Penn Dairies Executive Raises Question
Are Milk Prices Too High?
The dairy indusliy m.iv be on
the verge of pricing itself out of
business in the Northeast, A J.
Nixon, vice president of Penn
Dairies, indicated iccently at the
annual Lancaster County Dairy
Day at the Faim and Home Cen
ter.
Nixon cited increasing milk
prices along with growing and
costly milk surpluses as indica
tions that the Northeastern milk
price is out of line with demand.
Nixon also said the rate of
milk consumption is being hurt
by the high pi ices
Based on statistics involving
the percentage of money the
consumer spends for food, the
consumer might be able to afford
higher milk puces, Nixon con-
Mrs. Lefever Makes Candy Fun
By Mrs Charles McSparran
Lancaster Farming Staff Writer
As we appioach Holy Week, many folks will
be making plans to attend chuich services most of
next week Many people have been refraining fiom
eating certain foods, particulaily red meats and
sweets dining Lent.
With Eastei comes vanous symbols of new life
such as the cioss, the egg, the chick, new spang
clothes and flowenng spring bulbs
Next week will find a lot of women and child
ren busy boiling, coloring and decoiating eggs for
Easter Sundav For some, it will be a time of mak
ing candy, Easter eggs and peihaps other kinds of
candies.
Mrs Richard B Lefever, who lives west of the
Buck along Route 372, is busy making Easter eggs
and~ showing others how to make not only eggs
but also other kinds of candy
She says, “I’m not professional, I just like to
do it for fun ” She may not be professional but
she smely can turn out some delicious candy
- Some people like to keep seciet their methods
of success with certain foods they prepaie but it
isn’t so with Mis Lefever, bettei known to hei
friends as Mauan
Last week she put on a demonstration for a
group of Faim Women and the week befoie had a
gioup of about 20 young couples and their childien
come to her home and learn to make several kinds
of candy by doing it themselves
It really is a lot of fun, yes, clean fun l She has
probably put on a dozen demonstiations
•She staited making candy as a gul when her
mothei, some othei lelatives and fi lends would
get logethei befoie Eastei and befoie Christmas
lor a day of candy making This has become hei
number one hobby
She doesn t sell any, but ail the family is veiy
fond of candy and she loves to give it to friends
She says “I enjoy this hobby because candy is al
ways something no one lefuses ”
Theie was a time when she did sell some, per
haps 15 yens go, but theie was so much demand
that she couldn’t keep up with it
Now for a few tips on candy making You’ll
need a good candy theimometei On diffeient
thermometeis theie might be a slight variation in
temperatures, unfoitunately So if youi candv gets
cooked too much or not enough, you might have
to test the theimometei 01 adjust youi finishing
temperatuie slightly
Mrs Lefevei says candy should not he put in
the refngeiator to cool as it absoibs too much
moistuie If you me going to coat the candy with
chocolate, it’s best to have,a cool 100 m in which to
store the candy until time to coat it
Coating is anothei exacting pioceduie Foi this
buy coating chocolate Mis Lefevei buys fitly
pounds at a time in ten pound blocks Most of the
local cnocolate lactones in oui county make it
There is consideiable diffeience in manufactuieis’
products
Most people make the mistake of melting it
at too high a tempeiatuie Neiei melt it ovei a
direct fiame It can be melted in a double boilei,
with just wann watei in the bottom pan, not boil
ing watei Chocolate will stieak if it gets too hot
The melted chocolate can be pomed into a
bowl into which the pieces of candy aie dipped On
a fork Mis Lefever uses a three pronged foik and
guides the candy with a tooth pick onto the wax
papei coveied cookie sheets
This chocolate should not be limning, but just
melted enough to coat the pieces easily It will
get drv in a few minutes unless the 100 m tempei
attire is real waim
You can decoiate Easter eggs with a cake de-
ceded, but slated, ‘‘We do not
believe that what consumeis can
afford to pay for milk necessauly
means that is what they will be
willing to pay.”
Northeast Prices Up
He said, “I’ll not undeitake to
say that the Class I prices in the
Northeast are too high By com
parative standaids, howevei,
they have inci eased much moie
than in the rest of the country
“However, since last summer
we have experienced in the
Northeast an exceptionally heavy
deluge of milk. I’m told that pro
duction conditions weie exceed
ingly favorable weather, crops
and, not in the least, a recoid
price
"While production has zoomed.
the increased prices foi Class 1
(milk) have had a deleiiorating
effect on fluid milk consumption
This has created moie surplus
“In fact, there has been a tie
mendous giowth in surplus in
the Philadelphia. Baltimore and
Washington market between
1968 and 1969. the volume of
surplus under these three oiders
increased from 1 2 bilUc-.i pounds
to 146 billion pounds, an m
ciease of 249 billion pounds oi
20 6 pei cent ”
Surplus Cuts Profits
This additional surplus of a
quaiter of a billion pounds in
one /ear has resulted "in veiy
seveiely depressed (piofit) mai
gins to processing handlers ” He
A candy-making party m process at the
Lefever home. After boiling and cooling the
corator using an icing made fiom confectioneis
10-X sugai
Marian is the daughtei of Mi and Mrs Fiank
Nolt of Landisville She was bom on a farm and
says she always liked the faim, especially the
animals
The family moved to Landisville in 1930 and
hei fathei woiked in the flom mill and latei woik
ed in the lumbei mill of J C Snavelv After thud
giade she went to the Landisville school and giad
uated fiom E Hempfield High School
She woiked in the Payroll Depaitment of Aim
stiong foik Co, Lancastei in 1941-42. then went to
Temple Umveisity two veais and woiked full time
in a bank at the same time
She got polio in 1944 and had to quit college
This left hei with a cnppled leg
Latei she giaduated fiom Milleisville State
College and taught at Lampetei-Stiasburg Senioi
and Junioi High School The past three veais she
has been a substitute Math teacher in the Solanco
Si and Ji High Schools Occasionally she teaches
Spanish oi English
She man led Richaid Lefe\ei and thev fanned
foi Dr John Atlee Ji m Manoi Township foi a
few yeais
They bought a 144 acie farm near the Buck,
partly in Diumoie and paitlv in Pi evidence Town
ship, 18 yeais ago They keep 35 cows and 10 oi
12 heileis, and laise hav and coin puncipally, but
also some small giain ciops
They built a new house a few \eais ago which
Mis Lefevei designed heiself Being somewhat
handicapped with a leg biace, she planned the
house to eliminate many tups up and dowm the
staus
It has a dumb-waitei fiom the kitchen to the
said surplus handling is .1 "loss and 71 pci tent ou i two >eai
operation whether conducted b\ apo
a pi oprielary or a cooperative " "No one should ceitainl> ci
He also noted that butter pto wolf as to the level of Class
duction in the Northeast is up prices I do want to suggest si;
about 30 per cent ovei a >car ago (Continued on Page IB)
Lancaster Farming. Saturday. March 21 .1970
|gQLeajste.^^&p.inmq
SECOND SECTION
taffy, Mrs Lefever passes it out to be pulled
Next comes the wrapping of taffy and
caramels.
basement which makes it moie convenient for her
to seive meal? in the basement, even though she
has a stoie, sink and cupboaids in one end of the
basement The basement has a fiieplace, sofas, a
lot of chans, seveial laige tables and a ping-pong
table all indicating the wmlcomc this family ex
tends to then filends and lelahves
The Lefeveis have thiee childien All of them
(Continued on Page 22)