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Farmers Should 

 Stick Together 



-DIRECTOR, CULNAN 



By JIM THOMSON 



Au't. Editor, lAA RECORD 



A HUNDRED years ago a potato 

 famine swept Ireland. As the 

 famine grew worse thousands fled 

 to America. 

 Because of that remote event. 

 Farm Bureau has a strong supporter to- 

 day on a 200-acre Logan county farm. 

 And he's not a bit sorry about the potato 

 famine, because it brought his four grand- 

 parents to one of the most fertile farm- 

 ing areas in Illinois. (Logan county 

 farmers maintain their land is the best in 

 the state. And the University of Illinois 

 soil map classifies Logan as the No. 1 

 county in soil types). 



Descendant of these sturdy pioneers 

 is Edward Thomas Culnan, Illinois 

 Agricultural Association director from the 

 17th district. He has represented the 

 counties of Woodford, Livingston, Mc- 

 Lean, Ford, and Logan since 1946 when 

 he succeeded Charles Lauritzen of Liv- 

 ingston county. 



He still farms the 40 acres his grand- 

 father bought in 1865 and the 160 he 

 added in 1871. Culnan was born five 

 miles east of Lincoln. Forty-nine years 

 ago he moved with his parents to the 



Sen Tommy, 5, wotchas Dad tune up the lawn mower meter be- 

 fore doing the weekly trimming chore. 



home place five miles southeast of Lin- 

 coln. He has been there ever since. As 

 he grew to manhood he worked in part- 

 nership with his father operating 200 

 acres of the homestead and 200 rented 

 acres. 



The lAA director took over alone 

 when his father died in 1941. He bought 

 out the interest of one brother and two 

 sisters in the home farm last March. 



He finished 10th grade in rural school 

 and was graduated in 1919 from the 

 Lincoln Business College. While work- 

 ing a short time with the McGrath Sand 

 and Gravel Company of Lincoln, Cul- 

 nan's boss kept referring to him as "Ted". 

 He has been Ted to his friends ever 

 since. He left his job with McGrath 

 when his father became ill and never 

 went back. 



A cash grain farmer, Director Culnan 

 would like to do a lot more feeding and 



This is the \^th in a series of articles 

 to further acquaint you with the men 

 who represent you on the Illinois Agri- 

 cultural Association hoard of directors. 



some grazing. He feels, however, that 

 outside activities do not give him the 

 time to give proper care to animals. He 

 fed cattle six or seven years but quit 

 when his father died. 



He raises a few hogs, keeps two cows 

 and a few chickens. These are mainly 

 for his own family use. 



Proud and thankful of his heritage of 

 good farming land, Culnan is determined 

 to pass it along to his children in as good, 

 if not better, condition than he received 

 it. (An adjacent farm sold for $454 an 

 acre during World War I). Soil care 

 is a never ending task with him. After 

 raising soybeans during the war years 

 he has decided to outlaw them from his 

 farm. Culnan feels that the soybean 

 tends to loosen the topsoil too much so 

 it can easily be swept away by high winds 

 or washed away by heavy rains. 



No organic matter on the Culnan farm 

 is burned. Straw, corn stalks, cobs, 

 everything is plowed under. Every acre 

 has been limed and half of the farm has 

 been treated with phosphate. 



Culnan's father became a charter mem- 



lAA Director E. T. Culnan loads his spreader with cobs (left) to 

 haul to the fields. Center: he repairs a cornstalk cutter while 

 son Tommy and Logan County Organization Director Ray Schillings 



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look on. Right: he works on an income tax return with the aid 

 of his electric adding machine. Culnan works on about 120 farm 

 income tax returns each year. 



..ii 





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