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
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* »
17