Vol. 11. No- 9 Figures Show Larger Farms, Better Living Farming in Pennsylvania seems headed for bigger busi ness, labor saving on the farm and in the home, and improved communications. These ti ends are reported by Anna T Wink, research associate in agricultural! economics at the Pennsylvama University. With the present income situa tion, competition is keen between spending for improved farming and for better living, Mrs Wink points out By 1954, 96 of each 100 farms had electncity and 83 had piped running water Al most 70 per cent had telephones. Home freezers were reported on 48 per cent of the farms and more than half had television sets Tiends toward biggei faun units are apparent when the 1955 Census of Agriculture figuies are shown as averages per farm, she explain Milk so?d wholesale m 1954 was 1087 hund red weight per farm or 40 per cent more than in 1949 How evei, m the total number of fauns selling milk there was a 5-vear Qpcre ase of 15> per cent The number of chickens sold per farm increased 114 per cent al though one-third fewer farms sold chickens. The gain in egg sales from 1949 to 1954 was 58 per cent, although one-fourth fewer farms sold them Importance among field crops seems to be changing Increased acreages were used in 1954 for high quality roughage Com for silage was grown on 12 per cent more acres and alfalfa hay acre age more than doubled 'Corn for grain and oats held their own dining the period Wheat occupi ed one-fourth fewer acies and mixed hav one-fifth less in 1954 than in 1949. SumOuses of some farm products and chanced feed ing practices helped determine cropland use. Despite the decline in number of farms, most kinds of livestock inci eased from 1949 to 1954. Total number of milk cows m ci eased 4 per cent, other cattle and calves 22 per cent, sheep and lambs 5 per cent, and chic kens 17 per cent. Pownall Renamed Council President Laveme Pownall, R 2 Quarrv ville, has been reelected as presi dent of the County Agricultural Council at a meeting held last week at the Farm Bureau Co operative Assn. All other officers were also re elected. They are-Vice president,, Charles Cowan, 621 Grand View Blvd., Lancaster; secretary treas urer, Lee Brobst, Leola, and re porter, Wayne B Rentschler, Lampeter. The council cited the county’s new U. S Weather Bureau office for its services in the past year. 4-H Members Prepare for Farm Show GETTING HE& FEET trimmed m prepa ration for the farm show is the registered Holstein heifer Daisy J Stonhurst owned by Donald Welk She is held by Johnny German Soil Scientist Visits Farms in Lancaster County A German soil scientist who has discovered a new soil con ditioner is visiting in Lancaster County this week He is H. J. Stembach. Stembach has developed what he terms “ABC compounds” for -soil conditioning They aie in organic -compounds that cause the soil to~ i9gam_te>ture and waterholding capacity tiiaTit has lost due to over use and the loss of natural organic matter. The individual clayi particles THE DIFFERENCE in growth of rye grass in these two test plots illustrate the difference soil structure makes. Both had 100 lbs. of super phosphate applied and the same amount of of grazing. Tfce only difference is that the plot m the right was treated with a .01 per cent solution of Steinbach’s ABC soil conditioner. (Victoria, Australia, De partment of Agriculture Photo) yuarryville (Lancaster County) Pa., Friday, Jan. 4, 1957 that go to make up the soil measure from one-five hund reth of a millimeter to o.ne ten thousandth of a millimeter in diameter, he explains. When the natural soil conditioners are' lost, these minute parti cles come together making the soil almost impervious to wa ter and thereby cause the soil "to" appear to lose its fertility. In experiments done in Aus tralia by Steinbach, undei the (Continued on Page Five) Farm Income Up ! USDA Expects Gain Net income of farm operation'- this year is up slightly from 1955 the 1951 in Welk. Donald, 16, has shown in the Farm Show since he was 10 Another brother, Paul, will also show. They are the sons of Mr. and Mrs. Le Roy Welk, R 1 Strasburg Poulti jmen Call Work Meeting The Lancaster County Poultry Breeders Assn, will hold a special “work meeting” at 730 p. m., Jan. 10 at the new poultry center on the Route 230 Bypass. The special meeting was called at a meeting of the -association and poultry Wednesday Construction Also anr near has The new The specil^^^^^^^^^^^H be open New 26,000 Lbs Owners of trucks and other highway motor vehicles weighing more than 26,000 pounds must soon start paying the use tax on them Forms for filings will be available at district Internal Rev enue Service offices beginning Dee 3, and the deadline is Jan. 31 for returns on vehides used at any time in July thiough Do cember of this year Thereafter, the icturns must be made by the end of the month following the one in which the vehicle is fiist used The new tax this fiscal year for use in the highway construction program 1957, according to the Agucul ture Department The key to the increased in come outlook for 1957, as the department sees it is: strong de mand from consumers, increas mg shipments of farm products abroad, the soil bank, designed to cut planted acreages, and re duced hog marketing. $2 Per Year No Seasonal Milk Decline Commission Says Theie will be no seasonal de cline in milk pii.c Jan. 1 to either laimers oi consumers in the Philadelphia Milk Shed, the Pennsylvania Milk Conti ol Com mission announced today in an emergency order This cmergencj order be comes effective Jan 1 and ex pires Feb 1, 1957, pending hear ings which will be hetd in Phil adelphia and suburban Philadel phia dunng the week of Jan 7. On the basis of (hose healings the Commission pioposes to pro mulgate a regular orderfortha Philadelphia Chambersburg, Mercersburg, and B. well as several iteming stations in Bedford County and southeast ern Pennsylvania Under precedent established by agreement of the Federal Marketing Administrator in ' the Philadelphia Milk Shed and the Pennsylvania Milk Control Commission, a seasonal pric ing piugram has been follow--"' ed for several years whereby price changes automatically oc cur Jan. 1, April 1, and Oct. 1. This is the first time the Milk Control Commission has depart ed fr v this seasonal pricing pro gram since it was established in 1942 This emergency action was taken because of the requests of farmers over a very wide area for relief from a general price cost squeeze. The Commission further an nounced its intention to take pricing of Copies a field crops available at the Lancaster Coan tj agent’s office They are free. Count\ Agent i\la\ Smith cails the new Pennsyhama State Col lege publication “one of the best farm handbooks I've ever seen I recommend it highly ’’ Copies of the put 1 ication may also be oulered from ti-.e 'office bj mail Tobacco Show In Lancaster Today The annual Lancaster County Tobacco Show is being held to day at the Milt Rank tobacco warehouse, North Water St, Lanj caster Winning will be tak the Farm SI
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