■: -■ I 



During a disking operation on one of his fields. Director Bunting stops for a moment to 



chat with his only son, Kemp, 14. 



IT HASN'T been easy farming the 

 exhausted lands of southern Illi- 

 nois during the past 20 to 30 

 years. Just ask the man who 

 farms some. 



But a new day is breaking, 

 thanks to the pioneer work done by 

 some outstanding Farm Bureau men. 

 They have the foresight to see that the 

 future of the land, more than in any 

 other section of Illinois, depends on 

 wise soil conservation practices, rota- 

 tion, and generous application of neces- 

 sary plant foods. Lyman Bunting, 

 member of the Illinois Agricultural 

 Association board of directors from the 

 24th congressional district, is one of 

 these men. 



A charter member of the Edwards 



County Farm Bureau, Bunting has been 

 on the board since 1940 and represents 

 the following counties: Clay, Wayne, 

 Edwards, Hamilton, White, Saline, 

 Gallatin, Johnson, Pope, Hardin, and 

 Massac. 



Bunting is of slender build and has 

 a smile for just about everyone he 

 meets. After farming in southern Il- 

 linois most of his life, he has a touch 

 of the fatalist in his makeup. Director 

 Bunting takes the attitude that mis- 

 fortune is just part of the farmer's lot 

 and he might just as well take it in 

 stride. 



He doesn't cotton to the idea, how- 

 ever, that the farmer has no control 

 over his own destiny. For he knows 

 full well that the best farmer is the 



lAA Director Bunting 

 has a good-sized pond 

 en his form generally 

 well-stoclced with fish. 

 He Is shown with son 

 Kemp, 14, angling for 

 a bite. 



Editor's Note: This is the 10th of a 

 series of articles to acquaint you with the 

 men who represent you on the Illinois 

 Agricultural Association board of direc- 

 tors. 1, . 



man who takes advantage of the best 

 scientific knowledge available. 



Does he.' See for yourself. Gener- 

 ous applications of nitrogen, potash, 

 and phosphate have doubled his corn 

 yields — from 50 to 120 bushels per 

 acre in one field. That's a pretty good 

 yield for any part of Illinois. 



Bunting was born and reared on the 

 farm he now operates. It is owned by 

 his father, a descendant of pioneers 

 who came to the state more than 100 

 years ago. 



He taught school for two years be- 

 fore going into farming. At that time 

 he had the youthful high spirits which 

 told him that something could be done 

 with the land to make it more produc- 

 tive. Some of the land at that time 

 yielded as little as five bushels of wheat 

 to the acre. 



Eighty acres of Bunting farm lie in 

 Edwards county and 160 acres in 

 Wayne county. Acreage in corn each 

 year averages about 35 acres; in oats 

 25 acres; and in wheat, 20 acres. The 

 rest is in hay and pastures. His rota- 

 tion generally follows this pattern : 

 corn, oats or wheat and hay or pasture. 

 From the timber on the farm, 160,000 

 board feet of lumber has been taken 



Shaded mr^o en map is 24th congressional 

 district represented en the Illinois Agri- 

 cultural Association beard of directors by 

 Lyman Bunting of Ellery. 



16 



L A. A. RECORD 



