K«ry jE. Bet.t<»ndeyf f LlbrmrUa flcr'rui'.braky AgriculturaZ Library ||| TOE FENKi-'v roiy-CSE ®he Penna. State University University Park, Penna, C Vol. 111. No. 15. County Paralized by 18 inch Snowfall THESE TWO PHOTOS, both taken from ap proximately the same position at Myhn’s Corner, the junction of Routes 222 and 72 south of Lancaster, show the general conditions of roads Most Farmers Unable to Move Milk; Helicopter Assigned County A record bi caking snowfall beginning Saturday isolated hundreds ot Lancaster County faun families and caused thou sands of dollais worth of damage in the Count} The snow, measured as deep as 20 inches at numerous spots, was bad enough m itself, but it was further complicated by high winds blowing up drifts several feet high Hardest hit were dairymen who had no way to deliver their milk to city dairies Hhe advent of use ol the bulk tank further compli cated the situation by precluding the posibility of delivering milk in cans by use of a tractor and s'ed or by other conveyance In some instances where the farmer still had milk cans, the dairies were accepting milk One Lancaster dairy even loaned 20 cans to one farmer who was mak ing delivery by using a tractor and sled. The boroughs of Lititz and Quarryville were isolated from Sunday until Tuesday And in these towns there was, ironically, a shortage of milk. Poultry and broiler raisers also were caught in the pmah of the storm Feed supplies were run ning short and there are very few county roads open to allow feed tt ucks to get through. The state highways department was hampered in snow removal on the highways of the county by the drifting and by constant breakdowns of equipment The state equipment simply is not de signed to handle snow the depth ol that which had fallen And unlike last December, there was no possibility of bor i owing heavy equipment from northern or western divisions.' C onditions there were just as bad 01 worse than in this area. The United States Air Force Quarryville (Lancaster County) Pa., Friday, Feb. 21, 1958 came to the resuce of Lancaster Countians by putting a helicopter at the disposal of the State Po lice Barracks at Lancaster The ’copter (Jhe first day brought two expectant mothers to the city hospitals and brought in one young boy from near Quanyville who was suffering from appendi citus. Four deaths, all of them from overexertion or exposure, have been reported. Heavy equipment from private owners or contractors has been used extensively by the state and townships to remove drifts from roads. The Safe Harbor Power Co. made a bulldozer available to open the road from that area to allow food and oil trucks to come in. - Another mammouth dozer, nor mally used in quarrying opera tions at Quarryville, was used to open Route 222 from Quarryville to Mylm’s Corner. Farmers themselves, using blade equiped farm tractors, have cleared many portions of county roads as well as their own farm lands. But the going is rough for this equipment. It, too, simply isn’t big enough to handle the job. Coupled with the deep snow have been temperatures near zero. But fortunately there have been no icing conditions and tele phone communication and elec tric power have been virtually un affected by the storm. throughout the county on Monday. The drift ing snow stalled many travelers such as this automobile from Ohio Heavy equipment was required to push through the drifts The hull- jWelting Snow May Cause Trouble Later By 808 BEST The snow on the ground causes ti ouble now in trying to get from place to place But later it may cause even more and lasting trouble Snow in winter is usually hail ed as a blessing for winter wheat and other small grain crops. An in most cases it is, protecting the crop from heaving and freezing and providing more moisture for the soil But this snow fell on frozen ground And if the snow is melted by rams, serious and extensive flooding could well be the result Another item is the possibility that if the snow stays on long enough, the crops underneath may be damaged by smothering Growing plants, the same as hu mans, have to breathe. If the snow becomes packed and stays on the ground for any great length of time, the plant may not be able to get the necessary oxy gen for it to live. Very little of the water from this snow will go into the ground because of the frozen soil be neath. It will run'off slowly, we hope If the rate-of run-off is excessive, sheet erosion or gut ters may develop that will dam age the soil permanently. This is true especially on land that was allowed to go into winter with no cover. And there are many such fields in the county this year as plant ing dates were pushed too far into the fall by the dry weather. (Continued on page 12) dozer shown is usually found in quarrying op erations near Quarryville. Route 222 was not opened until Tuesday afternoon (LF Photos) January Milk Production Set Record, Keystone State Survey Reveals Pennsylvania milk production m January set a new iccord for that month, the Stale Department of Agi 'culture said today But the 54 million pounds of milk from Pennsylvania farms in creased the pioportion of milk u=ed for manufacturing purpose and occasioned an average decline of 2 cents a hundred pounds to farmers, a Federal-State survey showed The larger milk output for January resulted from a higher Many Meetings Rescheduled Because of Snow Numerous meetings and events on the farm scene were cancelled or delayed due to the snowstorm. Among them were two AGP meetings, a Soil Conseivation District Watershed meeting, the annual meeting of the Farm bureau Cooperative and the Annual meeting of the Soil Con servation District. The Farm Bureau meeting has been postponed indefemte ly. The AGP meetings as well as the watershed meeting will be rescheruled. The Soil Dis trict dinner will be held March 17 at Hostetter’s in Mt. Joy. There are several meetings of various types planned for the coming week. For these, as well as such meetings as have been rescheduled, see the Farm Calendar elsewhere in this is sue. S 2 Per Year feeding late per cow than a year ago when production was below normal due to low quality hay from the 1956 rainy season Due to the 1957 drought in southeastern and central coun- ties, roughage and home grown, grains now aie in short supply and purchases of hay and conten tiates are unusually high, the De partment said Much hay has been, purchased in drought areas from iaimers in northern counties and in New York state January milk production was eight per cent moi e than the same month a year ago and 10 million pounds above last December’s out put The previous high for Janu ary was in 1956 with 524 million pounds of milk produced m the state. Cow numbers this January at 940,000 were down 2,000 from a year earlier. Milk production per cow in January increased to an average of 574 pounds in comparison with 563 pounds for December 1957 and 530 pounds in January 1957. LF May Be Late Because of Snow, P. O. Holidav If you received your Lancas ter Farming later than usual tins week, there are two rea sons. One is the storm which nelayed publication. The other is that no mail deliveries were made Saturday, Feb. 22, which' is George Washington’s Birth day.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers