Teacher and students discuss the importance 



of limestone to soil fertility during visit to 



quarry on outslcirts of Casey. 





fOCATIONAL Agriculture in the 

 Casey Township High School has 

 been one of the most construc- 

 tive influences contributing to the im- 

 provement and general prosperity of 

 this community," says Dave McReaken, 

 cashier of the First National Bank of 

 Casey, in Clark county. 



McReaken, a resident of Casey for 

 the past 10 years added, "The fine re- 

 lationship and mutual understanding 

 between rural and urban people in this 

 community is mainly a result of the 

 work done through the Vocational Ag- 

 riculture Department of the Casey High 

 School under its able instructor, Wal- 

 ter A. Newlin." 



The Casey Township High School 

 district, according to W. M. Runyon, 

 the principal, comprises approximately 

 200 square miles. When Newlin went 

 there 26 years ago, the district was 

 considerably smaller. It has more than 

 doubled its original size, largely as a 

 result of the service given to farmers 



mat A SCHOOL CAN 



DO FOR A Community 



By JOHN K. COX 



lAA Director of Rural School Relirtloni 



through the vocational agricultural de- 

 partment. 



Land around Casey, a gray silt loam, 

 overlying a tight clay sub-soil once was 

 productive and economically self-suffi- 

 cient. Due to natural causes and ques- 

 tionable use of the land, it became un 

 productive, sub-marginal or barren and 

 m some cases abandoned. After 1900, 

 corn had to be hauled into the Casey 

 Community. According to Newlin, 

 after 1904, most farming operations 

 ceased and most grain elevators closed 

 as a result largely of the increasing in- 

 fertility of the soil but also as a result 

 of a developing interest in oil in that 

 area. 



Grain Yields Rise 



Today, half of the corn is trucked 

 out. Land that only eight years ago sold 

 for $30 an acre, last year produced 36 

 bushels of wheat, 35 to 40 bushels of 

 beans and 90 bushels of corn per acre. 



A grain elevator in operation only 

 the last few years took in 10,000 bushels 

 of beans per day part of last season. 

 No elevator would have been needed 

 had there not been a soil fertility pro- 

 gram in operation. 



When oil production began to taper 

 off and prices of oil fell after World 

 War I, farmers were compelled to turn 



their attention again to farming. But 

 with corn yields averaging only 15 to 

 25 bushels to the acre, wheat produc- 

 tion almost discontinued and pasture 

 land in poor condition, the outlook 

 was not bright. 



The Clark County Farm Bureau, said 

 Newlin, was the first agency to promote 

 an organized effort to improve agricul- 

 ture there. Informational meetings 

 were held. The College of Agriculture 

 of the University of Illinois cooperated. 



Through the efforts of the Farm 

 Bureau and the Vocational Agriculture 

 Department of the high school a lime- 

 stone producing concern in Greencastle, 

 Ind., shipped 450 tons of limestone dur- 

 ing 1922 and 1923 to the 40 boys in 

 the agriculture department at the high 

 school. The limestone was free except- 

 ing the freight. Soil tests were made. 



Test Plots Laid Out 



Test plots were laid out in 10 or 12 

 neighborhoods around the Casey com- 

 munity. Untreated strips were left in 

 each plot. All plots were seeded to 

 sweet clover including the untreated 

 strips. "Abundant clover," said New- 

 lin, "was produced on treated plots 

 but none on the strips where limestone 



Nolan Api 



principally 



He is sho\ 



and his 



■4- 



4 I 



1 



Elevator procedure is studied here by Casey 



students. Structure would be superfluous 



If surrounding farmers hadn't followed soil 



building practices. 



Delmar Atloy's livesteclc proiect, a sow and 



litter, is inspected by Mr. Newlin during a 



visit t« the Atley farm near Caiay. Atley 



plans to exhibit hi* llttor. 



Value of sell practices championed by Farm 



Bureau and Casey high school ag depart- 



ment i* illustrated in this sweet clover fieM. 



Note man holding liat aloft. 



8 



L A. A. RECORD 



