Food Prices Down? 

 Farm Prices Are! 



(Continued from page IIJ 



There have been several studies made 

 recently, by the bureau of agricultural 

 economics, U. S. Department of Agri- 

 culture, and others, to indicate the por- 

 tion of the retail food dollar that the 

 farmer receives. One study indicated 

 that a box of Delicious apples from the 

 state of Washington sold in Chicago at 

 retail for $5.13 during the 1947-4« 

 season, returned the farmer $1.36. The 

 difference was distributed as follows: 

 Costs at the shipping point. $1.21; 

 freight. 73 cents; auction, nine cents; 

 wholesaler and retailer. $1.74. In other 

 words, the farmer got 26 cents of the 

 retail apple dollar, and the marketing 

 system received the other 74 cents. 



Another similar study showed that 

 the Florida orange grower received 16 

 cents of the retail dollar for oranges 

 sold in the spring of 1948 in Chicago. 

 Other studies have indicated that when 

 you pay 41 cents for a pound of pork 

 (not center-cut pork chops), the farmer 

 receives only 27 cents. When you pay 

 69 cents for a pound of butter, the 

 farmer's share is only 49 cents. When 

 you pay eight cpnts for a pound of 

 white flour, the farmer gets only four 

 cents. 



These are further indications of the 

 need for educating the consumers of 

 the American market basket. The man 

 who spends all of his time tilling the 

 soil receives less than half of the con- 

 sumer's food dollar. Why should the 

 farmer, whether he be a producer of 

 peaches, apples, corn. meat, or milk, 

 be charged as being the sole contributor 

 to the high cost of food? 



Annual rata of retail cost of a "market basket" for a family of 3, and 



Its division between farmers and marketing agencies for different 



periods of time with comparisons. 



How To Buy 

 Limestone 



(Continued from page 22) 



Also the calcium carbonate equivalent 

 or the percentage passing an eight mesh 

 screen must be enough higher than 80 

 that a multiplication of these two factors 

 will give at least .72. The material 

 from a few quarries tested less than 80 

 per cent calcium carbonate equivalent. 

 Several quarries are shown to offer ma- 

 terial coarser than 80 per cent through 

 an eight mesh screen. When the cal- 

 cium carbonate equivalent and fineness 

 of grinding for each quarry were multi- 

 plied together twenty-four quarries were 

 below the .72 required. Most quarry 

 operators expressed a willingness to 

 correct deficiencies when they were 



brought to their attention, and subse- 

 quent samples usually showed an im- 

 provement. Multiplication of these two 

 factors is a good numerical indicator of 

 limestone quality. 



The average CCE times fineness of the 

 ninety-four quarries was 76.5. Fifty- 

 seven is the lowest shown and ninety- 

 four the highest. The highest possible 

 would have beeen 105. had the highest 

 testing material been ground to a fine- 

 ness of 100 per cent through an eight 

 mesh screen. 



The standards of agricultural lime- 

 stone in Illinois are much lower than in 

 some other states which, for example, 

 require a much finer grinding. How- 

 ever, the 80 per cent through an eight 

 mesh screen and to include the fine ma- 

 terial of grinding gives a lot of fine ma- 

 terial which soon reacts with the soil 

 acid. The somewhat coarser fragments 

 allowed give a lasting quality which fits 

 in with the Illinois system of permanent 

 soil fertility. Application need not be 

 made so often. On the other hand, par- 

 ticles much larger than an eight mesh 

 size offer little surface exposure and are 

 thus very slow in effectiveness. Pebble 

 size limestone will probably last longer 

 than the farmer, and he will likely "be 

 pushing up dairies" Itefore this size ma- 

 terial will be pushing up his legumes. 



Quarry price is not an indication of 

 the quality of limestone. Prices vary 

 from quarry to quarry because of the 

 difference in production costs. Quarry 

 prices range from one dollar to $2.40 

 per ton. Dirt overburden and other prob- 

 lems of production govern the price. 



Investment in limestone returns 

 greater profits than in any other ferti- 

 lizer materials, however. Money spent 

 for limestone can bring the best returns 

 only if properly used. Several steps 

 should be followed in the application of 

 agricultural limestone: 



1. Make soil tests. Soil tests will 

 show not only how much limestone is 

 needed but also need for phosphorus 

 and potassium. The slogan "limestone 

 is not enough" applies to many areas of 

 the state. Good crop growth is obtained 

 in many areas only if phosphorus or 

 potash or both are also applied in addi- 

 tion to limestone. 



2. Use limestone ahead of legumes. 

 Plow under the legumes for cash or row 

 crops. 



3. Investigate the quality of limestone 

 and use the most economical material, 

 quality considered. 



4. Request weight tickets on limestone 

 spread. Experienced truckers say that 

 a person can easily miss the weight of a 

 truckload by 1,000 to 2.000 pounds 

 when estimate is made on the volume on 

 the truck rather than weighing. 



5. Demand a good spreading job. 

 Farmers have experienced gaps in the 

 growth of legumes because spreading 

 was uneven. 



Only by buying on quality, demand- 

 ing a good job of spreading, applying 

 limestone and other materiahs in proper 

 amounts according to soil tests, and 

 using these materials in good rotations 

 will the farmer get most returns from 

 money spent for limestone and fertilizer 

 materials. | 



30 



L A. A. RECORD 



