C. L. Stewart of the same 

 department. Their statement is con- 

 tained in a recent article in Illinois 

 Farm Economics, extension service pub- 

 lication. 



"There is little basis to expect land 

 prices in the long run to remain as high 

 as those prevailing in the summer of 

 1944. Consequences of a serious defla- 

 tion of farm land values following this 

 war may vary in certain respects from 

 those following 1920, but the general 

 pattern is likely to be similar," the ar- 

 ticle states. 



Ten ways prospective buyers and sell- 

 ers of farm land may exert voluntary con- 

 trol of land inflation may be summarized 

 as follows: 



(1) Buyers should not incur more 

 farm land indebtedness than is justified 

 by the long time earnings from the land. 



(2) Where land prices have risen un- 

 duly, farmers generally will be better 

 oflF in the long run to postpone purchase 



of land, retire their ddbts, iad build re- 

 serves. 



(3) Available funds can be used now 

 or later for needed land and home im- 

 provements. 



(4) Tenants may find it more profit- 

 able to continue as tenants than to buy 

 land at inflated prices. 



(5) Owner farm operators who want 

 to expand their acreage to secure an eco- 

 nomic size of unit should give consider- 

 ation to leasing land from others rather 

 than buying at inflated prices. 



(6) Non-farmers should give serious 

 consideration to alternative investments, 

 particularly to purchase of war bonds. 



(7) Purchasers of land at war prices 

 should make as heavy cash payments on 

 it as is consistent with adequate funds 

 for operating it. 



(8) Prospective farm purchasers who 

 are not well-informed in regard to the 

 value of land should avail themselves of 

 competent land appraisal service. 



(9) Buyers who assume heavy in- 

 debtedness incur risks not incurred by 

 those who are able to pay cash. 



(10) Farmers wanting to retire and 

 others interested in disposing of farm 

 lands should consider the advantages of 

 sale in the present market. Sellers should 

 require substantial down payments. 



Castor Beans Net $13.54 



Per Acre. Accounts Show 



The castor bean crop proved to be a 

 profitable one in 1943 on the light soils 

 found in the Illinois counties where the 

 crop was grown commercially, according 

 to R. H. Wilcox, associate professor of 

 farm management, U. of I. College of 

 Agriculture. He based his conclusion 

 on the cost account records kept by 34 

 farmers in Mason and Cass counties in 

 cooperation with the college. 



Average production of castor beans 

 in the hull was 600 pounds an acre. 



Total cost per acre for growing, in- 

 cluding all expenses, was $20.96. The 

 beans from the average acre sold for 

 $34.50, leaving a profit above costs of 

 $13.54. In other words, it cost the 

 farmer $3.48 to produce 100 pounds of 

 beans in the hull for which the govern- 

 ment paid $5.73. 



Nearly 600,000 pounds of castor beans 

 were produced on Illinois farms in 

 1943 by arrangement with the federal 

 government. Castor oil was needed for 

 the lubrication of airplane engines used 

 in high altitude flying, and in the hy- 

 draulic mechanism used in opening and 

 closing bomb-bay doors, and in raising 

 and lowering landing gears. The castor 

 bean program was' not continued in Il- 

 linois in 1944. 



Chicago Prodveers Handle 

 56 7o Junior Show Entries 



Chicago Producers Commission Associ- 

 ation handled 56 per cent of the hogs 

 entered in the fifth annual Chicago Junior 

 Market Hog Show and Sale held Sept. 

 28 at the Chicago Stock Yards. Termed 

 the best show to date, 474 entries were 

 shown by 90 vocational and 4-H club 

 boys and girls from 111., Wis. and Ind. 



Four first prizes were won by entries 

 handled by the Chicago Producers. Ken- 

 neth Schertz, 17, Benson, Woodford 

 county, won first in the light weight pen 

 of three class on purebred Duroc Jer- 

 seys; Denver Goetz, 18, Geneseo, Henry 

 county, topped the heavy weight pen of 

 three class on purebred Hampshires. 

 Schertz's pen of three, averaging 225 

 pounds each, brought 31 cents a pound, 

 and Goetz receive! 27 1^ cents for his 

 pen that averaged 256 f>ounds each. 



Miriam Meyer, 13, Crescent City, Iro- 

 quois count)', won first in the light weight 

 pen of five class on purebred Chester 

 White hogs, averaging 214 pounds each 

 which sold for 32 cents a pound. 



A Duroc Jersey purebred hog, weigh- 

 ing 210 pounds, and shown by Kenneth 

 Bast, 17, Tallula, Menard county, won 

 the light weight class of single hogs. It 

 sold at 29 cents a pound. 



Top honors of the show went to Nor- 

 man Jorstad, Morris, Grundy county, 

 who took all three championship awards 

 with his purebred Chester Whites. His 

 champion single hog brought 82 cents a 

 f)Ound, an all time record price. 



Donald Wilken, 14, Danforth, Iro- 

 quois county, won the medium weight 

 class of five with Duroc Jersey hogs that 

 sold for 31 cents per pound. 



Delbert Decker, Jr., 16, Aledo, Mer- 

 cer county, won the heavy weight single 

 class on a purebred Hampshire that scJd 

 for 40 cents per jxiund. 



Keith Sdiertz, Benson, Woodford county, 

 won first in the light weight pen oi three 

 doss with these purebred Duroc lerseya 

 at the fifth annual Chicago Junior Market 

 Hog Show and Sole. 



NOVEMBER. 1944 



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