Vol. 1, No. 25
Blustery March
Brings Spring
Somewhat Late
HARRISBURG Blustery
March weather halted all outside
field activities and forced late
arrival of spring on- Pennsyl
vania farms, the State Depart
ment of Agriculture reported to
day following Federal-State sur
veys as of April 1.
However, officials were not dis
couraged. They said in many
areas of the State growing con
ditions later in the season have
greater influence on the final
crop outcome than the vagaries
of March weather.
Improved soil moisture sup
plies in major producing sec
tions strengthened confidence in
production prospects for grams
and hay, observers declared.
Wheat Acreage Lower
The April 1 forecast for wmt
wheat is for a Pennsylvania crop
of 14.4 million bushels, two mil
lion under last year and five
million under, average The 1956
wheat harvest will be from 656,-
000 acres, lowest recorded in
90 years.
Preliminary reports from
Pennsylvania fruit sections in
dicate that cold weather kept
fruit trees dormant. Only slight
signs growth development ap
peared on April 1 A heavy set
of fruit buds was reported at
that date. Unless sudden cold
snaps damage tender growth the
season’s prospects appeared
highly favorable, the _ survey
showed.
Heavy snowfalls and low temp
eratures during March failed to
affect winter grains to any great
extent, the Department said.
Prospects were largely maintain
ed or improved over much of
the' State as most fields were
protected by dormancy or by
snow cover preceding the com
ing of severe cold weather the
latter part of March.'
Freeze Damage Debated
Some fields of wheat in the
south central and southeastern
sections which had greened be
fore the March cold wave struck
turned brown and growth was
retarded. But rising tempera
tures and April showers are ex
pected 'to overcome this situa
tion, officials pointed out.
Much more serious, and of
considerable concern to farm
ers on April 1 was the extent
of undetermined freeze damage
which may have occurred to late
seedmgs last fall.
Supplies of feed grains on
Pennsylvania farms the first of
this month, on the whole, ap
peared to be ample. But dairy
men in the east central, south
eastern and south central coun
ties indicated rapidly diminish
ing supplies of hay and forage.
Most areas in the western half
of the State reported plentiful
to surplus supplies.
Registered Holsteins ' on , the JMowery
Frey Farm, R 7 hanpaster, paint this pas
toral picture as Lancaster Farming
in springtime as can. be found. ' White
Oats Seeding
Well Underwav
Across State
HARRISBURG Seeding of
oats is well underway on Penn
sylvania farms except in central
and northeastern areas but is
one to two weeks behind normal,
the State Department of Agri
culture reported today following
the first weekly Federal-State
weather and crop summary of
the 1956 season.
Spring plowing has been de
layed and crops retarded by cold
weather in late March and the
first week in April, the Depart
ment said. In most areas during
the week ended last Monday the
weather has been good with soils
drying rapidly, encouraging field
work on farms.
Temperatures Lower
The first part of the week was
cold, warming toward the end of
the period. Night time tempera
tures propped to below freezing
in many places Rainfall was
subnormal, averaging only .37
inch compared with the normal
of .88 inch for the week.
With the cooperation of the
Harrisburg office of the U. S.
Weather Bureau, the weekly
Federal-State report this season
for the first time will include a
5-day weather forecast.
The current forecast, Ap-
ril 17 - through 21, follows;
“Temperatures averaging
two to five degrees below
(Continued on Page Five)
Quarryville, Pa., Friday, April 20, 1956
Springtime— Lancaster Farming
FARM BUREAU ROBBED
Burglars caused an estimated
$lOOO damage to ..the Farm .Bu
reau Building on Dillerville
Road in Lancaster Friday night
in a robbery that netted them
$217 in cash. Five doors were
broken and several windows
smashed. ,
Guernsey
Convention
Program Set
The program for the 79th an
nual meeting convention of the
American Guernsey Cattle Club,
scheduled for Philadelphia, Pa
and vicinity, May 7-10, has been
announced.
The AGCC and the Pennsyl
vania Guernsey Breeders Asso
ciation, hosts for the 1956 meet
ing, have announced a four-day
schedule Of events that include
farm visits, tours, a top-quality
sale/the Club’s annual business
meeting, and a special Golden
Guernsey breakfast, as well as
numerous entertainment fea
tures.
On Monday noon. May 7,
members and guests will
meet at the Pennsylvania
Guernsey Sale Pavilion in
Lancaster for a chicken
barbecue. After viewin| t*e
animals consigned to the
following day’s sale,* the
group will head for Phil
adelphia and an evening
welcoming reception at the
Bellevue-Stratf ord Hotel,
sponsored by the Delaware
GBA.
Tuesday will find folks
heading right back to Lan
caster for the National Con
vention Sale, expected to be
one of the years greatest-
The sale is scheduled for
12:30 noon, and should be
(Continued on Page Five)
fences, white barns, black and white
cows, add to -this the budding trees and
greeniijg pastures which give Lancaster
County at its best.
Benson Gives
Comments on
Farm Bill Veto
WASHINGTON (USDA)
Secretary of Agriculture Ezra
Taft Benson Monday commented
as follows on the Presidential
veto of the farm bill: The Pres
ident’s message indicated some
of the important steps that we
will take administratively to im
prove farm prices and farm in
come Because we do not now
have the benefit of the Soil
Bank on, which we had been
counting, we therefore plan to
take promptly such alternate
measures as the President out
lined
“Our technicians in the De
-partment of Agriculture are al
ready today taking ad
ministrative action to implement
the steps outlined by the Presi
dent. The Department will make
specific regard
ing these steps as promptly as
practicable
“We regret, of course, that
'we cannot begin at once to in
stitute the beneficial provisions
of the Soil Bank which had
been requested of Congress. We
sincerely hope that the Con
gress will promptly enact the
Soil Bank, as the President re
quested again in his message
today (Monday) It is important
that we proceed with this as
promptly as possible in order
that farmers may plan their fall
seeding programs with more
certainty than is now possible.
Farmers will be plowing for fall
crops within 90 days.
“There is no conflict concern
ing the desirability of the Soil
Bank nor of the measures we
will take administratively.
These measures will benefit the
entire nation and the welfare
of all our citizens.”
$2 Per Year
President Vetoes
Farm Bill Plans;
Seeks Soil Bank
Calling the proposed farm
bill self-deteating, President
Eisenhower Monday night veto
ed the measure and requested
Congress to pass a straight soil
bill as promptly as possible.
Members of the House
Wednesday evening upheld
the President’s veto. Demo
crats failed to muster even
a majority to override Mr.
Eisenhower. Harold Cooley
(N. D)., chairman or the
House agricultural commit
tee said the soil bank re
quest is .now a dead issue,
and doesn’t stand a chance
of passing this year.
The President’s action follow
ed conferences in Augusta, Ga.
with Secretary of Agriculture
Ezra Taft Benson and other agri
cultural department men. He
returned to Washington, where
the veto was announced, then
went on radio and television to
explain his actions.
Major fronts outlined by .the
President in his preferred ap
proach to the farm problem in
clude
1. In 1956, price supports on
five of the basic crops wheat,
corn, cotton, rice and peanuts —•
will be set at a level of at least
8214 per cent of parity. Tobacco
will be supported as voted in the
referendum in accordance with
existing law.
Within this range of price sup
port flexibility, the Administra
tion intends to set minimum sup
port levels that will result in a
national average of.
Wheat at $2 00 a bushel.
Corn at $1.50 a bushel.
Rice at $4.50 per hundred lbs.
A separate support for
corn not under acreage con
trol in the commercial corn
area will be announced at
an early date.
Price supports on cotton and
peanuts have not yet been an
nounced but will be at least 82%
per cent of parity.
The Secretary of Agriculture
will announce shortly the de
tails of the new cotton export
sales program.
2. For this year the support
price of -manufacturing milk will
be increased to $3.25 per hundred
pounds. The support price of but
ter fat will be increased to 58.6
cents a pound.
3. We will use Department of
Agriculture funds, where assist
ance will be constructive, to
strengthen the prices of perisha
ble farm commodities. We will
have well over $4OO million for
that purpose for the year be
ginning July 1.
Cost of the plans presented by
the President would run in the
neighborhood of one billion dol
lars per year. Revival of the soil
bank program, which lost in
Congress, could produce another
$5OO million farm income this
year.
Congress remained firm on us
original stand, and moves were
made to attempt to override the
Presidential veto.
(Continued on Page Three)
APRIL—WET, COLD
April will continue to have
tempertures below normal and
preciptation will be higher than
normal, according to the SOday
weather forcast issued by ‘.the
U. S. Weather Bureau.