Vol. 19 No. 39
Tobacco harvest came about as
early as it ever did this year for
Ammon Shelly, Lititz RD2. Usual first
harvest date for. Pennsylvania Type
Conservation Field Day
Draws Good Turnout
“The best crowds we’ve
ever had,” was the' way
Everett Kreider described
attendance at this year’s
Lancasteer County Soil
Conservation Field Day and
Plowing Contest which was
held Tuesday. Kreider, a
director of the Lancaster
County Conservation
District, is this Perennial
field day chairman. At least
150 people came to Harold
Hough’s farm at Peach
Bottom R 1 to' watch and
participate in the contour
and level land plowing
contests, and an FFA soil
judging contest, topped off
by a scramble after a
Raising market lambs is one of the
many livestock projects that the
Strauss boys have. Each is shown
41 tobacco is about August 10, but
Shelly said his crop was ready a good
week earlier. Shelly also said this is
one of the best crops he’s ever seen.
greased pig arranged for
children 13 and under, and a
rooster chase for children
eight and under.
Harvey Sauder, New
Holland Rl, won the contour
plowing contest for the third
year in a row, which means
he retires the traveling
trophy presented each year
to the winner of that event.
Frank Burkhart, 1030 Silver
Spring Road, Lancaster,
took the level land honors,
repeating county wins in 1971
and 1972.
Both Sauder and Burkhart
are elegible for berths in the
state plowing contest set for
August 28 in Bloomsburg
Lancaster Panning Photo
with one of the three breeds they
keep on the farm.
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, August 10,1974
£ancaater Panning Photo
during Ag Progress Days.
Lancaster County will also
be represented in the state
{Continued On Pace 16]
York DHIA
This week marks the
first appearance of the
York County DHIA
results in the pages of
Lancaster Farming. The
figures will be run every
month. Now appearing in
this newspaper are DHIA
figures from Lancaster,
Lebanon, Chester, Berks
and York Counties.
Barring Weather Damage . . .
ExceDent Tobacco
Harvest Predicted
Ammon Shelly was
spearing tobacco this year
about as early as he’s ever
done it, and as-far as we
could tell, he was the first
farmer in Lancaster County
to start filling his tobacco
shed.
“I got my plants in by May
26,” Shelly told Lancaster
Farming, “where usually I
don’t get them in much
before Decoration Day.”
Shelly expects this year’s
crop to be among the best
he’s ever had. He grows
about 5 acres on his Lititz R 2
farm.
“Everything just seemed
to go right this year,” he
said. “We got rain at the
right time, and we had dry
weather at the right time.
Some of my plants were
for 23 days when I
started cutting, and they -
look very good.”
Associate Lancaster
County Agent Arnold Lueck
said he’s seen some very
good fields of tobacco
throughout the county, and
ispredicting an excellent
crop if no major weather
catastrophes occur between
now and the end of August.
Lueck said that August 10
is the usual early harvest
date for tobacco in the
county. Nearly all of the crop
is generally harvested
between August 25 and
September 20, with some
years seeing tobacco still
coming in until the first of
October.
Another grower, A. K.
Mann, said he expects to
start harvesting some of his
25 acres by early next week.
Strauss Brothers
Teamwork Really Counts
by: Melissa Piper
For the three sons of Mr.
and Mrs. Robert Strauss,
RDI, Ephrata, teamwork is
what really counts.
Robert, 18, Richard, 15,
and Steve, 14, have been
working together on several
FFA projects over the past
few months. Their projects
have included corn, market
hogs, market lambs and
vegetable gardens.
Richard and Steve com
bined their labor recent# in
building a new animal barn
which will be used for lambs
and market hogs. The
building which involves
some intricate work has
been nearly finished to
perfection and for young
men in their teens such
perfection is commendable.
Mann said his father, George
Mann, was very close to
harvesting some of the 80
acres he grows on three
farms near Manor, and all of
it is looking very good.
When we talked to John
Yocum on Friday morning,
he said, “We plan to top
some of our tobacco today,
so we’ll be harvesting it in
another two or three weeks.
Our crop looks very good so
far, and so do the other crops
I’ve seen.”
Yocum is director of Penn
State’s Field Research
Laboratory near Landisville.
Dairy Princesses Named
In Berks, Dauphin Co.’s
Last weekend, both Berks
and Dauphin Counties saw
the crowning of new dairy
princesses. Debra L. Miller,
17-year-old daughter of Mr.
and Mrs. Paul E. Miller of
Linglestown R 4, was named
Dauphin County Dairy
Princess on Friday night at
the Middletown Community
Building.
The following evening saw
Susan Seidel crowned Berks
County princess at the
Kutztown fair grounds.
Miss Miller is a graduate
of Central Dauphin High
School, and is a member of
the Singing Millers, a well
known family singing group.
Dauphin County runnerup
was Marjie Kay Hoffer, 18,
daughter of Mr. and Mrs.
Aaron W. Hoffer, Mid
dletown Rl. Miss Hoffer is a
Another team effort in
volving Robert and Richard
paid off last week when their
market hogs captured the
Reserve Champion honors at
the FFA Hog Show and Sale.
The brothers have also
combined their efforts and
won numerous prizes for
their animals and vegetables
at the area fairs. They have
shown the grand champion
market lamb at the Ephrata
Fair and have placed third in
the carcass lamb division.
Along with many blue rib
bons for their vegetables.
Last year at the Pa. State
Farm Show the boys had the
Grand Champion Medium
FFA hog and placed second
in the light-heavy hog
division.
Although the boys believe
I Continued On Page 9]
$2.00 Per Year.
He noted that some of the
earliest varieties might not
yield to high because of a dry
spring, but that the later
crop should do exceptionally
well. “Pennbel is going to be
very big,” he said.
Arthur Reist, 1050 Eden
Rd., Lancaster, said their
crop isn’t ready to cuf fet,
but they’ve got no com
plaints at all about their
tobacco this year. He said
they have about eight acres
of tobacco and, barring hail
and damaging wind and
rains, they should have one
of their best crops ever.
Middletown Area High
School graduate now at
tending Harrisburg Area
Community College, where
she is majoring in the library
technology program.
The winner was crowned
by Balene Harbold, 1973
Lancaster County Dairy
Princess. Judges for the
event were Mrs.SaUy Bair,
wife of Lancaster County
associate agent N. Alan Bair
and herself a former Adams
County dairy princess,
Robert Staz, owner and
manager of Brookwood
Dairies, and Willis Ritchie,
director of member, service
for Atlantic Breeders.
Gayle Carson, program
director for the Penn
sylvania Holstein
Association, was kept busy
performing as master of
ceremonies at both the
Friday and Saturday night
events.
In Kutztown, a throng of
people crowded into the
amphitheater of the Fair
Grounds to see Miss Seidel
accept her crown from
Phoebe Ruth, 1973 Berks
(Continued On Page 22]
In This Issue
FARM CALENDAR 10
Markets 2-4
Sale Register 48
Farmers Almanac 6
Classifieds Ads 25
Editorials 10
Homestead Notes 34
Home on the Range 37
Organic Living 41
York DHIA 12
Lane. Co. Farmers Assoc.
Policy Meet 21
PennfieldTour 20
Growing Degree Days 45
York 4-H Dress Revue 36
4-H Achievement Days 46
FPA Awards 6
Regional Dress Review 42
EAYF Stream Cleanup 23