Hary K, Bettendorf , librarian
Agricultural Library
Hha Penna. State University |w AGRICULTURAL OBRAKY
University park, Fenna. TWE PENNSYLVANIA STATE tOLLEGE
Vol. 111. No. 35.
Thunderstorms
Dump Rainfall,
Cause Erosion
A series of violent thunder
storms over the week-end and
Monday damaged growing crops,
especially row crops, flooded
roads and basements and caused
severe damage in populated areas
near Lancaster.
The rains were of such in
tensity that normal soil conser
vation procedures broke down
under the water load imposed
upon tHfem Ephrata, for exam
ple, reported more than eight
inches of rainfall since July 1,
an average of more than an inch
a day
But the ram didn’t come at
the rate of an inch a day. It
came at a rate of an inch or more
an hour, thus over-running nor
mal channels and drains
STRANGELY ENOUGH. Safe
Harbor and Holtwood stations
have reported only minor
amounts of rainfall while the
northern and central parts of the
county were being flooded.
Most of the farm damage is
in the form of topsoil washed
from cultivated fields On many
of the county roads silt meas
ures up to four inches deep. In
many places entire clumps of
sod were torn from fields and
carried onto roads by the rush of
watei
Extensive replanting of wash
ed-out tobacco is underway. Most
corn and other row-crop fields
show the effects of too much
ram coming too fast in the form
of gullies.
MARTIN MUTH of the Soil
Conservation Service said that
the rains fall in the “10-year”
catergory. That is, such rainfall
intensity can be expected to
happen about once in 10 years,
based on past Weather Bureau
records.
Farm ponds are designed to
withstand rainfall that will hap
pen once in 50 years and on
Tuesday Muth said there were
no reports of ponds having burst
or washed out.
But Muth said that a simple
contour strip system without di
versions will be inclined to leak
under a “10-year” rain. He said
that sheet erosion, not so notic
ible as gully erosion, caused quite
a large soil loss in the county
especially where soil conserva
tion practices are not being foj
lowed.
Pennsylvania Led Nation in New
Holstein Memberships During 1957
Pennsylvania led the nation in
new memberships in the Holstem-
Fnesian Assn, of America, ac
cording to an announcement by
the organization Saturday
The Lancaster-Chester County
area provided 56 of the 223 new
members that gave the state the
membership lead. This amounts
to 25 per cent of the state total.
Nationally, 1,094 new breeders
became members Representing
47 states, they bring total mem
bership in the national Holstein
association to an all-time high of
48,828.
RANKING BEHIND Pennsyl
vania are New York with 159 new
members and Wisconsin where
119 new members were accepted.
Here by towns are the new
members from this area:
Arthur S. Hoylman, Vernon R.
Quarryville (Lancaster County) Pa., Friday, July 11, 1958
TORRENTIAL RAINS brought flash
floods and severe destruction to cultivated
fields throughout Lancaster County dur-
Farm Safetv Week Committee
Sets Goal of ‘Zero’ Fatalities
HARRISBURG Reduction of
deaths from accidents on Pennsyl
vania farms to “zero” during
Farm Safety Week, July 20-26, is
a goal set Wednesday by the State
Farm Safety Week Committee.
Agnculture Secretary William
L. Henning, Farm Safety Week
state chairman, said 50 farm work
ers and children lost their lives
in accidents and fires on farms
from Jan. 1 to June 30, an aver
age of nearly two per week. For
the same six-month period last
year 40 fatalities were recorded.
Five farm accident fatalities
were reported for the first week
in July.
“DUE TO SEASONAL work
load increases on farms we might
expect from three to five farm
people to lose their lives in ac
cidents during the week of July
IJmble, Mervm B Nissley and
Paul E. Nissley, all of Atglen; J.
Sylvester Blank, Cochranville; G.
Robert Greider and Harold H.
Greider, Columbia, Stanley E.
Kreider, Drumore; Paul N. Bru
baker and Amos PI Stoltzfus,
Elverson.
Abram N Hoover, Ephrata;
Melvin H. Ranck, Holtwood; J. S.
Kolt, and Joseph K Petersheim,
Honey Brook; Mark P. Stoltzfus,
John M. Gingrich, Edwin W.
Landis, and the Southeastern
Pennsylvania Artificial Breeders
Cooperative, all of Lancaster.
E. E. HERSHEY, Lincoln Uni
versity; Edward K. Bollinger,
Warren F. Bollinger, Martin Bom
bcrger, Raymond W. Burkholder,
Donald L. Hershey, M. Rohrer
Hershey, Paul H Hursh, Charles
G. Keller, Willard B. Stauffer and
E 20 26,” Henning declared “Our
. hope is to see no such accidents
, that week.”
| Most farm accidents can be pre
vented if folks take time to ob
: serve common sense safety prac
tices, says Harold T. Howell, Har-
nsburg Patriot farm editor and
president of the Pennsylvania
Rural Safety Council, which is
sponsoring Farm Safety Week ob
servance
“This needless toll of lives can
be stopped if farm workers are
encouraged to become safety-con
scious at all times,” he added.
TRACTOR ACCIDENTS during
the first six months of this total
ed 27, including three children
under four years of age who were
jolted or fell from moving ma
chines, according to statistics
compiled by Carson S. Mertz,
chief of farm and home safety
education in the State Depart
ment of Public Instruction. He
urged a rigid rule of “no riders”
Donald K. Steffy, all of Lititz.
Ralph M. Hostetter, and Daniel
L. Martin, Manheim; Janies M
Eshelman and Elmer S. Myers,
Mt Joy; Christ L. Stoltzfus, Nar
von; Christ G. Lapp, Oxford; Dan
iel M. Stoltzus, Parkesburg.
David S. Huber and Grant H.
Keiffer, Peach Bottom; M. Clair
DeLong, Martin K. Harmish Si ,
Allen R & Samuel H. Kreider,
Clair E. Kreider, Elhs D. Kreider,
Jeams G. Kreider, J. Everett &
Florence May Kreider, Mr. and
Mrs Richard B Lefever and Les
ter H. Ranck, all of Quarryville.
Parke H. Sc Emma V. Ranck,
Bonks; Ray P Bollinger and Earl
Smoker, Stevens; James A
Hess, Strasburg; Abram M. Bar
ley, Washington Boro; and A.
Wilmer Esbenshade and Melvin
G. Peifer, Willow Street.
ing the past week. This field of tomatoes
was damaged as strips failed to hold the
excess water (LF Photo)
Oil Sprayed
Eggs Hold
Quality Well
Many farmers now averaging
only 65 to 70 per cent grade A
eggs can easily boost this per
centage to 85 or more by spray
ing the eggs with an egg-process
ing oil, according to poultry
scientist Milo Swanson of the
University of Minnesota.
All the farmer needs to do,
Dr. Swanson says, is to place
the eggs small-end-down, in the
filler flats and spray them with
a hand-operated sprayer, or, if
preferred, the processing oil is
also available in pressurized con-
ou farm tractors. The other 13
fatalities ranged from dynamiting
to trampling by a herd of cows
Secretary Henning has arrang
ed for daily reports of any farm
fatalities during Farm Safety
Week through cooperation of
newspaper services and county
agricultural agents of the Penn
sylvania State University Agricul
tural Extension Service under
the direction of Dr. Herbert R.
Albrecht.
“We hape we don’t get a single
report from them,” Henning said.
Fog Nozzles Should Be
Close to Cooled Area
For effective fog cooling of
poultry shelter during hot wea
ther, the fogging nozzles should
be relatively close to and only
slightly above the zone to be
cooled, according to a recent
report from the Oklahoma agri
cultural experiment station.
Wind movement through the
fogged space, the report says,
should be controlled for maxi
mum cooling. When the fog is
applied directly to the chickens,
it can reduce feather tempera
tures as much as 10 degrees.
Warm W eather
Pushes Corn,
Pasture Crops
If you are real quiet as you
stand in the field, you can hear
the corn grow
Because nothing makes the
corn grow better than the hot
humid weather that has been
blanketing Southeastern Pennsyl
vania the past week
With both warm days and
warm nights, the 1958 corn crop
is off to a flying start and has
gained much of the ground lost
due to a late planting and some
stunting due to cool damp wea
ther that extended late into the
spring
The hot weather has also been
beneficial to the small gram har
vest Barley yields are in the 80
bushel range in most areas of
the county and wheat and oats
than average
THIS GROWING season has
been especially fawyable to oats
a crop that likes cooler grow
ing conditions than do most
other field crops
The tobacco situation is some
what spotty. Some farmers were
forced to delay planting until
the transplants were tall and
spindly Some of the early fields
now have four to six leaves and
appear to be in good condition.
Tomatoes are showing bloom
and the plants have thus far es
caped any serious attacks from
insects or disease. The Washing
ton Boro Tomato Growers Coop
erative this week began handling
the 1958 stake grown crop.
BOTH HAY AND pasture
crops aie keeping ahead of sched
ule this summer. Some of the
pasture clippings are yielding re
turns that would have been con
sidered a good hay crop by
many farmers last fall.
The second cutting of alfalfa
will start in the next week to
two weeks.
Grass silage this year is more
popular than ever before. Most
dairy farmers and many beef
feeders are keeping a full Silo
the year ’round, a lesson learned
last year when pastures dried
up and they were forced to feed
valuable hay early in the year.
tainers.
THIS SIMPLE and sanitary
spraying process, he points out,
costs less than a nickel for each
30-dozen case of eggs.
In recent tests, oil-sprayed
eggs were still Grade A after
10 days storage at 70 to 75 de
gree room temperature while
unsprayed eggs dropped to Grade
B after the same storage period.
ALTHOUGH DIPPING eggs in
011 is a common practice among
egg-processing plants, only re
recently Dr. Swanson says, has
such shell treatment been con
sidered for use on farms for
eggs being marketed for immed
iate consumption.
The simple spray process,
Dr. Swanson states, has made this
possible at the farm where the
treatment is much more effec
tive than when delayed until the
eggs reach the first or second
handler. Although there has not
yet been any indication of con
sumer complaints about oil
sprayed eggs, Dr. Swanson rec
ommends that any farmer think
ing of oiling his eggs should first
check with his local buyer.
$3 Per Year