Farmers Should 

 Stick Together 



-DIRECTOR, CULNAN 



By JIM THOMSON 



Asi't. editor, lAA RFCORD 



A HUNDRED years a.uo a potato 

 famine swept Ireland. As the 

 famine /:rew worse thousands fled 

 to America. 

 Because of that remote event. 

 Farm Bureau has a strong supporter to- 

 dav on a iOO-acre Loi:a;i county tarm. 

 And he's not a hit sorry ahout the potato 

 famine, because it hrouiiht his four j;rand- 

 parents to one of the most fertile farm- 

 int; areas in Ilhnois. ( Locan countv 

 larmers maintain their land is the best in 

 the state. And the University of Illinois 

 soil map classifies Lo^an as the No. 1 

 county in soil types). 



Descendant of these sturdy pioneers 

 is Edward Thomas Culnan. Illinois 

 Agricultural Association director from the 

 I'^tii district. He has represented the 

 counties of ^X'oodford. Livingston. Mc- 

 Lean. Ford, and Logan since 19)6 when 

 he succeeded Charles Lauritzen of Liv- 

 ingston county. 



He still farms the 4() acres his grand- 

 father bought in 186') 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 



Son Tommy, 5, watches Dad tune up the lawn mower motor 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 ot the homestead and 200 rented 

 acres. 



The lAA director took over alone 

 when his father died in 19 il. He bought 

 out the interest ot one brother and two 

 sisters in the home farm last March. 



He finished lOtli 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 led' . 

 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 



7'/'/.f /i //)!' ]')t/i in .! soic' of .uZ/clet 

 Id fiolhi'r M'tjii.iint '\oii u'ltb ihe nuii 

 u ho reftreient ^oii on I he III mo} < Ai;i/- 

 i//l/ui:;l Atsoci.ilioi! ho.irj of Jirectors. 



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 c^uit 

 when his father died. 



He raises a tew hogs, keeps two cows 

 and a few chickens. These are mainly 

 tor 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 tor S('>-J an 

 acre during Vi'orld 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 easilv be swept away by high winds 

 or washed away by heavy rains. 



No organic matter on the Cailnan farm 

 is burned. Straw, corn stalks, cobs, 

 everything is plowed under. Every acre 

 has been limed and half of the f.irm has 

 been treated with phosphate. 



Culnan's father became a charter mem- 



lAA Director E. T. Culnan loads his spreader with cobs (left) to look on. Right: he works on an income tax return with the aid 



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

 son Tommy and Logan County Organization Director Ray Schillings 



of his electric adding machine, 

 income tax returns each year. 



Culnan works on about 120 farm 



