his forgotten an idle high-pressure pump, 

 he had no available means whatsoever 

 with which to combat the fire other than 

 a water pail and two or three milk 

 buckets. The fire had started in the 

 attic and progressed slowly for an hour 

 before developing into a "king-size" hol- 

 ocaust. In the meantime, Mr. Farmer's 

 wife drew the water, and carried it in 

 buckets in successive trips to the second 

 story for her husband to use. The farm 

 housewife is to be commended on her 

 ability to perform various and sundry- 

 tasks around the household — but she'd 

 never pass the Underwriters Laboratories 

 test for efficiency in rate of delivery of 

 gallons of water to fight a fire. 



How about the fire department on this 

 fire.' The nearest department was 12 

 miles away, with good roads, incidentally. 

 But, alas, they don't answer rural calls. 



How about the neighbors' help.' Sure, 

 they helped. Helped carry out the 

 furniture — all of it, in fact. Then 

 there was nothing to be done but to sit 

 and watch the fire burn itself out. 



A small fire extinguisher would have 

 put out this fire at the outset. Three or 

 four buckets of sand kept handy for 

 fire-fighting might have done it. Certam- 

 ly a small portable stirrup pump would 

 have been effective. They're back in 

 "civvies," too, you know, after a swell 

 record in World War II. They're fairly 

 cheap and easy to operate. So are the 

 "back-pack" pumps, which gained so 

 much army and mvy use in fire-fighting 

 and in insect control. 



Fire-protection is "money in the bank" 

 for you. Are you likely to find your- 

 self in the position of the pauper.' Or 



will you have the fire-protection assets 

 to draw on in case of emergency.' 



As already mentioned, this fire pro- 

 tection can be the result of individual or 

 collective efforts - — or preferrably both. 

 Over 140 Illinois communities have or- 

 ganized rural fire districts. A smaller 

 number have organized cooperative or 

 corporation forms of departments. Still 

 others may draw some measure of pro- 

 tection from city-owned departments. All 

 of these departments operate in varying 

 degrees of efficiency. They cover a 

 small proportion of the state as a whole. 

 Nevertheless, they represent the collec- 

 tive efforts of many rural people in 

 answering the fire protection problem. 



Now, the individual fire protection 

 problem is up to you. What will you 

 do about it? 



CULTIVATING his corn only twice 

 didn't keep C. C. Taylor, Virginia, 

 Cass county, from winning the coveted 

 lO-acre corn yield contest sponsored by 

 the Illinois Crop Improvement Associa- 

 tion. 



"We were too busy replanting fields 

 that were flooded to get over the corn a 

 third time," the young corn king, an 

 Illinoir College of Agriculture graduate 

 in 1937, said when interviewed after he 

 received the award at Farm and Home 

 Week. 



The corn sample Taylor entered was 

 of excellent quality and his plot yielded 

 146.88 bushels per acre, one of the high- 

 est entered. However, it was his rela- 

 tively low production costs, a total of 

 $382.48, that enabled him to win in a 

 highly competitive contest. 



Second high score was earned by J. D. 

 Adkisson, Roseville, Warren county. His 

 yield was 152.97 bushels and total pro- 

 duction cost was $396.26. Three points 

 were used in judging: quality, yield and 

 total cost. 



Third in final score went to E. L. 

 Atkins, Smithshire, Warren county. He 

 had the highest yielding plot, 172.81 

 bushels per acre and his corn was rated 

 top in quality. His production costs were 

 high, however, $462.37. 



Taylor, the winner, said his prize corn 

 was raised on rich river bottom land 

 along the Sangamon river. The land has 

 not been pastured or in sod in the mem- 

 ory of Taylor. The field, second bottom 

 land, has never flooded. 



"We drilled the corn in rows 38 inches 

 apart and equal to four kernels to the 

 hill, checked. It was a good stand 



llllnoif Com King C. C. Taylor of Cass 

 county holds samples of his corn ex- 

 hibited at Farm and Home Week. 



Illinois Wheat King Paul Wessbecher, 

 Logan county, shows sample of Ukrain- 

 ian strain that won him the title 



Damage from corn borer was slight," 

 Taylor said. 



"The field is a long way from the 

 buildings, about three-quarters of a 

 mile, and has not been manured for a 

 long time. But it's fertile. It has 

 plenty of natural lime and potash, and 

 we spread phosphate on it a year ago 

 last winter. " 



The field had been farmed heavily 

 during the war on the following rota- 

 tion: corn, 1943: oats, 1944; wheat, 

 1945; corn, 1946. 



Paul Wessbecher of Mt. Pulaski, 

 Logan county, a consistent winner in 

 grain shows, captured the state wheat 

 title with a Ukrainian strain purchased 

 from a local elevator. 



A charter Farm Bureau member ni 

 Logan county, Wessbecher used 150 

 pounds per acre of 0-20-20 fertilizer 

 purchased from his local Farm Bureau 

 supply company. 



Wessbecher came to Illinois from 

 Germany in 1912. Working as a hired 

 man for several years enabled him to 

 later purchase an 80 acre farm where he 

 now lives. 



His wheat, judged on quality only, 

 was "pretty good," Wessbecher admitted, 

 except he thought the color was a little 

 too light. He grew 12 acres of wheat 

 this vear It yielded 30 bushels per acre. 



Verl Steele, Table Grove, Fulton 

 county, won the 10 acre soybean contest, 

 with a yield of 46.43 bushels, highest in 

 the contest. Total cost figured at $276.25. 

 His sample of Lincoln beans was judged 

 high in quality and oil content. 



MARCH, 1947 



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