[I 



'A 



'.* 



f 







i 



^ 



• •* 



RURAL YOUTH LEARN 

 IMPORTANCE OF GOOD 

 PUBLIC RELATIONS WORK 



THE importance of tiood public rela- 

 tions with other organized groups in 

 labor, industry and agriculture was 

 stressed in an address before the Rural 



J. Fletcher, 

 community 

 lar Tractor 



in coniunc- 



i 



Youth conference by L. 

 director of training and 

 relations for the Caterpil 

 Company at Peoria. 



The conference was held 

 tion with the annual convention of the 

 Illinois Agricultural Association held 

 Nov. 18-21 in Hotel Sherman, Chicago. 



Fletcher said that even Rural Youth 

 needs a good public relations program 

 to promote better understanding with 

 others and to promote the organiza- 

 tion s growth and welfare. 



"The greatest single problem faced 

 alike by agriculture and industry," 

 Fletcher continued, "is that of develop- 

 ing better understanding between these 

 two groups. Each mu>t know more 

 of the experiences, the thinking and 

 problems of the other. 



"Many earnest and hard-working 

 people engaged in operating our farms 

 hold firm convictions concerning the 

 desirability or undesirability of the 

 actions of people engaged in industry. 

 Some of this lack of understanding is 

 due to different methods of accounting 

 employed in agriculture as compared 

 to business. 



"The same words, such as profit,' 

 for instance, ' Fletcher said, means 

 different things. Representatives of 

 each group are inclined to look over 

 the fence into the other fellow's pas- 

 ture and see where his problems appear 

 to be so much more simple. 



During the past three years a state 

 \Mde program whole-heartedly en- 

 dorsed by the Illinois Agricultural As- 

 sociation and the Illinois State Cham- 

 ber of Commerce has resulted in the 

 establishing of 97 committees in over 

 80 counties in Illinois. These com 

 mittees numbering from 30 to 75 peo- 

 ple are made up of half people en- 

 gaged in the business of farming and 

 half in other businesses. These com- 

 mittees meeting from three to 10 times 

 per year include in their programs the 

 discussion of subjects of mutual inter- 

 est whether they are local, state, or 

 national. Personal accjuaintanceships 

 and much better understanding are 

 automatically a most desirable by- 

 product of such meetings. In some 

 areas these groups are joined by repre- 

 sentatives of educational institutions, 

 labor organizations, and the clergy. 



DECEMBER, 1946 



Leonard J. Fletcher, chairman of the 



ogricuhure-lndwstry commllto* of the 



Illinois Chombor of Cemmorce, oddraiso* 



llw Rural Yowth c o nfaro n co. 



SERUM ASSOCIATION 

 DECLARES BIG REFUND 



T LLINOIS Farm Bureau Serum Associ- 

 *■ ation declared a whopping $70,244 

 patronage dividend this year and re- 

 turned S3,500 interest on preferred 

 stock to its 91 county members. 



In its annual report to the member- 

 ship, Secretary-Manager Sam F. Rus- 

 sell and President Russell V. McKee, 

 of Marshall-Putnam county announced 

 that sales of serum and \irus totaled 

 5323,891. 



Refunds, they said, figured out at 

 18 cents for each dollar of sales. 



The company's records indicate very 

 clearly that over the years farmers have 

 done an excellent job in vaccinating 



Mastor of Ceremonies Roy Davis' snort- 

 ing, groaning and whistling makes a 

 hit with Farm Bureau follcs. 



hogs and controlling cholera, Russell 

 said, refuting claims of those not 

 friendly to the association. 



Only 21 serum and virus trouble 

 cases were reported and \cterinarians 

 showed that in most cases these losses 

 were due to added complications from 

 such causes, other than cholera, as 

 worms, pneumonia, enteritis and erysi- 

 pelas. 



Next year the serum association will 

 have the benefit of the aid and advice 

 of Dr. C. D. Van Houweling. veterin- 

 arian recently employed by the Illinois 

 .Agricultural Association. 



This vc.ir's \olume represents sales 

 of 3'^ i92,~25 cubic centimeters of 

 serum and 3.362.900 c. c. of \irus pur- 

 chased last year by the association for 

 distribution among county members. 



Since 1933 when the first dividend 

 was paid S823.66s.'S^ has been re- 

 tunded to cotinties buying serum and 

 virus from their state organization. 



No new member counties were added 

 this year. Massac county became 91st 

 member of the association in 191'). 



County Farm Bureau companies were 

 urged to transfer the serum account to 

 their commercial subsidiaries as some 

 60 counties have done this year. 



DR. VAN HOUWELING 

 NAMED lAA VETERINARIAN 



D 



Dr. Van Houweling 



R. C. D. Van Houweling, 28, re- 

 cently discharged from the army 

 veterinary i-orps. has been named head 

 of the Illinois agri- 

 cultural A s s o c i a - 

 tion's new Depart- 

 ment of Veterinary 

 .Medical Relations. 



He will devote 

 much of his time to 

 activities related to 

 the veterinary pro- 

 fession in Illinois 

 and will serve as 

 veterinary technical 

 adviser to the Illi- 

 nois Agritultural As- 

 sociation and Associated Companies 



Dr. Van Houweling was born on a 

 farm in Mahaska county. Iowa and was 

 graduated from Iowa State College of 

 Veterinary Medicine in 19 i2. 



He practiced in central Illinois be 

 lore joining the army veterinary corps 

 m which he served three years. He vnas 

 last stationed at the Kansas Citv tjuar- 

 lermaster depot. 



.Married to the former Roberta Ol- 

 son of Kansas (ify. Dr. \'an Houwel- 

 ing has two children: Douglas, 3, 

 and Donald, five months. 



35 



