It Takes Plant Foods 



To Produce Good Crops 



ONE of the biggest jobs facing farm- 

 ers today is the rebuilding of their 

 depleted soils! 



As George D. Scarseth, research di- 

 rector of the American Farm Research 

 Association, points out : 



"We must restore fertility to our 

 soils just as factory owners replace 

 worn out machinery in their manufac- 

 turing plants. 



"Farmers can view their efforts as 

 an industry manufacturing the most 

 important products in the world 

 today." 



Like the manufacturer, the farmer 

 must have efficient facilities to achieve 

 efficient production. That's why he 

 wants high grade fertilizers fitted to 

 his needs. 



The American Farm Bureau Federa- 

 tion believes that if the farmer is to 

 have a fighting chance of securing 

 high grade fertilizers to rebuild the 

 plant food elements in the soil, it will 

 be necessary to have a national fertilizer 

 program. 



Farm Bureau representatives have 

 worked more than two years to draft 

 such a program. Main essentials of 

 this program are contained in the 

 Bankhead-Hill-Flannagan bills now 

 pending in Congress. 



The basis of this program is sup- 

 ported by findings of the top scientists 

 of the country. 



What is the program .' Here are the 

 main essentials : 



The Congress would declare it to be 

 a national policy that the natural re- 

 serves of phosphate and potash are to 

 be conserved primarily for agriculture. 



Development of phosphate and 

 potash reserves on land now controlled 



by the Department of the Interior, and 

 provisions for a certain amount of ex- 

 ploratory work to be carried out on 

 public domain lands. 



Development of experimental phos- 

 phate and potash plants by the Depart- 

 ment of Interior. On or before five 

 years, plants are to be sold to farmer 

 cooperatives. If not purchased by 

 cooperatives, they must be sold to 

 others or closed. 



The experimental plants to be built 

 by the government would produce less 

 than 10 per cent of the total supply 

 of fertilizers that would be needed in 

 the national program. 



Production of high-analysis fer- 

 tilizers is the main objective of the 

 plants. Present fertilizer mixtures con- 

 tain an average of only about 20 per 

 cent plant food. 



This 20 per cent can be at least 

 doubled, and maybe tripled in some 

 instances, thus greatly reducing the 

 cost per unit of plant food to the 

 farmer. 



Authorization to the Farm Credit 

 Administration to make loans to coop- 

 eratives for the purchase of plant food 

 mineral reserves and production facili- 

 ties. 



Congressional appropriation of $10,- 

 000,000 to 120,000,000 annually for 

 educational and demonstration proj- 

 ects for as many years as needed — the 

 money to be allocated equally to the 

 states. 



The state extension is to have au- 

 thority to determine in what manner 

 the demonstration is to be carried on 

 within the state and the counties of 

 the state. 



Establishment of a grass roots com- 



mittee to advise the Congress and the 

 Secretary of Agriculture what measures 

 should be taken, within the law, to 

 improve and maintain soil fertility. 



HOLD CONFERENCE ON 

 RURAL EDUCATION 

 IN SPRINGFIELD 



EMPHASIZING the growing impor- 

 tance of rural schools and their or- 

 ganization to the people of Illinois, a 

 conference on rural education, called 

 by Governor Dwight Green, was held 

 Jan. 18-19 in Springfield. 



More than 300 people from through- 

 out the state attended the meeting to 

 discuss rural education problems and a 

 set of resolutions was drawn up and 

 approved unanimously. 



Members of the committee which 

 drafted the resolutions were: Goffrey 

 Hughes, Franklin county superintend- 

 ent of schools, chairman; John K. Cox, 

 Illinois Agricultural Association direc- 

 tor of school relations; Mrs. E. D. Mc- 

 Guire, Jackson county member of the 

 lAA state-wide school committee. 



Earl Hughes, McHenry county school 

 survey committee member; Luther 

 Black of the office of the state super- 

 intendent of public instruction ; Chris 

 DeYoung, dean of Illinois State Nor- 

 mal University; Robert R. Kimbcll, 

 DuPage county school survey commit- 

 tee member. 



Also attending the conference as a 

 representative of the lAA was L. H. 

 Simerl, director of the department of 

 research and taxation. 



Following is a summary of the reso- 

 lutions: 



State Assistance 



The conference recommended to the 

 governor and the General Assembly 

 the early enactment of legislation 

 amending the present law pertaining 

 to the distribution of state financial 

 assistance to special aid rural school 

 districts in such manner as to encourage 

 reorganization of such districts. 

 Farm-to-Highway Roads 



Because good secondary roads go 

 hand in hand with better rural schools, 

 the conference commended the gover- 

 nor and the General Assembly for their 

 action in regard to the $15,000,000 

 road surfacing bill and urged that they 

 give very careful consideration to rec- 

 ommendations for future aid to town- 

 ship or farm-to-highway roads. (The 

 farm-to-highway roads bill was drafted 

 and sponsored by the lAA). 



County School Surveys 



The conference recommended that 

 the General Assembly, early in its next 

 general session, provide funds for each 

 county which voted for a school survey. 

 This recommendation was made because 



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I. A. A. RECORD 



