SCHOLAR PREDiaS 



csDrouth JnlA ^i 



S'S. 



IS THERE a drouth due this year? 

 There's been a lot of speculation on 

 this subject lately. Some folks say 

 yes and others try not to think about it. 



Recent news stories have quoted the 

 opinion of Prof. E. L. Moseley of 

 Bowling Green, Ohio, State university, 

 who predicts a severe drouth this sum- 

 mer. Let's hope he's wrong. 



He predicts the drouth will extend 

 from eastern Kansas nearly to the 

 Hudson and Delaware rivers. 



Professor Moseley bases his forecast 

 on weather records and tree ring 

 growths that reveal such dry periods 

 come every 90.4 years. 



The summer of 19-46, he says, will 

 mark the completion of a 90.4-year 

 cycle since the last solar-influenced 

 drouth. 



In Illinois, the drouth is expected to 

 be broken with more rain than is usual 

 from April to August in 1947. 



Particular attention is paid by Pro- 

 fessor Moseley to some 300 cross sec- 

 tions cut from stumps of old trees that 

 tell the scientist a story of weather con- 

 ditions for past centuries. The cross 

 sections show wide and narrow rings 

 and it is inferred that the narrow rings 

 are the result of poor growth of the 

 tree due to lack of moisture. 



Very narrow rings are found in four 

 old trees in the year 1494. Again in 

 1584, these and other trees in the col- 

 lection show narrow rings. The nar- 

 row rings seem to appear in 90 to 91- 

 year cycles which points to 1946-47 as 

 the next drouth year. 



ummer 



Records indicate that 1856 was a 

 drouth year. 



In Illinois, five of the six U. S. 

 weather stations with records show de- 

 ficient rainfall in that year. 



Eighty-one-year-old Professor Mose- 

 ley made his prediction for a 1946 

 drouth at a meeting of scientists in 

 1939. In September, 1945, he was 

 quoted in a Chicago newspaper warn- 

 ing farmers that in 1946 they "should 

 not count on a large yield of corn, or 

 any other crop that cannot be harvested 

 before midsummer." 



While Professor Moseley no doubt 

 has some professional pride at stake in 

 his predictions, he probably hopes that 

 he will be proved wrong this summer. 



MASON DIRECTOR SETS 

 RECORD OF LONG SERVICE 



IF YOU'RE looking for a man who has 

 established something of a record for 

 continuous service as a Farm Bureau 

 board member, you 

 will find the answer 

 in John H. Dever- 

 man of Mason coun- 



Mr. Deverman re- 

 tired from the Ma- 

 son County Farm 

 Bureau board of di- 

 rectors this year after 

 more than 30 years 

 of service. A charter 

 member of the Ma- 

 son Farm Bureau 

 which was organized in 1915, Mr. Dever- 

 man represented Quiver township on the 

 board from the time of organization. 



Mr. Deverman also enjoys the distinc- 

 tion of being one of a small group of 

 Farm Bureau pioneers who signed $100 

 notes in 1919 to give the newly reorgan- 

 ized Illinois Agricultural Association 

 financial backing. This was when the 

 lAA was reorganized from a federation 

 of County Farm Bureaus to a direct 

 membership organization. 



The notes, dated Jan. 1, 1919, read: 

 "The undersigned promised to pay the 

 sum of $100 each year, for a period ©f 

 three years, to the Treasurer of the Illi- 

 nois Agricultural Association. 



J. H. Deverman 



"It is distinctly understood that the 

 above sum or any part thereof is to be 

 paid whenever called for by said Asso- 

 ciation to defray any deficit in the Treas- 

 ury of said Association caused by the 

 payment of the legitimate expenses of 

 said Association. It is further under- 

 stood that the undersigned shall not be 

 required to pay more than $100 in any 

 one year." ] 



These pledges were never needed, how- 

 ever, and the notes were later returned 

 to the signers without a dime ever having 

 been called for from them. 



In addition to serving as a board mem- 

 ber of the Mason County Farm Bureau 

 since 1915, Mr. Deverman also served 

 during the entire time as its treasurer. 

 He was also active in livestock marketing 

 programs and was township chairman on 

 the Mason county livestock marketing 

 committee. He served on the first corn- 

 hog committee in 1933. Active in com- 

 munity activities, Mr. Deverman worked 

 in War Bond and Red Cross drives during 

 World War II and is a member of the 

 Bishop Lutheran Church near Topeka, 

 111. 



Mr. Deverman retired from farming 

 in January and moved to Havana. He 

 was born in Topeka and owned and 

 operated a 225-acre farm near there up 

 til his retirement. 



Mr. Deverman has four children: Mrs. 

 Ollie Fritz, Havana ; Wilmer Deverman, 

 Pekin, and Leland Deverman, Los An- 

 geles. 



BALE TIE SCARCITY 



EXPECTED TO CONTINUE 



Little encouragement is held out to 

 farmers hoping for an end to the bale 

 tie scarcity soon. Lack of wire and twine 

 has created another burden for many 

 gathering in their hay. 



However, surplus wire held by the War 

 Assets Administration has been channeled 

 to hay bale tie mills to permit capacity 

 production. Mills closed down or run- 

 ning part time will get 2,500 tons of 

 surplus wire. This will permit capacity 

 operation for 30 to 45 days. 



Other mills are running at capacity but 

 ties will still be short for the second 

 half of 1946. Twine appears to be a 

 bit more plentiful than wire but is still 

 far below demand. 



The first step in building up soil tor im- 

 proved yields is to find out whether it lacks 

 essential nutrients. .i 



! 



The quality of a pasture is almost as im- 

 portant in keeping cattle where they belong 

 as is the durability of the fence. 



16 



L A. A. RECORD 



