ment now underway in Illinois. Dur- 

 ing the past year the department of 

 research has worked closely with the 

 lAA Economic Study Committee which 

 is studying present and proposed na- 

 tional agricultural policies and pro- 

 grams to make recommendations as to 

 which should be given future support. 



Road Improvement — No one will 

 deny that Director Mayfield has an al- 

 most limitless field to work in in his 

 efforts to assist County Farm Bureaus 

 with the improvement of their rural 

 roads. Up to the present, the work of 

 the department has consisted primarily 

 of explaining present road laws, meth- 

 ods of administration and finance and 

 the recent state grants for farm-to 

 highway roads. 



Detailed studies of acute road prob- 

 lems have been made in a number of 

 counties. Specific information is fur- 

 nished in accordance with local re- 

 quests. Director Mayfield is always 

 willing to help any Farm Bureau group 

 with their road problems. 



He attends numerous meetings with 

 members of County Farm Bureaus, and 

 county and local road officials in order 

 to better formulate a local road pro- 

 gram. In his many talks, Mayfield 

 points out that it is largely through the 

 efforts of the lAA and county Farm 

 Bureaus that recent rural road improve- 

 ments have beeen made. 



Property Taxation — Director Van- 

 dervliet's chief function is to keep 

 County Farm Bureau tax committees 

 informed of all developments in the 

 tax field which are of some importance 



to farmers. At present he is studying 

 county road and bridge levies and coun- 

 ty budgets which are being adopted 

 this month. For the benefit of Coun- 

 ty Farm Bureaus, Vandervliet works 

 out year around programs to enable 

 Farm Bureaus officials to work with 

 local taxing officials. 



The lAA believes in vigorous local 

 government with lively interest of 

 farmers of the locality in that govern- 

 ment and its tax policies. Director 

 Vandervliet carries through this lAA 

 feeling to the counties by promoting 

 farmer interest in tax problems at the 

 grass routs. 



Rural Safety and Public Health — 

 Because farm accidents have taken an 

 increasingly heavy toll, especially since 

 the use of farm machinery has be- 

 come more common. Director Whit- 

 lock's efforts to keep farmers safety- 

 conscious has become increasingly 

 important. 



Whitlock furnishes special pamphlet 

 materials on safety and public health 

 to County Farm Bureaus regularly as 

 well as in answer to special requests. 

 He has worked with a number of Coun- 

 ty Farm Bureau committees in the or- 

 ganization of rural fire departments. 

 This service is available to any Farm 

 Bureau sponsored group. 



Skilled Drivers activities in the Rural 

 Youth organization have been organ- 

 ized throughout the state by the de- 

 partment in cooperation with the lAA 

 department of young peoples activities. 

 Whitlock also has organized safety pro- 

 grams for all of the member companies 

 of the Illinois Farm Supply Company. 



He is available on request to speak 

 on safety and public health at County 

 Farm Bureau sponsored meetings. The 

 department complies and makes avail- 

 able to County Farm Bureaus data on 

 Illinois farm accidents. 



Veterinary Medical Relations — Dr. 

 C. Don Van Houweling likes to work 

 with County Farm Bureaus on prob- 

 lems concerned with animal disease 

 control in their areas and he is gen- 

 erally ready on short notice to consult 

 with County Farm Bureaus at their re- 

 quest. Dr. Van Houweling is working 

 in an advisory capacity and not as a 

 practicing veterinarian. 



Some of his time is spent in develop- 

 ing cooperation between the various or- 

 ganizations and agencies in the state 

 engaged in animal disease control. He 

 gives technical advice upon request to 

 several of the lAA associated com- 

 panies such as the Illinois Cooperative 

 Locker Service, Illinois Farm Bureau 

 Serum Association, and Illinois Farm 

 Supply Company. He has advised 

 shipping associations on such things 

 as the handling of livestock in transit 

 to prevent injury and disease. 



Dr. Van Houweling also works to 

 promote better relations between or- 

 ganized agriculture and the veterinary 

 profession. He has consulted with 

 many Farm Bureaus and spoken at 

 meetings and is pleased to be of serv- 

 ice at any time. 



Mambcrf of the staff of the lAA Division of Ganoml Services ore shewn together during 

 one of their periodical conferences to talk over their plans and problems. Left te right: 

 Charles S. Mayfield, rural road improvement; Walter W. Whitlock, rural health and public 

 safety; I. E. Parett, secretary of the division; Bert Vandervliet, property taxation; Dr. C. 

 Den Van Houweling, veterinary medical relations; and L. H. Simeri, research. Absent 

 when picture was taken was John K. Cox, rural school relations director. 



COLES COUNTY 4-H 

 HAS CALF SCRAMBLE 



Coles county 4-H boys think football 

 is a sissy game after holding one of 

 the few Calf Scrambles ever held ia 

 the Midwest. Twelve 4-H boys en- 

 tered an arena in front of the grand- 

 stand at the Coles county fair with a 

 10 ft. rope, halter, and intentions of 

 catching one of the eight white face 

 275 lb. calves turned loose. 



There was plenty of hard, fast ac- 

 tion until the last calf was gotten un- 

 der control. It was touch and go for 

 several minutes as to whether the boy 

 or calf would come out on top in the 

 scramble; however, the boys outlasted 

 the calves and eight of the boys came 

 out of the ring leading a fine Hereford 

 steer calf for one of their 1948 4-H 

 projects. Every boy could show plenty 

 of evidence of having seen action io 

 the arena. 



Eight sponsoring companies from 

 Mattoon and Charleston paid $30 for 

 each calf in order to make the value 

 of the calf more attractive to the 4-H 

 members. 



SEPTEMBER, 1947 



II 



