

K. T. Is always on Vhe 

 lookout for better 

 ways of raising liogs. 

 He was especially 

 proud of the pigs 

 shown above. 



Director Smith feeds an average of 

 two loads of cattle each year and raises 

 and finishes from 200 to 500 head of 

 Chester Whites. He carries 30-50 sheep 

 for cleanup. 



He is gradually shifting to a strong 

 permanent pasture program so that about 

 two-thirds of his farm is now in pasture. 

 The land is gently rolling and is in- 

 cluded in the program of the local soil 

 conservation district. Smith is a member 

 of the state soil conservation board. 



All of his land has been limed and 

 most phosphated. At present he is ex- 

 perimenting with the addition of minor 

 minerals to his soil. His four-year rota- 

 tion plan is corn, corn, oats and clover. 



One of K. T.'s proudest achievements 

 is his work as chairman of the lAA State 

 School Survey Committee. The report 

 of the committee was adopted in 1944 by 

 the lAA delegate body and is now the 

 basis of lAA rural school reorganization 

 policy. 



Mr. and Mrs. Smith have two chil- 

 dren, a son, Robert, 32, an electrical 

 engineer who lives in Chicago with 

 his wife and two sons, and a daughter, 

 Mrs. J. M. Scranton, 31, wife of the 

 manager of the Mason County Service 

 Company. The Scrantons have a son 

 and live in Havana. 



K. T. says: "One of the lAA's chief 

 concerns is to see that agricultural in- 

 terests are fairly represented in the leg- 

 islative halls and that the mandate of 

 the delegate body is clearly stated at pub- 

 lic and legislative committee hearings. 



This attitude is ever present in his 

 thinking as he sticks close to Springfield 

 while the legislature is in session. His 

 close relations with legislative activities 

 has put him on many state committees, 

 including schools, library, war food, 

 G. I. training, and state commissions for 

 the advancement of the interest of peo- 

 ple connected with agriculture. 



Director Smith has served as a school 

 director for a number of years and is 

 secretary-treasurer of his local coopera- 

 tive elevator. 



Few, if any, Illinois farmers are more 

 aware of the beneficial effects to farming 

 brought about by a strong organization 

 than K. T. Smith. Says he: "The ma- 

 jority of thinking farmers know they can- 

 not do without a strong organization to 

 defend their interests. We must have 

 such an organization if we are to assure 

 ourselves of an opportunit}' to make a 

 good living on the farm." 



He's not a dairyman but Director Smith 



feels that he has a Jersey here that will 



stand up with the best of thorn. 



CORN BORER THREAT 

 GREATEST YET FACED 



Dr. George C. Decker, entomologist. 

 University of Illinois and State Natural 

 History Survey, reports that the borer 

 population going into hibernation last 

 fall was the highest on record. With few 

 exceptions the counties surveyed showed 

 moderate to large increases in the num- 

 ber of borers per plant. 



The borer threat is greatest in north- 

 western Illinois, where 15 counties have 

 populations averaging nearly three borers 

 per plant. 



In view of the rather dark outlook for 

 1948, Decker says it is logical and 

 sound for farmers in the northern half 

 of the state — particularly those in the 

 12 to n northwestern counties — to be 

 prepared to spray or dust all early- 

 planted or exceptionally fast-growing 

 and well-advanced com. 



lAA Offers New 

 Insurance Service 

 To Member Co-ops 



To OFFER counsel and insurance 

 brokerage service to some 390 co- 

 operatives associated with county 

 Farm Bureaus and the Illinois Ag- 

 gricultural Association, a new in- 

 surance service has been inaugurated 

 by the lAA. 



This service, a branch of the lAA In- 

 surance Service, is known as the Illinois 

 Agricultural Association Insurance Serv- 

 ice for Farm Bureau Cc>Of>eratives. 



A. R. Grauor 



John Chosnwtt 



For some time the lAA has felt and 

 recognized the need of an expanded in- 

 surance service program for the coop- 

 eratives. Since 1934 the lAA has main- 

 tained an insurance brokerage service 

 whose principal function has been to 

 secure and service various types of bonds 

 and insurance coverages that were not 

 offered by the lAA's own three insurance 

 companies. 



Since 1936 the active direction of the 

 brokerage service has been under A. R. 

 Grauer who has handled its operations in 

 conjunction with his duties with the 

 Country Mutual Casualty Company. 

 Grauer has now taken over active direc- 

 tion of the new department. He thus 

 ends 13 years service with the Country 

 Mutual Casualty Company. John Ches- 

 nutt of Sycamore, formerly with the Illi- 

 nois Education Association, has been 

 hired to assist Grauer in the field. It 

 is hoped that additional personnel will 

 be available to locate in strategic parts 

 of the state for the purpose of personally 

 contacting each and every Farm Bureau 

 cooperative at regular intervals. 



TWO ADVISERS RESIGN 



Ben F. Wallace has resigned as farm 

 adviser of Johnson county and will enter 

 business in Champaign. 



Edgar Booker, Clay county farm ad- 

 viser, resigned recently to work for the 

 Soil Conser\'ation Service. He has been 

 in Clay county as adviser since 1941. 



FEBRUARY. 1948 



17 



