t Witmers Are Well Known for Their Outstanding Guernseys By Mrs. Charles G. McSparran ' r Farm Feature Writer - Lancaster County can boast .not only some of the richest ifarm land in the state, but also some of the finest, well-kept farm buildings to house some of the very best dairy herds in the world A man and his wife who were born, and raised on a farm and have made a success of dairying are Raymond F and Louise A. Witmer. They live on a 125 acre farm they named Penn Del which is located along Route 222, just north of Refton. Raymond’s father, Clair H Witmer, came to this farm 73 years ago and developed a fine Guernsey herd Raymond was bom on this farm and lived there all his life His parents are now retired and live in Strasburg His brother Paul lives on a nearby farm and has a Guern sey herd. Another brother, J Rohier, has Guernseys but has stddetf a number of Brown Swiss to Ms herd This Is a fertile farm with the LitHo Beaver Creek flowing down through it and joining the Pequea Creek there on their farnd. Thus, dry seasons pose no real threat to their crops and meadows because they have an adequate irrigation system to was- born They lived there farm near Elkton, Md , which ed nearby. They then bought tide them over. three years They moved from had over 200 acres They had two other farms with a total of Wltmers - .are . well known there to a farm between Doyles- about 50 Guernsey cows therj over 600 acres of land, among Lancaster County dairy- town and' Perkasie in Pennsyl- and a total of about 100 head of Later they sold this and men, particularly among vania and lived there a couple cattle altogether They farmed bought a 710 acre farm near Guernsey breeders, because years At one time their home there about 12 years, until Glasgow, Del, bought the dairy down through the years they burned and they lost eveiy- World War II broke out and herd and everything. On this have set pome fine production thing their land was needed to store farm they had Guernseys and records for their herd and some In the thirties they bought a ammunition which was produc- Jerseys They left there in 1951 Dairy Recipes This Week; Cherries Asked June / 9 Our recipes column this week, our readers will be looking for cheese that can be sliced The in keeping with our dairy issue, some new and tasty ways to pre- request pieviously appeared in features recipes using dairy pare this early summer fruit our May 22 issue and was from products. Send your favorite cherry R G Kamoda, Monongahela, The recipes include puddings, recipe right away to the follow- Pa custards, ice cream and pies, mg address Lancaster Farming An answer from Miss Helen H We also received a reply to a Recipes, P 0 Box 266, Lititz, Pa Keller, 48 E Mam St, Lititz, in request previously made in this 17443 We are continuing to send eluding the following, “I have a column. potholders, marked with the Lan- recipe for something called Bud before we get into these caster Farming emblm, one per Sweet Curd I thought it might recipes, we want to make an ap- household limit, to everyone who be what they had reference peal for recipes for our June 19 sends a recipe. too ” The Sweet Curd recipe is issue. Our column at this time ' *■ * as follows will feature cherries Back to our dairy recipes, we Sweet Curd Cherry season is fast ap- received a reply to a request for 2 proaehing and we’re sure that a recipe on how to make cottage 1 More Cows, Faster Milking, Pooling Equipment, Changes, Care With Layout Pondbank Farm Expands, Changes to Remain Efficient This is the view of Pondbank Farm from the rear looking toward Beaver Valley Pike. At the left is the ' 1 w * tiviiifirii » t-. if'fc-ii '.M-uiritif I< 11 t*• 11 j ♦ «<tn - I li. \ I 1 1 excellent records for individual cows Raymond says, “Our job is to improve the breed, we’re trying to develop a better cow.” Louise and Raymond were married 20 years ago and took over the farm that year Louise has been a real partner in de veloping them fine Guernsey herd She feeds the calves and heifers and helps with milking and other barn work She names the animals, takes care of their registration, including drawing their markings on the registration papeis, and helps to keep the farm lecoids She has also taken prizes judging animals in the women’s contest at the Lancaster County Guern sey Breeders Field Day She attends the county, state and national events with hei hus band and helps to buy animals when they want to add another line of high pioducers Louise was a daughter of the late Peter and Elizabeth Zeit ler who retired and resided at Refton Them history is one of fortitude and zealous ambition After losing everything in World War I in Germany, Mr Zeitler came to America His wife joined him in this country a little later. He farmed largely cotton for one year in the state of Texas They moved to a farm near Ashland, Wis., where Louise v i . '•4 - ' , -fc. Mrs. Raymond F. Witmer shows “Naeflands Kelly” which they bought at Bob Neff’s dispersal sale near State Col lege, Pa. Her best 365 days records, when she was 7 years and 3 months was 16,483 pounds of milk and 862 pounds butterfat. quarts sweet milk pint buttermilk > 4 had a pipeline milker installed, new addition to the dairy barn and the farmstead is at enabling three persons to use six far right. (Continued on Page 25) Hilt t. t tn ! .11 ' ‘ , I t . o i t », c < , Lancaster Farming, Saturday, June 5,1971 — She was born August 1961 and is still in the herd doing very well. Witmers are using her son, “Penn Del Prince Charming,” i« their own herd and his daughters are starting in production. 3 eggs eggs, add to buttermilk and stir Heat milk until it boils Beat (Continued on Page 22) Second Section H < “a > '/ s •> N and retired at Refton. Louise helped her parents feed the calves and heifers and helped with the milking and barn work She took care of registering the cattle, as she still does. Uniting this Pennsylvania (Continued on Page 23) Local dairymen, according to most available figures, have an average herd size of about 40 milking animals The number is rising gradually But some dairy educators have been saying that during the 1970’s the number of dairy farms nationally will be cut in half and the number of animals on the remaining farms will rise sharply. One local dairyman who has already expanded his herd is John M Harnish He operates Pondbank Farm at 1036 Beaver Valley Pike south of Lancaster. The Harnish farm includes about 96 milking registered Hol steins He recently expanded his bain and is gradually working toward 120 milking cows With this many animals, speed and efficiency of operation be come extremely important. When he remodeled, Harnish \ * * » 17
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