By JOHN R. SPENCER 



Present figures indicate an over-all supply 

 of 12,500,000 tons of fertilizing materials 

 for the 1945-46 fiscal year. Agricultural 

 agencies estimate that only two-thirds of it, 

 or 8,000,000 tons, can possibly be delivered 

 from Jan. 1 to June 1, 1946. This means 

 that 4,500,000 tons, if available to fhe con- 

 sumer, must be accepted and delivered be- 

 fore December 31, 1945, reports A. L. Lang, 

 associate chief, soil experiment fields, uni- 

 versity of Illinois college of agriculture. 



About the only restriction on fertilizer 



distribution for the fiscal year 1945-46, made 

 mandatory by a new War Food Order 5, 

 Amendment 2, is on grades. The list of 

 grades approved for Illinois is the same as 

 that approved for 1944-45. . 



Illinois farmers are urged to increase the 



mineral-supplying power of their soil inso- 

 far as possible by applying large quantities 

 of phosphate and potash material while 

 prices of agricultural products are suffi- 

 ciently high to permit such purchases. It 

 is possible that prices may go down in the 

 future and it will be less advantageous to 

 buy fertilizers. Under those conditions it 

 will be necessary to have a highly produc- 

 tive soil capable of withstanding high pro- 

 duction without fertilization for the period 

 of lower prices. 



Of all common field crops, wheat is one 



of the most consistent in responding to soil 

 treatment. 



Pasturing soft com in the field has not 



proved satisfactory. 



NOTICE OF ANNUAL MEETING 



ILLINOIS WOOL MARKETING 



ASSOCIATION 



Notice is hereby given that the 

 annual meeting of the shareholders 

 cmd members of Illinois Wool Mar- 

 keting Association will be held on 

 Tuesday, the 27th day of November, 

 1945, at the hour of 9:30 A.M. in the 

 Sherman Hotel, Chicago, Illinois, to 

 elect directors for the succeeding 

 year; to receive and if approved, 

 confirm the report of the Board of 

 Directors of the Association for the 

 fiscal year ending September 30, 

 1945; to consider and if approved, 

 ratify and confirm all of the acts and 

 proceedings of the Board of Di- 

 rectors done and taken since the 

 last annual meeting of the share- 

 holders and members of the Associ- 

 ation and for the transaction of such 

 further and other business as may 

 properly come before the meeting. 



■ (■■ . ' S. F. Russell, Secretary 



STATE LEADS 



IN LIMESTONE ^ -^^-^ ^ 



Illinois, which leads all states in Farm 

 Bureau membership, also led the other 

 47 in the use of agricultural limestone 

 in 1944. The total amount applied was 

 4,214,600 tons, according to the State 

 Geological Survey. This is 31 per cent 

 more than the total tonnage used in 1943 

 and establishes another new high rec- 

 ord. Other leading states in the use of 

 limestone are Iowa and Wisconsin, each 

 with approximately 2,500,000 tons. 



The liming material was produced by 

 approximately 135 quarries in and adja- 

 cent to the state of Illinois. In fact, the 

 figures indicate that 921/^ per cent was 

 produced within 48 counties of the state 

 in 1944. It appears that Lee county and 

 LaSalle county, each with 125,000 tons, 

 are the leaders. Bureau county, second 

 with 101,300 tons; Henry county, third, 

 with 90,000; Livingston county, fourth, 

 with 87,700 and Whiteside county, fifth, 

 with 85,000 tons. 



This remarkable record was achieved 

 in spite of serious labor shortages both 

 in producing quarries, in distributing fa- 

 cilities and the shortage of help on farms. 

 While Illinois farmers produced approx- 

 imately 35 per cent more total crops last 

 year, this limestone tonnage, plus the new 

 records in use of rock phosphate and fer- 

 tilizer usage, would indicate that they are 

 taking good care of their soils. 



MORGAN BUREAU 

 BUYS HOME 



Added to the growing list of Illinois 

 Farm Bureaus which have purchased 

 their own quarters in the past few years 

 is Morgan county which has bought 

 the north section of the former Amer- 

 ican Bankers building at Jacksonville 

 for a permanent home. 



The building, occupied by the Farm 



Bureau for the past 12 years, rwas pur- 

 chased from the Rockford Life Insur- 

 ance company and will undergo con- 

 siderable rearrangement and jefinish- 

 ing. The main office and ^e' office of 

 Farm Adviser E. H. Garlich' are being 

 planned for greater efficiency and at- 

 tractiveness. 



The Washington County Farm Bu- 

 reau has purchased a large brick hotel 

 just outside of Nashville for a perma- 

 nent home. Planning and remodeling is 

 now under way. 



Farm Adviser I. B. Turner, Fayette county, 

 right shows Gene Phelps, of the Fayette 

 County Soil Conserration District, a soil 

 shaking machine that Turner made. 

 Twenty-eight soil samples are shaken at 

 one time in the apparatus. Advantages 

 of the machine are that samples ara thor- 

 oughly shaken, all samples shaken uni- 

 formly for comparative tests, and time and 

 labor are saved in the operation. 



Here is Mercer Cotmty Farm Bureau's new 

 soil testing laboratory. Testing is Miss 

 Maribelle Boultingbouse. Watching the 

 process are Farm Adviser E. M. Edwards 



ond Lyman T. Smith. Proi. C M. Linsley. 

 O. oi L soys, "We need to test a million 

 acres oi soil o year ii we are to make 

 headway in ear state soil program." . 



OCTOBER. 1345 



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