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By John R. Spencer 



Food for plants is just as netessan- as 

 food tor animals but wc still have to make 

 people conscious of tlic- fact. Wartime prci- 

 Juction goals to increase food, feed and 

 libcT have sapped our soils of vital fertility 

 elements. Crops have removed .mnually fur 

 the last three years appro.vimatcly -116,000 

 tons of nitrogen, 168,000 tons of phosphoric 

 acid and 160.000 tons of potash from the 

 20,000,000 acres of harvested crop land m 

 Illinois, according to Prof. A. I.. Lang. L'. 

 of I. College of Agriculture. 



Seven locations in Shelby countv have 

 been designated for lime storage bins as a 

 means of minimizing transportation prob- 

 lems, states \V. S. Batson, farm adviser. 



Farm account books have fH>inied out to 

 Logan county farmers the economic im- 

 portance of adding lime and phosphate, the 

 utilization of crop residues, planting of good 

 crops and the application of coniinerical 

 fertilizers when necessary, asserts N'. H. An- 

 derson, farm adviser. 



Kankakee county applied 64,000 tons of 

 limestone, 3200 tons ruck phosphate, ;)200 

 tons inixed fertilizer and 800 tons super- 

 phosphate last year according to George 

 Swaim, farm adviser. 



Lee county applied 126,000 tons of agri- 

 cultural limestone last year according to 

 C. E. Yale, farm adviser. This is a sub- 

 stantial increase over the 77,000 tons of the 

 19-13 year. 



The use of agricultural limestone for tlie 

 state as a whole has "come a long way ' in 

 the last ten years when slightly under 500,- 

 000 tons was applied in 1935, compared 

 with the present annual usage of appro.xi- 

 mattly 3,500.000 tons. If labor shortage 

 does nut nullify the addition to crushing 

 equipment at established quariies plus the 

 new operators the supply of available lime- 

 stone should be greater in 19-15 than last 

 year. 



According to college authorities it would 



cost approximately 10 cents a bushel, at 

 present prices for fertilizers, of soybeans 

 to replace the phosphorus and potassium 

 removed by them from soils. This is based 

 on the results of a five year test at the 

 Joliet experimental field. H. J. Snider 

 states, "From the most part the beans are 

 sold from the farm and since they contain 

 such a large proportion of the total nitro- 

 gen (in the entire crop) there is little prob- 

 ability that soybeans contribute anything 

 toward building up permanently the nitro- 

 gen content of soil." 



Unloading and bagging 50 per cent muri- 

 ate of potash at the Morgan-Scott bulk 

 plant, left to right: I. E. Barnes, inside car. 



Farmers Save On Carload 

 Muriate of Potash Buying 



Saving.s to fanners of more tli.in S20()0 

 per carload are reported by Illinois I'arm 

 Supply Company through carload ship- 

 ments ot high-grade muriate of potash 

 to a number of county Ser\ ice Companies. 



Shipments have been made to \V'ood- 

 tord, Whiteside, Grundy, Morgan-Scott, 

 C'hristian, Bond, and Jackson-W'iUiamson. 



According to Il'S officials, for the 

 t'.'.rmer whose soil needs potash, this 

 muriate of potash is a real bargain com- 

 pared with the potash contained in mixed 

 fertilizer. For example: for each pound 

 of KjO in 2-12-6, the farmer pays 8.7 



The use of grasses and clover with alfalfa 

 makes it possible for more farmers to get 

 alfalfa seed and provides a good rotation 

 hay or pasture mixture. 



McLean county's supply of milkweed pods 

 moves to war. Left to right are Dr. W. 

 L DeWess, Normal, in charge of collection 

 program in the state; Doren Young and 

 Lloyd Crichton, helpers, and T. R. Trigger, 

 assistant superviaor. 



Russell Chapman, assistant manager, lohn 

 Ryman and Harold James. Unloading this 

 50-ton car took two days and a hall. 



cents per pound. I'or one pound of K^.O 

 m HI per cent muriate of [sotash, the price 

 is only it cents per pound, and for 60 

 per Cent muriate ot potash only 1.1 cents 

 per pound. 



I.eadmg county in the sale ot potash is 

 ^X'iiiteside, report IIS olTicials. More 

 than 320 tons have been sold for spring 

 application. 



Orders for more than 2()(M) tons of 

 muriate of potash are now on hand, and 

 as of March H, 5.iO tons had been de- 

 l!\ered. 1 he remainder was si.heduled to 

 i;o out within 60 days. 



Former Randolph Adviser's 

 Son Dies On Western Front 



Plc. liugene Secor. 20, son of E. C 

 Secor, former farm adviser of Randolph 

 county. V. as killed m action Feb. 17 while 

 serving as a machine gunner with the 

 Sevciith Army in I-'raiKc, according to 

 word received by his parents from the 

 \\ ar Department. 



Tlvj last letter received from the young 

 soldier was d.ited I'eb. 1 5 and at that 

 time he was preparing to go baik to 

 the front lines after spending about two 

 weeks in a rest cimp. He went overseas 

 last November and his division bcxame 

 part of General Patch's .Seventh Army. 



Mr. Secor was farm adviser in Ran- 

 dolph count)- for 20 years and last July 

 was employed in -J-H club work by the 

 xtension service of the U. of I. Colle);e 

 '){ Agriculture. 



Besides his parents. Private First (las, 

 Secor leaves one brother, C^pl. Cl.iy Se- 

 ,or. serving overseas with the Army Air 

 lorces as a tail gunner and assistant en- 

 gineer on an Army bomber. 



^X'ind erosion can be reduced hv tree 



\\ indbre.iks and such mechanical w m^lKreaks 

 :is snow-fence or other similar materials. 

 Rows of small grain such as rve help to 

 slow the v^ind also 



APRIL. 1945 



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