Vol. 1, No. 19
Remedied Dairy
Barns on Tour
At West Chester
‘ Seventeen Southern , Chester
County dairy farms were-'includ
ed in a tour [Tuesday and Wed
nesday to give dairymen a
chance to see how neighbors
solved their bam remodeling
problems.
' Joe Nageotte, extension dairy
specialist from Penn State, was
on hand to describe remodeling
.at each farm and to answer ques
’ tions
Chester County Agent Robert
A. Powers, Jr, advised Lancaster
Farming 45 turned out for the
Tuesday tour, and throughout
the meetings were of great value
to those participating
On the schedule were the
-Charles T. Wollaston Farm on
sthe Toughkenamon- Landenberg
Road, a remodeled bank farm
-for a herd of 30 cows; the Edwan
Paschall Farm, just northeast
-of Toughkenamon, expanded
floor space in bank bam, with
future plans discussed; the
Lawrence Waltman Farm at
"Jennerville, a new 60-stanchion
barn where 15 cows may be re
leased with the flip of one lever,
where silage is fed from a self
unloading wagon driven through,
the 'feed 'alley.
Norman Bentley Farm
Another remodeled barn on
the Norman Bentley Farm a
quarter mile southeast of Lin
coln University was the last stop
before noon Tuesday It featured
a remedied barn, 54-mch comfort
stalls, chain type gutter cleaner
and a 38-cow herd.
These farms were visited in
the afternoon; Walter Shepherd,
south of Route 1 at Post House,
milking parlor, barn remedied
into loafing area for 40 cows;
Mason Brothers Farm, just south
of' Chrome, milking parlor, new
pole-type loafing barn, trench
silos; Joe Beokenstrater Farm,
mile 'and a half south of Oxford,
remodeled barn and chain tie
stalls for 40 cows.
Inverted V-Comfort Stalls
Robert Growl Farm, half mile
southwest of Maple Grove, bank
barn' being remodeled by stages,
new type comfort stalls, for 30
cows, William A. Reid Farm,
quarter mile north of Oxford, in
verted V-comfort stalls being
added on old stanchion frames
for added cow comfort.
Wednesday the group toured
eight more farms, the Harvey
C Worthington Farm a half
mile north of West Chester,
hydraulic gutter cleaner, 50
stanchions, loafing pen for dry
cows and heifers, sky light in
roof; William Balterston Farm,
half mile north of Whitford, pen
stable, milking parlor system;
Spring Mill Farm, on 401 quarter
mile east of Route 29, comfort
(Continued on Page Three)
It took the wind but a reW seconds to responding to announcements in three
level this tobacco barn as shown by pic- churches Sunday morning: It took less
tures in last Lancaster Farming, than- five hours to clear and stack the lum-
Here is the same barn, three hours or so her, with a bountiful meal served in be
after 100 friends and neighbors poured in, tween. .(Lancaster Farming Staff Photo).
Raymond WitmerNamed Lancaster
County’s Outstanding Young Farmer
By ERNEST J. NEILL
Increased milk production, full
utilization of irrigation and
forced air hav drying are but
some of the items implemented
by Raymond F. Witmer which
helped him win the title of Lan
caster County’s Outstanding
Yoiiri£ Farmer Friday night.
Receiving the Lancaster Junior
Chamber of Commerce award in
a field of five, Mr Witmer will
now compete in state finals at
Palmyra in April. His citation
came but 11 years after the Penn
sylvania Future Farmers of
America named him the out
standing Future Farmer of the
state. That was 1945, the year
he received his American Farmer
degree.
At Pequea Creek Bridge
Those traveling Highway 222
north of Refton skirt the Wit
mer Farm—Penn Del Farm pro
perly—where a new concrete
.bridge is being constructed to
replace the treacherous, accident
prone Pequea Creek bridge.
But it was Pequ ft a Creek that
last summer provided Penn Del
with adequate moisture, hy the
thousands and thousands of gal
lons, to keep pastures green
while the remainder of the
countv burned in drought.
Scores of people saw the sprink
ler system revive pasture and
alfalfa, providing green grass
sB age for th“ 48 head of re
gistered Guernseys.
“Thg, - irrigation system re
presented an investment / of
around S 8 000 but it more than
ipaid for itself,” Mr. Witmer, 31,
I told Lancaster Farming.
Quarryville, Pa., Friday, March 9, 1956
Quick Clean-Up on Glict Farm
Graduating from the vocational
agriculture course at West Lam
peter Townghip High School,
he was born and raised on the
farm he now operates. His father,
Clair H. Witmer, lives a mile
away. That was before the day
of field choppers, hay driers,
irrigation.
His herd, headed by the bull
Golden Harvest King Cole, pur
chased from Golden Harvest
Farm. Bridgewater, Conn., is sup
ported by the 133-acre farm that
“is nearly all grass.” Ordinarily
he runs five acres of wheat,
three of corn 20 cicres of
irrigated pasture. The balance
is grass, grassland farming.
are com
binedr pastured five acres at a
(Continued on page Frree)
Named Lancaster County’s Outstanding Young Farmer
by the Lancaster Junior Chamber of Commerce was Ray
mond F. Witmer, shown here with his family before a
Dutch hutch in the dining room of their Penn-Del Farm
home near Ref ton. Mrs. Witmer is holding Mark, one year
old, while Mark, 3 plus, is perched between his dad and
mom. (See accompanying story) (Lancaster Farming
Staff Photo).
Outstanding Young Parmer
Wolgemuth Named
'By New Holland 4«H
Tames Wolgemuth, R 1 Bare
ville, has been elected president
of the New Holland 4-H Commun
ity Club The club met this week
in the bank building at New Hol
land.
Other officers are - David Lapn,
Bareville 1, vice president; Joyce
Weaver, HI New Holland, secre
tary; Edgar Sheaffer. R 2 New
Holland, treasurer; Barbara Mar
ton, R 2 New Holland, song leader;
Mary Jane Hoover, R 1 New Hol
lar! Howard Rme or R 2 New
Holland, game leaders; Louis
Lapp, R 1 Bareville, news report
er.
Club leaders are - John B Lapp
R 1 Bareville; David Hoover, R 1
New Holland; James Martin and
Ruth Sheaffer. both of New Hol
land.. The next meeting will be
April 2.
$2 Per Year
Spring Is Near
Crass and Brush
Fires Indicate
Grass and brush fires re
oorted m all sections of Lancas
ter County this week gave
oroof that spring is near, and
Jiat spring cleanup can be down
right dangerous.
Hrere are the net results of
major blazes this week
Approximately 50 acres of
|rass and timber near Nine
Points burned over;
Twenty-five acres of scrub cov
er near Pequea burned in a stub
born, four and one-half hour
blaze.
A grass fire was extinguished
on a field near Zion Home south
of Lititz;
About 250 young spruce trees
vere destroyed when fire swept
the Ray Reese property on the
lorth edge of Quarryville Friday.
Sparks From Brush Fire
Often-the cause was listed as
“sparks from a brush fire.” Un
til Tuesday’s showers, many .gras
sy areas were tinder dry, and a
spark, a tossed cigaret, or a fire
out of control swept wide areas.
Dry grass proved flammable
as gunpowder in many sections
of the Garden Spot, and a drive
through the County shows scores
of burned-over patches
The Nine Points Fire started
on a farm owned by Nevin Mc-
Clure and James DeEugemo,
then crossed over into the Dr.
Michael Margolaes farm. Even on
the Main Street of Mount Joy,
firemen were called out to douse
a grass fire Tuesday afternoon.
Other Farm Fires
At Pequea, the fire was be
tween the farm of John Clark
and the right-of-way of the Read
ing Railroad, starting on rail
road property and extending in
to land of the Pennsylvania
Power and Light Co. as well.
There were other fires in the
County too. A chicken house
owned by Marlin Mumma, R 2
Manheim, was threatened when
gasoline set fire to shavings on
the floor. There was no damage. ,
A brooder house on the Henry
Stover Farm near Halfville was
damaged an estimated $lOO by
an overheated stove
There were more, many ma
jor, many minor all /pointing
to the need for extreme care this
season.
Farm Income
Off |l-Billion
USDA Advise
Total form income dropped i
nearly a billion dollars last year 3
to $19,045,000,000, the United I
States Department of Agriculture 1
reported this week. Per capita
farm income, at $B6O, was less m
than 50 per cent of the $1922
individual average for nonfarm S
individuals. fl
Thursday the Senate started
voting on the soil bank-rigid
high support combination
which indicate Congress is
termined to do “something
the farmer.”
WHAT IS CANCER?
Cancer is defined as an
controlled growth of cells.”
detected early, cancer can
be removed by surgery or
stroyed by radiation, the
can Cancer Society says