fOduCtS 7/i« Cff^ftetdtoe (Vm 



•> t 



ready, no additional volume can be han- 

 dled. When the plant is completed, a pro- 

 curement pro>(ram will be developed and 

 carried out. o. 



Friendly competition, lliat is what is 



developing between Farmers Creamery Com- 

 pany of Bloomington and Producers Cream- 

 ery of Carlinville. For years, Manaj;er For- 

 rest Fairchild has had the distinction of hav- 

 ing the largest cooperative creamery in Il- 

 linois. He has now been moved out of the 

 lead by Manager F. A. Gourley of Carlin- 

 ville. 



Says Manager Gourley, "When the past 

 year closed, the Carlinville plant exceeded 

 the Bloomington plant by 20,000 pounds but- 

 terfat. This gives the Carlinville plant the 

 distinction of being the largest cooperative 

 creamery in Illinois. The nicest thing about 

 this is that the Bloomington plant will not 

 see our dust because at the present time we 

 are purchasing from 55 to 65 per cent more 

 butterfat than a year ago." 



Says Manager Fairchild, "Certainly, to 

 hold what we have is not enough. If we 

 are to meet the challenge, not only of some 

 other cooperative creamery, but to meet the 

 needs and aspirations of farmers in our area, 

 we should bend every effort to increase our 

 butterfat volume. — If every farmer were 

 sold on the idea of cooperative cream mar- 

 keting, the volume would more than take 

 care of itself. — All of this shows that while 

 we are doing a better job than in former 

 years, we must continue to show improve- 

 ment to maintain our lead. The assistance 

 of members of Farmers Creamery Company 

 is solicited to help meet these new chal- 

 lenges. Let's be at it." That's the spirit. 



By Wilfred Shaw 



Milk cow numbers in the United States 

 increased less during 1944 than in any re- 

 cent year. 



There were 27,785,000 cows and heifers 

 two years old and over on January 1, 1945, 

 compared with 27,656,000 a year earlier. 



Total milk production in February was 

 8.5 billion pounds, an increase of }')J- over 

 the daily average in February of last year. 



Butter production of recent weeks has 

 averaged about 9'%- below a year ago. 



Cheese and evaporated milk production 

 continues sharply higher than last year, with 

 evaporated milk production up 30% and 



cheese production up 19% above last year. 

 Butter, cheese, and evaporated milk stocks 

 continue much below last year. Cold stor- 

 age holdings of butter on March 1 were }1,- 

 200,000 pounds compared with 107,560,000 

 pounds a year ago. Cheese holdings on 

 March 1 were 117,557,000 pounds compared 

 with 144,812,000 pounds a year ago. Evap- 

 orated milk stocks totaled on February 1 

 this year 132,000,000 pounds compared with 

 168,000,000 pounds a year ago. 



The following are the blended prices re- 

 ceived by producers supplying the respective 

 Illinois markets. All are February prices 

 for 3.5% milk, f.o.b. dealers' .platforms (ex- 

 cept Chicago) and are for milk meeting the 

 respective milk ordinances: 



Bloomington —.42.45 



Canton 2.75 



Champaign _ _ 2.75 



Chicago 3.11 



Danville 2.625 



Decatur _ 2.75 



DeKalb 2.74 



Freeport _... 2.73 



Galesburg _ 2.65 



Harrisburg 2.60 



Jacksooville 2.85 



Kewanee 2.55 



LaSalle 2.69 



Moline 2.976 



Peoria 2.89 



Pontiac _ 2.406 



Quiocy _ 2.36 



Rockford 3X)7 



Springfield 2.85 



St. Louis _ 3.44 



Streator 2.40 



Tlie following are the gross blended prices 

 paid to producers for milk in the following 

 named cities throughout the United States, 

 and are quoted on a 3.5% butterfat basis, de- 

 livered f.o.b. dealers' platforms (with ex- 

 ceptions noted) as reported by the respec- 

 tive milk cooperatives. These prices are for 

 January, unless otherwise noted: 



Baltimore $3.85 



Boston (191-200 mile zone) .. 3.82 

 Chicago (70 mile zone) (Feb.) 3.11 



Cleveland 3.47 



Denver 2.87 



Detroit 3.57 



Indianapolis (Feb.) _-.. 3.28 



Kansas City (Feb.) 3.52 



Milwaukee (Mar.) 3.00 



New York Cit>- (201-210 mile 



zone) _ 3.34 



Omaha (Feb.) 2.95 



Seattle (Feb.) 3.10 



St. Louis (Feb.) 3.44 



St. Paul & Minneapolis 3.00 



Wa*ington, D. C. (Feb.) 3.99 



Tlie armual business meeting of the Dan- 

 ville Producers Dairy was held Monday eve- 

 ning, April 2, in the Vermilion County 

 Farm Bureau office. The annual meeting 

 for members and wives of the dairy was 

 held Tuesday, April 10. 



By L L. Colvit 



According to present indications, Illinois 



should have a good fruit crop in 1945. The 

 last of March is not an opportune time to 

 make a definite prediction, because future 

 weather, especially during the next two 

 months, can change the entire picture. TJie 

 sustained cold weather during the winter, 

 without extremely low temperatures, has 

 been favorable. 



Peach buds can stand about 10 degrees 

 below zero when they are completely dor- 

 mant. As they advance towards blossoming, 

 however, they become increasingly suscepti- 

 ble to freezing. At full blossom stage, even 

 a frost will result in high mortality. At 

 this time, they are unduly advanced, and 

 are in good condition. 



Over most of the peach area in Illinois 

 there are plenty of buds on the trees for 

 a full crop of peaches. In the Centralia 

 area, however, where there was a tremen- 

 dous crop in 1944 along with extremely dry 

 weather, the bud set is lighter. Some or- 

 chards in that area cannot have a full crop 

 even if there is no frost damage at all. 



The Illinois apple crop should be con- 

 siderably larger than the small crop of 1944. 

 Apples are not as easily injured by freezing 

 as peaches are, although a sharp freeze at 

 blossoming would destroy the year's crop. 

 Present indications are very good for ap- 

 ples. 



Incidentally, this is a good time to buy a 

 bushel of apples. There is still a large 

 supply in cold storage, and prices are very 

 reasonable, if they are purchased by the 

 bushel. A bushel of apples weighs about 

 45 pounds and can be purchased for about 

 $3. This for good quality, crispy, juicy ap- 

 ples. Some of the softer varieties are be- 

 coming a bit mealy, but the old-fashioned 

 Winesap for example, is at its best this time 

 of the year. 



New plantings of strawberries will be 



made in a limited way this year. They will 

 of course not affect 1945 production which 

 will again be extremely light. High prices 

 and small supplies are in prospect for this 

 fruit in 1945. 



Vegetable production in Illinois is un- 

 predictable at this date. Fewer acres will 

 probably be planted because of labor short- 

 ages. 



APRIL, 1945 



18 



