And They Call This Stuff Art?

HELLO FOLKS — Art critics puzzle me. Today there is a man being hailed as the world's greatest artist. His name is Pablo Picasso. What makes him great I don't know. I have seen quite a few of his paintings and drawings and as far as I can see they are no better than those of an ordinary high school senior who has had a year of two of art. In fact I have seen adolescents come home from school with pictures sketched in a hurry that would run most of Picasso's a good race.

Picasso is probably a great artist, but what puzzles me is why more of his good works are not published. Are they going to wait until after his death before they release them? And if they have never been released how does anybody know that he is such a great artist? After all, nobody can draw pictures of nude people with bodies mis-shapen and heads set off at grotesque angles;  or make a few streaks with a brush and sign his name to it (if he dares).

Maybe what it takes is a great publicity agent and the right connections, and shouldn't the poor ones be subtracted from the total.

Senate Labo... probably be... would establ... to build par... much the sa.... gram did i...

As it now... in the young... 16 to 21...

I don't ha... but I suppos... year-around....

My idea... that it would... mer. The a.... these youths should for the most part be in school the rest of the time. If a permanent force is needed...

On the other hand we have such artists as Arnold Frieberg who is no doubt the world's greatest living painter of religious pictures. Any question as to that should quickly be dispelled by a good look at one of his latest productions, "Peace Be Still". Mr. Frieberg is a prolific artist and helped Cecil DeMille with "The Ten Commandments".

He is still a young man and will yet go down in history as the greatest artist of the twentieth century. I realize that is making quite a statement what with all the great artists such as Norman Rockwell, Edward Grigware and others.

In all fairness to Picasso, I understand that in his early days he did some very good painting and that is where he started on the road to fame. I believe that they call his paintings of recent years cube painting.

—o—

IN TRAVELING through several states on our vacation this fall I was impressed with a number of things concerning roads. One of the finest roads was one that had just been built. It was one of the new interstate highways. We traveled it in the rain at night. It had post reflectors all the way along the edge. The edges of the lanes were marked with luminous white paint and despite the fact that it was raining and really bad driving conditions we knew all the turns in the road for about one - half mile ahead, this due to the post markers. It was a safe and remarkable road to travel.

One of the most adverse sights was when we returned to Minnesota and there above each speed sign was the additional sign "ABSOLUTE."

Just what do we mean when we say 30 miles an hour? Do we mean 40 or 50? Or if we say 60 do we mean 70 or 80? Maybe I just don't know what the highway authorities are getting at and I wonder if the tourists and visitors from other states do and what they think of it.

Why don't we just call the speeds and mean it?

California, Iowa Lead

Hello Folks! — Square meals make round people.

Special type of car is on the market for the road hog. It is made of pig iron.

—o—

Teacher: If one and one makes two, and two and two make four, how much does four and four make?

Dan: That's not fair, teachmer, you answer all the easy questions yourself and leave the hard ones for me.

—o—

California leads the other 49 states in total farm income. Iowa is fairly close second, with Illinois and Texas third and fourth respectively. Minnesota is always behind in fifth place, with Nebraska, Indiana, Wisconsin and Missouri in that order.

Iowa leads all states in livestock receipts, by a wide margin. California is next with Texas, Illinois, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Nebraska close behind. Cattle and hogs are Iowa's big livestock receipts. While in dairy products Iowa is barely in the big ten.

In Dairy products Wisconsin leads by a wide margin, with New York and California, Minnesota and Pennsylvania in that order.

Illinois leads all states in corn sales by a wide margin. Iowa is next but one reason for Iowa not being a big seller in corn is because it is fed to livestock.

In egg production California leads well ahead with Georgia next.

In soybeans Illinois leads over Iowa which in turn is far ahead of Missouri, Arkansas, Indiana, and Minnesota.

In broiler sales all the southern states lead over northern states.

Idaho is of course the big potato state. Maine is next with California close and from there on potato production drops fast.

Minnesota is second in turkey production. California is first. Missouri, Iowa, Arkansas, Texas, North Carolina, Wisconsin, Virginia and Indiana raise quite a few turkeys too.

Surprising to me is that Florida leads California in orange production over two to one. Arizona and Texas raise a few too.

Washington is the big apple producer. New York produces a lot too. Michigan is next and then the production drops of fast.

Texas produces as much cotton seed as Mississippi, California and Arkansas put together.

California raises as much sugar beets as Idaho and Colorado combined. Minnesota is next and Washington and Nebraska close.

The biggest producer of forest products is not the Western states but Georgia, North and South Carolina, Virginia, and Alabama and Mississippi being high on the list. Washington is also one of the big ones.

California Corn Hurts Mid-West

Hello Folks: If a man offends you, buy each of his children a drum. A Chinese proverb.

—o—

This is the final test of a gentleman: his respect for those who can be of no possible use to him.

—o—

We have a couple of new creatures at our house. I had never heard of them before. One is a "Skeekmuk". It lives upstairs and as far as we can determine, this skeekmuk is somewhere between the size of a cat and a dog. Whether it has fur, hair or feathers, we don't know. Nobody has seen it but Randy, he sees it quite often, and it is under the bed when he sleeps. It has been around about a month apparently.

The other creature is an "earb". This one also we only know from what Randy tells us. It lives downstairs in the bedroom. When we eat, it slips into the living room for a romp. From all indications, is is about the size of a rat or mouse, as least it can be stepped on. The other day it followed him upstairs. It leaves no tracks, requires no food, and can be seen only by some one with as good an imag[i]nation as Randy (and no one has one that good!)

We get a lot of kick out of these two creatures, plus Randy. All we have to do is mention the "earb" or "skeekmuk", and we are in for another session of stories.

—o—

Speaking of imagination, have you ever gone traveling with your imagination? It is lots of fun. You can sail on oceans, visit tropical isles, swoop down on crowded cities on your imaginary carpet, do a lot of things you always hoped you could do someday. All this, without ever leaving a cozy home — and no travel fatigue at all.

—o—

There is a lot of talk about a "soil - bank" plan. Here is my viewpoint on it for what it is worth to the readers. I think the only real worth of "soil fertility bank" is in connection with acreage controls. If a farmer is at the position where he feels he wants price supports on his crops, then the extra acres should be placed in suspension until they are needed. This should be done by the farmer himself and not at the expense of the taxpayers.

In the past when acreage allotments were in effect on a commodity, the extra acres were just diverted into another crop. Such a condition is not fair to the farmers who wish to take their own chances with the law of supply and demand. Suppose the farmers in Freeborn county rent a lot of land to the Government, and that land put in suspension as it would be under a "soil bank" plan, that would mean less production, which in turn means less industry.

California and other western states have learned that there is money in raising corn and feeding cattle — so while we are crying for high supports and storing our corn in bins, California is doubling her production of corn each year. On top of that she is competing with us for western range cattle to feed out and out-bidding us a lot of the time.

We are actually holding an umbrella over the west all at our own expense.

The fair price for corn has dropped a lot the past few years because we are learning to produce it cheaper. Nobody knows what actual parity is on corn, but it is not over $1.50 — probably closer to $1.25, this due to more efficient production, by the use of better machinery, fertilizer and tillage.

Just as surely as some of us are afraid to get in to the economic area and fight our own battles, there are others who will and they are the ones who win.

Advice on Teaching a Calf to Drink

HELLO, FOLKS: I was browsing through my wife's notebook and came to this, entitled: "How to feed a calf."

"The hardest thing on a farm, I think, is trying to teach a calf to drink.

"He'll pull and twist and wiggle his tail. Then, the first thing you know — kerplunk! — there goes his nose in the pail. And most of the milk goes over your clothes."

ADVICE IN RHYME

"Hold on to your patience, your teeth you can grit. If you can't hold your temper, you might as well quit.

"For old Mother Nature, whose methods don't fail, never meant for a calf to first drink from a pail.

"Back him into a corner, get astraddle his neck. He hurt you much; you're already a wreak.

"Lift up the bucket. Push his head down. And away you go again, around and around.

"Give him a finger, and maybe, with luck, that little old calf will start to suck.

"Just do this for a week, with your back in a kink, and then maybe you'll teach him to drink."

—o—
Flight into Egypt

WITH SPUTNICK flying around in outer space, I am reminded of a story I heard.

The Sunday-School teacher told the children to draw a picture illustrating a Biblical text. One little girl returned with a drawing of an airplane, a man, a woman, a baby, and a pilot.

"What's this?" the teacher asked.

"It's the flight in Egypt," the tot replied. "That's Mary, Joseph, the Infant Jesus — and that one is Pontius, the Pilot."

—o—

A Worth While Program

THE RURAL development program is about two years old. It started in a small way and, as it gets to working, it will expand.

Congress appropriated two million dollars in 1957 and two-and-one-half million for the year 1958. The idea behind this program is to help the rural people in the distressed areas to gain a fairer share of the national income.

In these areas, the farmers can hardly expect to earn more from their farms. Therefore, it is the intent of the program to help these people to increase their incomes by developing new sources of income. The program is based on organized local initiative and is supported with federal help.

—o—

Volunteers Gain Experience

IN SOME CASES, the program helps train people to take on other jobs. In others, it helps them move to places of employment if there is no way to get jobs locally.

There are more than 200 volunteers working on the program. Most of them are in the areas where the program is being set up. Churches are encouraged to help out in the job.

Already the effects of the program are beginning to be felt, and as the people responsible for the program gain experience, it is expected to have a still greater effect.

Here, at last, is a program that has as its goal the development of character rather than the weakening of it.

UPDATE
Current information on the USDA Rural Development lists the portfolio of loans at $181.1 billion. It will loan $38 billion in loans, loan guarantees and grants this fiscal year.

For more current information go to USDA Rural Development.