V01.17N0.25
Farm Calendar
I ' Saturday, May 13
* 10 a.m. - Penn-Mar Shropshire
| Breeders Club Spring
meeting, Menhennet Farm,
' Cochranville.
Sunday, May 14
Mother’s Day
Tuesday, May 16
8 p.m - Ephrata Young Farmers
monthly meeting, “Incentives
for Sons and Hired Help,”
vocational agriculture
department, Ephrata Area
High School
County Grange visitation
meetings, Coleram Grange,
host, Quarryville Fire Hall.
Thursday, May 18
Ipm.- FFA Land Judging
Contest, Manheim Central
High School
4-H Calendar
Monday, May 15
7:30 p.m. - New Holland 4-H
Baby Beef Club meeting,
home of Sue and William
Hughes.
8 p.m. -- 4-H County Council
reorganizational meeting,
Farm and Home Center.
Tuesday, May 16
7:30 p.m. - Garden Spot Com
- munity 4-H Club meeting,
Room 114, Conestoga Valley
High School.
Wednesday, May 17
7:45 p.m. - 4-H Horse Judging
meeting, Farm and Home
Center.
Thursday, May 18
6:45 p.m. - Elizabethtown Pig
and Rabbit 4-H Club meeting,
home of Dan Baum,
Elizabethtown.
Saturday, May 20
9:30 a.m. - 3 p.m. - County
Council car wash, Wolf
Motors, 1485 Manheim Pike,
Lancaster.
These long stretches of tobacco muslin
Thursday revealed the push of young
plants underneath, but also showed that
the tender tobacco plants have a long way
to go before they can be planted on
Periodicals Division
W 209 Pattee Lihrfi&SL S
John F. Cope
Finding a Way to Process Food Better
The more hands involved in handling asparagus, the
higher the cost. Yet, it is this rapid handling that assures the
consumer of a fresh, tender product.
John Cope looks over the stock in his freezer at the East
Petersburg processing plant. Once asparagus is frozen it is
kept here at zero degrees until ready for shipping.
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, May 13,1972
Memorial Day, or soon thereafter. The corn
planting is going very slow due to wet
conditions under the topsoil. However,
reports are good that much corn should
start going in today.
How many times have you gone
to your local supermarket, saw
fresh, green asparagus and then
decided not bo buy it because of
the price 7 “Asparagus is costly
because of the way it must be
processed There are a great
many hands involved to get that
asparagus from the field onto
your table ”
So says John Cope, owner of
John F Cope, Inc , Manheim,
RD 1 And he ought to know,
because he has been growing,
processing and selling asparagus
since 1948
Now Cope’s Corn is widely
known throughout this area But
so is Cope’s Asparagus and since
this is the time of the year for the
processing of the tender, green
stalks, Lancaster Farming
visited the John F Cope
processing plant near East
Petersburg
“I first began to grow and
process asparagus in 1948 I
didn’t even like the stuff at the
time but 1 was m New Jersey and
watched some men cutting
asparagus in a field By the time
the asparagus was cut until it was
finally moved onto a truck it had
been setting around for almost a
whole day I thought that a better
method could be found to handle
it so I came back home and began
to raise some myself,” recalls
Cope
That small beginning has
mushroomed into an estimate
that this year Cope’s will process
over 80,000 pounds of asparagus
lif This Issue
Classified Ads 35 thru 39
Editorial Page 10
Market Section 2,3,4
Sales Register 28-29
Thoughts in Passing 8
Women’s Section 24 thru 27
Farm and Home
Foundation Awards
Ten Scholarships
Ten Lancaster County High
School seniors each received $4OO
agriculture and home economics
scholarships this week The
scholarships were announced at a
meeting of the Farm and Home
and Home Foundation Tuesday
night to the following-
Cynthia Lou Binkley, daughter
of Mr and Mrs Richard B.
Binkley, 16 South Fulton Street,
Strasburg, Lampeter-Strasburg
High School, who plans to attend
Mansfield State College
Douglas Brenner, son of Mr.
and Mrs. Melvin Brenner,
Conestoga RD2, Penn Manor
High School, who will attend
Penn State University.
Mary Lou Brodhecker,
daughter of Mr. and Mrs. K.
Walter Brodhecker, 1702 Zarker
Road, Lancaster, from Manheim
Township High School, who plans
to attend Messiah College.
Cynthia Ann Darkes, daughter
of Mr. and Mrs. Lester H.
$2.00 Per Year
“And we could handle more 1
was thinking about planting some
more acreage this year but I am
getting a little older now and I’m
not sure that I want to expand the
business any further,” said Cope
It takes from three to five years
to get into the production end of
the asparagus business It takes
at least three years for the
crowns and roots to mature and
then another year or two for the
stalk to grow to harvest size
Once the crop is cut it is
brought quickly to the processing
plant “We once had a saying,”
Cope said, “The sun never rises
on Cope’s asparagus on harvest
day That is, we would have the
asparagus cut before the sun
came up and into the processing
plant as early as possible Now
that we have grown larger we
can’t make that claim any more
But we make every effort to get
the asparagus into the plant as
quickly as possible It can’t be
left to sit around ”
The key lo good asparagus is
fast processing Once it arrives at
the processing plant it is
unloaded onto a conveyor belt
which takes the asparagus
through a wash cycle Then it is
taken inside for sorting and
sizing There are about twenty
five or so employees at the Cope
processing plant They receive
the asparagus and then prepare it
for either fresh packing or
freezing
“We were one of the first
companies to use polyethylene
bags in packaging our fresh
asparagus,” notes Cope proudly
The asparagus, before it is
packaged, is sized and only the
larger spears go to the consumer
The tips and cuts are generally
used in the frozen food end of the
business
(Continued On Page .‘54)
Darkes, 572 East Willow Street,
Elizabethtown, Elizabethtown
Area High School, who will attend
Harding College
Gary Dean, son of Mr and Mrs
William Dean Jr, Strasburg RDI,
Lampeter-Strasburg High
School, who will attend Penn
State University
Clyde Erb, son of Mr and Mrs
Daniel S Erb, Columbia RD2,
Penn Manor High School, who
will attend Penn State Univer
sity
Carol Harting, daughter of
Mrs Helen Harting, 606 South
Fourth Street, Denver, Cocalico
High School, who plans to attend
Manfield State College.
Randolph Hickernell, son of
Mr. and Mrs. Richard J.
Hickernell, Landisville, Hemp
field High School, who will attend
the University of Idaho.
Gail Ann Kutz, daughter of Mr.
and Mrs. Paul G Kutz, 842 N.
(Continued On Page 34)