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RURAL YOUTH ... 



{Cotitinued from preceding page) 



goals as soil conservation, road improve- 

 ment, rural school reorganization to meet 

 community needs, service to Farm and 

 Home Bureau, and rural and health pro- 

 grams. Following the address in which 

 the young people were challenged to feel 

 responsibility, to look for responsibility, 

 and to find ways of carrying responsi- 

 bility, a number of small discussion 

 groups were formed to discuss definitely 

 the ways in which Rural Youth can be- 

 come effective in community building. 



STAR FARMER... 



(Continued from page 13) 



lege of Agriculture at the University of 

 Illinois. He turned his five cows over to 

 his grandfather, sold his crops and nearly 

 100 purebred OIC's. He kept one boar 

 for a herd he hoped to build. One of 

 the gilts he sold brought $200. 



At the University Cheatham washed 

 dishes at a fraternity and worked at a fill- 

 ing station. He joined the Naval Re- 

 serve Officers Training Corps. At the 

 same time he was secretary of Illinois 

 FFA, a member of the Agricultural Club, 

 Hoof and Horn Club, Agricultural Edu- 

 cation Club and the naval rifle team. 

 "And he still found time to write me 

 every night," V'^ youthful wife reminded. 



An old back injury made Grandad un- 

 able to work and unable to carry on. He 

 told Ken that he would either have to 

 come home or he would have to make 

 other arrangements on the farm. Young 

 Cheatham dropped his college career 

 after a year and a half and entered into 

 partnership with his grandfather on the 

 260-acre farm. 



Last July when both were 18 Kenneth 

 and June Hunter, daughter of a neigh- 

 boring farmer, were married at the 

 Greenville Baptist Church. The crowd 

 that came for the wedding was so great 

 that many of them couldn't get inside for 

 the ceremony. 



Among the wedding presents was a 

 flock of 82 pullets given to June by her 

 mother. June had poultry as a 4-H proj- 

 ect while in school. 



Kenneth and June moved into an old 

 house on part of his grandfather's land 

 which Kenneth has taken an option to 

 buy. The young couple went to work 

 on the seven room house immediately and 

 installed a modern kitchen, furnace and 

 bathroom. "Just wait till we finish using 

 paint on this old place, cut away these 

 bushes, trim these old trees, and put in a 

 new driveway. We'll show you," Ken- 

 neth said. 



Last year Kenneth and his grandfather 



lULY. 1949 



lAA Trippers Plan 

 Potluck Picnic Aug. 



21 



Whefher studying new farm methods or 



chopping wood, Cfieothom puts /of* of 



energy Into his work. 



had 30 acres in corn (yield 64 bu.) ; 35 

 in wheat (30 bu.) ; 35 in oats (40 bu.) ; 

 and 35 in beans (25 bu.). They had 55 

 acres in hay, red clover, timothy and al- 

 falfa mixed. Under a soil conservation 

 plan being put into practice, fields are 

 being rearranged, a new cropping system 

 developed, and a field of 30 acres is be- 

 ing terraced and seeded to alfalfa. 



Kenneth is milking 16 cows and sell- 

 ing grade A milk in St. Louis. He and 

 his grandfather are feeding 60 crossbred 

 pigs. Young Cheatham bought several 

 purebred Hampshire gilts and crossed 

 them with a purebred Duroc boar. He 

 appears to have a knack for raising good 

 quality hogs since the days when as a 

 mere youngster he took the sow cham- 

 pionship seven times at eight county fairs 

 and once had the junior champion sow 

 at the state fair. 



Both Kenneth and June belonged to 

 Rural Youth until their marriage. In 

 1945 at the lAA annual meeting in Chi- 

 cago, Kenneth was adjudged a Topnotch 

 speaker in the annual Rural Youth public 

 speaking contest. 



He was secretary of his local FFA 

 chapter and lost the presidency at the flip 

 of a coin on a tie vote. He served as 

 state secretary-treasurer and in 1947 was 

 elected state president. At high school 

 he was president of the student council. 



At present he is a director of the Bond 

 County Fair Association and secretary- 

 treasurer of the Bond County Swine 

 Breeders' Association. 



From his short career as a farmer it is 

 evident Kenneth will be a success in 

 farming. More than that, he has the 

 ability to do something for the general 

 welfare of agriculture as a farm leader. 

 Only the future can unfold his final rec- 

 ord of accomplishment. It is hoped he 

 always will be a good farmer. Illinois 

 needs more youth on its farms like Ken- 

 neth Cheatham for the good of agricul- 

 ture in general. 



A GROUP of Farm Bureau people are 

 looking forward to Aug. 21 when 

 they will come from all over the state to 

 Miller Park at Bloomington, 111., for a 

 picnic. 



The group call themselves the lAA 

 Trippers and are Farm Bureau folks and 

 families who attended either the lAA- 

 sponsored western tour to the AFBF con- 

 vention in San Francisco in 1946 or the 

 lAA-sponsored eastern and southern tours 

 in 1948. 



The picnic will be potluck with every- 

 one requested to bring his own basket. 

 Chairman of the event is Adrian L. Phil- 

 lips of Tuscola. 



Broom Corn 



(Continued from page 18) 



The broom center has moved west to 

 Baca county, Colorado, Edwards says. 

 Baca county lies in the southeastern part 

 of the state, in the center of the dust 

 bowl. 



He says broom corn does well in that 

 drier county since the plants need less 

 moisture than Indian corn. Labor costs 

 are lower, also. He says, however, 

 that Illinois grows the best broom — 

 tough, well bristled, and light green in 

 color. 



It looks now like Baca will keep its 

 crown, taken from broom centers like 

 Mattoon. At least as long as they 

 have rain in the dust bowl. 



LaRue Sauert, right, atslttani manager of 

 Illinois llvesfock Marketing Association, 

 presents a fine carving set to James Rob- 

 inson, Taze«vell county, «vinner In hog 

 judging held at the U. of I. College of Agrl- 

 culture. Presentation was made at the 

 All-Ag banquet at the University t^ay 17. 



