Having a session among themselves before the llvestocic marlieting conference got under- 

 way are left to right: Leslie B. Broom, Pulaski-Alexander farm adviser; John L Becker, 

 Williamson; D. L. Douglas, Puiaskl-Alexander; Byrd Stewart, Massac, and W. E. Parker, 



Pulaski-Alexander, 



Industry Can't Meet Needs 

 of Farmers For Plant Food 



INDUSTRY can't begin to meet the 

 needs of midwest farmers for plant 



foods, Neil Bass, chief conservation 

 engineer for TVA, told a large group 

 of farmers attending the soil improve- 

 ment conference held in Chicago Nov. 

 20 during the lAA annual convention. 



To break the supply bottleneck, Bass 

 indicated that phosphorus deposits in 

 the western states of Montana, Idaho, 

 Wyoming and Utah which contain 

 most of the nation's reserve should be 

 developed. 



Bass did not treat the National Fer- 

 tilizer Association too kindly when he 

 told of their reaction to TVA's early 

 proposals to develop high analysis 

 phosphatic fertilizers : 



"They said that such a program 

 would never succeed for the reason 

 that farmers would not use high- 

 analysis fertilizers but preferred the 

 sort of material they had grown ac- 

 customed to using." 



Bass indicated that midwest farmers 

 would increase their commercial fer- 

 tilizer program by three-fold to meet 

 soil needs if supplies were available. 



He said that TVA's research has 

 been directed to the making of high- 

 analysis materials such as the electric 

 furnace process of processing 45 to 48 

 per cent triple super-phosphate. 



Tests of these and other high analy- 

 sis plant foods on thousands of Illi- 

 nois farms during the past two years 

 were discussed by a state-wide group 

 of Illinois Farm Advisers during this 

 conference. 



30 



Speaking modestly of the work done 

 by Farm Advisers in testing plant 

 foods, W. H. Tammeus, McHenry 

 County Farm Adviser and principal 

 speaker, said in summary of his as- 

 sociates work: 



"Our findings are not scientific data, 

 but just plain, practical results obtained 

 on Illinois farms by Farm Bureau 

 members. 



"Some results have been phenomenal 

 and occasionally yields have not come 

 up to expectations. But with more ex- 

 perience, we'll see far more economical 

 crop production in the future." 



This year their results seem to in- 

 dicate that greater increases in yields 



can be obtained by applying nitrogen 

 in large amounts than either phos- 

 phorus or potash, Tanneus reported. 



"The greatest increase in yield, how- 

 ever, is obtained by applying all three 

 plant foods — nitrogen, phosphorus 

 and potash. 



"We have also found," he pointed 

 out, "when any two of these plant 

 foods were applied, the increase in 

 yield was about the sum of the increase 

 of the two applied alone. The same 

 is true when all three are applied to- 

 gether." 



He said there is no doubt of the 

 need for high analysis fertilizers in 

 McHenry county. 



"Our soils are slightly sandy and a 

 great lot of them are over sand and 

 gravel. They did not carry a very high 

 mineral content in their original state." 



And even though there has prob- 

 ably been more manure hauled in Mc- 

 Henry county than any other county 

 in the state, he said this has not in- 

 creased the nitrogen or mineral con- 

 tent of the soil. 



"Poor soils make poor manure," he 

 said. "Just like the pup that chases 

 his tail, you never catch up." 



FRANKLIN COUNTY FIRST 



ON '47 MEMBERSHIP QUOTA 



Carl K. Cox, Franklin county, re-' 

 ported that his was the first county to 

 meet its 1947 membership quota. 'They 

 did it before coming up to the lAA 

 annual meeting. And at the meeting 

 Albert Webb, of Ewing, Franklin 

 county, was elected director from his 

 district. Marie Beaty also of Ewing 

 was district winner in the Rural Youth 

 Talkfest contest. A small county, 

 Franklin can be proud of its achieve- 

 ments. 



Chatting informally during a recess in the Illinois Wool Marketing conference are left to 



right! Ralph Alien, Tazewell; H. P. Joy, Morgan; Maurice Friedman, Fayette; W. C. 



Buzzard, Fayette, and J. P. White, Tazewell. 



L A. A. RECORD 



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