01. IL No. 15
Gov. Leader Sets
Feb. 25-March 2
As Turkey Week
*
HARRISBURG Gov. George
M Leader today urged tribute to
tuikey growers of the Common
wealth through observance of
Pennsylvania Turkey Week, Feb.
25 through March 2. He issued the
following statement -
“Responding to demands for
quality products, Pennsylvania
turkey growers have built a $l3
million industry. They raise two
million birds a year and their
farm value usually is equal to
that of the State’s entire potato
a op, has about the same value
as our tobacco crop, and the com
bined value of commercial apples
and peaches.
“Pennsylvania turkeys are out
standing on the market place and
have become known throughout
the United States for their high
quality Our growers have at
tained for the Commonwealth
ninth place among all the states
m the number of turkeys raised
annually We rank eighth in value
of the crop.
‘ Growers have made turkey
meat available every month in
the year. Consumers are learning
that turkey meat icpresents the
lowest cost among all protein
meat foods. In addition, turkey
meat fits in well with a low cal
orie diet.
‘Supplies of Pennsylvania tur
keys are ample to meet require
ments until new crop birds start
aiming on our markets in mid-
March and later.
“To assist the growers in the
movement of current supplies I
urge that consumers pay tribute
to members of this important agri
cultural industry by adding tur
key to their menu during the
week of Feb. 25 through March 2,
a period to be known as Penn
sylvania-Turkey Week.”
Most Tobacco
Sold Last Week
In Sudden Rush
It is estimated that .95 to 98 per
cent of the 1956 tobacco crop has
been sold. A rash of buying in the
last week cleaned up most of the
estimated five million pounds of
leaf remaining from the 1956
crop.
Reported prices ranged from 23
and 12 to a high of 28 and 12.
The buying followed a long per
iod of virtual inactivity in the lo
cal markets and was believed by
many to be the result of the ef
forts of the Lancaster County To
bacco Growers Cooperative Assn.
The co-op has offered to buy to
bacco to pack at an advance price
of 20 cents a pound. This, observ
ers said, tended to put a floor on
the market.
Mark S Hess, co-op manager,
agreed in part with this opinion.
He said that the buying develop
ments proved that the value of
the tobacco crop never changed.
The fact that some buyers had
been able to buy tobacco at lower
prices following the heavy early
sales at prices up to 30 and 12
had forced other firms to lower
their bids as well, he said
yuarryvtiie (Lancaster CountyKPa., Friday, Feb. 15, 1957
rwo P£NN STATE specialists, B. L. Pol
lack, center, andrJ. O. Dutt, right, inspect
celery grown by Jay Hodecker, R 2 Lancas
ter, left, at the celery growers meeting
Monday The meeting was held at the farm
Two New Celery Varieties Offer
Promise to Replace Lost Houser
- “A new celery variety, H-46,
selected by Amos. H. Funk, R 1
Millersville, shows promise and
should be ready in about two
years,” said Dr. B. L. Pollack,
vegetable breeder at Penn State,
at a meeting of celery growers at
the Funk farm Monday.
Another new variety, Utah
5270 is also available commer
cially as a possible replacement
for the old Houser variety.
The Houser variety was lost
during World War II when the
seed growers on the West Coast
were dislocated.
Some 35 growers from York,
Lebanon and Schuylkill counties
looked over 18 new strains of
celery grown in the county. They
were grown by Funk, Jay Hodec
ker, R 2 Lancaster; and Jake Sfe
grist, R 2 Lancaster.
Dr R. S. Kirby of Penn State
outlined the use of Terraclor as
a spray material that controls
pink rot in trenched celery and
increases the trimmed weight of
healthy stalks.
J. O. Dutt, vegetable extension
specialist, told the growers that
research is going on in other
lines than breeding and that some
unusual results are being found.
He said that in one experiment,
involving nutritional deficiencies
in the plant, the plant exhibited
the usual symptoms of tarnish
plant bug attack. However, this
problem has not yet been solved.
Dutt expressed his belief that
a grower-research program such
of Amos Funk, Millersville. Hodecker’s cel
ery will be taken back to Penn State, ior
seed production and further study as a pos
sible ‘replacement for the lost Houser vari
ety. (LF Photo)
as the one in this area is outstand
ing. “We’ve made progress al
ready. We need more programs
like this,” he said.
Another vegetable growing sug
gestion was given the growers by
Dutt and Pollack. They suggested
that the growers give young toma
to plants a cold treatment before
transplanting.
This will force more buds and
will give a heavier bloom earlier
in the season, they said.
To cold shock the plants, they
suggest putting three inch plants,
or plants that have al least two
true leaves in a room where the
temperature can be maintained
at about 45 degrees for two
weeks.
They added that this is not on
the recommended list from the
University this year, but that ex
perimental work has shown that
cold shock has merit.
Extension Meet
To Recosnize
Flying Farmers
Special recognition for Lancas I
ter Flying Farmers will be one of
the highlights of the annual Lan
caster County agricultural and
home economics extension assn,
meeting at 6:30 at
the First Presbyterian Church,
136 East Orange St., Lancaster.
Speaker for the dinner meeting
will be Roger Deas of the Ameri
can Can Co., New York. His topic
vill be “The Significance of Agri
cultural Productivity.”
The deadline for tickets is to
morrow. They may be obtained
’rom the extension office in the
Lancaster Post Office or from any
'xecutive committee member.
The price is $2.
Dr. R.W. Schlasser
Will Address
Soil Meeting
Dr. Ralph W. Schlosser, head of
the Department of English and
former president of Elizabeth
town College, will address the
sixth annual meeting of the Lan
caster County Soil Conservation
District at 7:30 p.m. Thursday,
Feb. 28, in the Manheim Central
High School. A vice president of
the Pennsylvania German Folk
lore Society and a member of the
Pennsylvania German Society, Dr.
Schlosser is well versed in the
traditions of the Pennsylvania
Dutch farm life.
His -topic will be “Making Good
Our Heritage”,
The annual meeting will be
sponsored'by the Manheim Cen
tral Chapter of Future Farmers
of America and co-chairmen will
be Joseph McGahen, vocational
agriculture instructor and FFA
adviser, and Amos H. Funk,
Chairman of the Soil Conserva
tion District. Dr. Henry G. Buch
er, supervising principal of the
school district, will welcome the
conservationists, and FFA youths
will provide entertainment.
County Commissioner Charles
H Pearce, a district board Mem
ber, will present a plaque to the
farmer-cooperator named “Lan
caster County’s Outstanding
Farmer Conservationist of 1956”
during the meeting.
Amos Funk will deliver a few
remarks on the accomplishments
of the district and will introduce
representatives of the various
agencies who have contributed as
sistance during the year. The an
nual report will be given by
Wayne B. Rentschler, secretary
treasurer.
$2 Per Year
Eden Township
Declared Ready
For State Test
The thirtieth township in Lan
caster County was declared ready
for official brucellosis free certi
fication this week by Roscoe Car
ter, R 3 Quarryville, Eden Town
ship chairman.
Carter said that 92 per cent of
the herd owners in Eden Town
ship had signed test agreements
or were already engaged in a
Bang’s Disease testing program.
County Agent Max M. Smith
said that the request has gone to
Harrisburg to conduct the official
test of the township
Smith said that thi ee other
townships, Mt. Joy. Hempfield
and Ralpho, are close to comple
tion m registration for certifica
tion Ralpho, he said, is* the near
est to being completed
With the completion of these
three townships, it is hoped that
the county total will be the re
quired 75 per cent of breeders
and herd owners required to start
official testing for certification of
the county
The remaining eight townships
are in the northeastern part of
the county.
Cigar Tobacco
Stocks Down
As of Jan. 1
Cigar filler, binder and wrap
per stocks were down by five,
seven and two per cent, respec
tively as of Jan. 1 according to the
U. S. Department of Agriculture.
Hoever leaf tobacco stocks in
the U. S. and Puerto Rico totaled
5,256 million pounds (farm-sales
weight) according to the quarter
ly reports of dealers and manu
facturers. This is an increase of
182 million pounds compared
with a year earlier.
Included in stocks were ap
proximately 1,875 million pounds
of the 1956 crop which had been
marketed by groweis before Jan.
1, or appioximately 87 per cent
of total production.
Flue-cured stocks were up
eight per cent with a year earlier.
Showing decreases were bur
ley, down one per cent, and
Maryland, down five per cent.
Stocks of fire-cured leaf were un
changed while dark air-cured in
creased slightly.
The reports show that there
was 104,429,000 pounds of binder
(51-55) in stock Jan 1,17957 com
pared with 112,408,000 pounds
a year ago. Filler (41-44), 114,-
424.000 Jan. 1, 1957, compared to
121.261.000 pounds a year ago.
, There was 24,839,000 pounds of
wrapper (61-62) in stock a year
ago As of Jan. 1, 1957, there was
24.332.000 pounds.
Puerto Rico had 51,038,000
pounds of filler on hand as of
Jan. 1, and foreign grown stocks
were up by 5,673,000 pounds.
Two More Counties
Certified Bangs Free
HARRISBURG State Secre
tary of Agriculture William L.
Henning has announced that
Crawford and Susquehanna Coun
ties have been certified as brucel
losis-free, meeting Slate and Fed
eral requirements in reduction of
the troublesome Bang’s disease
of cattle.