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