THE 



ILLINOIS AGRICULTURAL ASSOCIATION RECORD 



To advance the purpose for which the farm Bureau was organized, namely, 

 to promote, protect and represent the business, economic, social and educa- 

 tional interests of the farmers of Illinois and the Nation, and to develop 

 agriculture. 



THE STATE FAIM 



BUREAU PUBUCATION 



GRAINS OF GOLD - HOW MANY IN A DOLLAR? 



V^u J-^reAidenl C^liurieA d^. ^li 



uman 



' E FARMERS, I am sure, would like to suggest that 

 consumers the world over join with us in reverently- 

 giving thanks for a harvest that is in most respects 

 more bountiful than we had dared anticipate. All 

 possible grain will be saved for a world in dire need. It is 

 indeed a harvest of golden grain in 

 more ways than one. 



Every farmer has felt the thrill 

 and satisfaction of running his hands 

 deep into a load of freshly harvested 

 grain — grain which he has helped 

 produce. 



He thinks of the long hours of 

 sweat and dusf; he remembers the 

 hopes and fears as he watched the 

 western sky; he knows of what this 

 grain is made. Let us think for a 

 little about a bushel of our most important grain — corn. 

 The last 15 years have been marked by wonderful 

 progress in the science and technique of corn production, 

 yet the chemical composition of the grain itself is little 

 changed. It consists of proteins, starch, oil and cellulose, 

 combined in about the same proportions as in the corn 

 produced in 1932. 



A bushel of corn today will not produce much more 

 meat or corn flakes than it did in that desperate year. In 



other words, the real value of a bushel of corn has not 

 changed. The corn that we burned for fuel 15 years ago 

 was just as good as that which we so carefully handle today. 

 There is nothing wrong with corn or its value as measured 

 in terms of human needs. The trouble lies in our measure 

 of value — money. 



The best doctor in the land would quickly give up if 

 the temperature of his patient varied from day to day by 

 as much as 10 degrees. An economy based upon a dollar 

 which fluctuates in value to the extent witnessed during 

 the past few years is "sick unto death." The real value 

 of a dollar in 1932 was approximately 

 shelled corn; today the same dollar is 

 pounds of corn. 



As farmers look ahead and dream of a balanced 

 economy and abundant production, they realize that this 

 widely fluctuating value of the dollar is another heavy 

 millstone holding us back. Your State and National or- 

 ganizations have for years urged that Congress take steps 

 to actually "regulate the value thereof. ' 



Perhaps we need a governmental agency operating 

 within proper safeguards to at least partially stabilize the 

 purchasing power of the dollar in somewhat the same 

 way that we regulate weights and measures. How many 

 grains of gold — how many grains of com, if you please, 

 in a dollar? 



280 pounds of 

 worth only 22 



X X X X 



X X X X X 



NOVEMBER, 1947 * VOLUME 25, NUMBER 10 



lUINOIS AGRICULTURAL ASSOCIATION OFFICERS and BOARD OF DIRECTORS (By Cengrefslenal DIftricts) 



Pi«udaD<, ChaiU* B, Shuman 5ulliTOn 



Vice-Pr«sid*nl. Flovd E. Moiris Builolo 



S«cr*lary, Paul E. Mathias Hinxlal* 



Field S«c.. G*o. E. Metzgar -Chicago 



Traosurar. R. A. Cowlas Bloomington 



ComptroUar, C. C. Cbapalla Chicogo 



Ganaral Counsal* Donald Kiikpatrick -Chicago 



1st to nth Earl M. Hughaa. Woodstock 



12th C. J. Elliott. Straator 



13th Homar Curtiss, Stockton 



14th Otto StafiaT. StronghursI 



15th. Edwin Gumm, Galasburg 



16th _ RussaU V. McKaa. Varna 



17th. _ £. T. Culnan, Lincoln 



IBth- John T. Erans. Hoopaston 



19th Milton W. Warran. Manshald 



20th K. T. Smith, Graanfiald 



21»f _ Dan L. Claika, Naw Barlia 



22nd - J. King Eaton, Edwordsvilla 



23rd _ Chestar McCord. Nawton 



24th - _ Lyman Bunting. Ellary 



2Slh Albart W.bb. Ewing 



Editor, Cr»sten Fester. Ass't. Editor, James C. Thomson. Field Editor, Lewis A. Relsner. 



Tha Illinois Agricultural Association RECORD is publishad monthly axcapt August by tha Illinois Agricultural Association at 1501 W. Washington Road. 

 Mandota. 111. Editorial Officas. 43 East Ohio St.. Chicago. lU. Entarad as second class matter at post office, Mendota, 111.. Sept. 11. 1336. Accapl- 

 anca for mailing at special rata of postage proridad in Section 412. Act of Feb. 28. 1925, authorised Oct. 27, 1935. Address all communications tor 

 iniblication to editorial Offices, Illinois Agricultural Association RECORD, 43 East Ohio St., Chicago. The indiriduat membership fee of tha Il- 

 linois Agricultural Association is five dollars a year. The fee includes payment of fifty cents for subscription to the Illinois Agricultural Associotioa 

 RECORD. Postmaster: Send notices on Form 3578. Undalivaroble copies returned under Form 3579 to editoriol offices. 43 £. Ohio St.. Chicago 11. U. 



NOVEMBER, 1947 



