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ImHt B«rton Bauer, Franklin county, (hows Jack Howlott, lAA 

 organization director for Southern lillnolf, what rotation and 

 fertilixers can do to make a heavy stand of clover. Bauer's 

 son George looks on. Below: Son George stops Dad a* end of 

 field during disking. 



'1 Smart Thing for Me to Join Farm Bnrean' 



FIFTEEN years ago George Bauer of 

 Franklin county wasn't too happy 

 about his role in life as a farmer. 

 He thought depressing thoughts 

 one day while disking corn stalks. 

 For one thing, the nation was in the 

 midst of a paralyzing depression. For 

 another, prices were at rock bottom and 

 even if prices had been high it wouldn't 

 have helped much because production 

 per acre was frightfully low. He had 

 never sensed such a dark future for him- 

 self. 



Bauer dates the long pull upward 

 from that day he disked those puny corn 

 stalks. The same day Farm Adviser Jerry 

 Emser stopped to see him. Emser looked 

 at the spindly corn and asked Bauer how 

 many bushels of corn he was getting to 

 the acre. 



"About 20," Bauer answered. 



"How much wheat?" the farm adviser 

 asked. 



"Around seven to ten bushels." 



"You can do better than that," said 

 Emser. 



"How.'" Bauer asked. 



"I'll show you how," Emser replied. 



"Well sir," Bauer related, "seeing is be- 

 lieving. It wasn't long at all before the 

 farm adviser took me along to the Uni- 

 versity of Illinois experiment fields at 

 Urbana. Then he took me to the experi- 

 ment farm at Dixon Springs." 



Bauer stopped and was thoughtful for 

 a moment. "You know," he said, "that 

 Dixon Springs is sure a wonderful place." 



"I learned, " Bauer continued, "what 



28 



By JIM THOMSON 



Ass't Editor, lAA Record 



it means to apply phosphate, limestone, 

 and potash, and how sensible it is to plow 

 under sweet clover for nitrogen. 



"I also learned that it would be a smart 

 thing for me to join the Farm Bureau. I 

 did and I've been a member ever since. A 

 good farmer can't afford not to belong." 



He is proud of the fact that he was 

 one of the first farmers in the neighbor- 

 hood to apply phosphate to his fields. 



Today Bauer has more than doubled 

 his corn yields. Wheat yields are be- 

 yond his dreams. Now he has more feed 

 and more time for hogs and beef cattle. 

 He raises and average of about 70 — 100 

 hogs each year, 10 beef cows and 10 beef 

 calves. 



He owns 120 acres and rents an addi- 



tional 80. Fifteen to 20 acres are in 

 corn, 70 in wheat, 30 in soybeans and 

 the rest in pasture and clover. 



Today Bauer is a lot happier about 

 his role as a farmer. Thanks to Farm 

 Bureau, he said, and the fateful high 

 prices of the past eight years. He now 

 owns farm machinery worth about $6,000. 

 Mrs. Bauer is happier too about the re- 

 modeling of the home this year which 

 includes the installation of running water, 

 a coal furnace, and a bathroom. 



For more than a decade now, Bauer 

 has never lost sight of the importance of 

 soil building, and conservation. If there 

 is any question in his mind, he looks to 

 the- Farm Bureau for guidance. Some 

 day he hopes to pass along the farm to 

 his son. There is little doubt but that 

 it will be in better condition than he re- 

 ceived it. 



Toot and Mouth Disease in Mexico to Stay' 



FOOT-AND-MOUTH disease is in 

 Mexico to stay, believes Dr. G. W. 

 Hess of the U. S. Department of 

 Agriculture. Doctor Hess spoke 

 to the staff of the University of Illinois 

 College of Veterinary Medicine re- 

 cently on his experiences with foot-and- 

 mouth disease in Mexico. 



"When the Americans first went 

 down to Mexico, they tried to eliminate 

 the disease by slaughtering infected and 

 exposed cattle," Doctor Hess reported. 

 This method had been used successfully 

 to eliminate foot-and-mouth disease in 



the United States many years ago. But 

 it was abandoned in Mexico after several 

 months' trial. At that time 12,000 cattle 

 a week were being sacrificed in the dis- 

 trict under Doctor Hess' supervision. 



Doctor Hess said that foot-and- 

 mouth disease was so widespread that 

 it would have been necessary to slaugh- . 

 ter 71/2 million cattle to eliminate it. 



"Another reason why the slaughter 

 program was not effective was that 

 many farmers refused to cooperate, 

 hiding their cattle rather than allowing 

 them to be killed," Doctor Hess said. 



LA. A. RECORD 



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