B—Lancaster Farming, Saturday. Oct 19. 1974
Jane Alexander, Deputy Secretary of Agriculture •..
Ag’s Number 2 Man is a Lady
The Pennsylvania
Department of Agriculture is
involved in a lot of things
besides production
agriculture. The lady who’s
generally responsible for
overseeing these operations
is Deputy Secretary of
Agriculture Jane Alexander,
a York County attorney and
a former member of the
Pennsylvania House of
Representatives.
Mrs. Alexander - her
husband, P. Nelson, is also
an attorney and her legal
partner • heads up the
department’s seven regional
offices, the Bureau of Rural
Affairs, and the Bureau of
Weights and Measures. She
also handles relations with
other states in areas which
fall under the department’s
aegis.
Although her profession
made her more familiar with
courtrooms than cornfields,
COMPLETE
FARM
PAINTING
SPRAY-ON AND
BRUSH-IN METHODS
For FREE
Estimates Write
DANIEL S. ESN
(C. RALPH MILLER)
BOX 351, RDI,
RONKS.PA. 17572
FEATURING:
+ 1974 Buck Grand Championship Pull Off
4- 18 Free Toy Pulling Tractors to be Given Away
+ See Modified Tractors on Display and
+ Register for Free Tickets at Central Tractor Parts Co., 1590 Manheim
Pike.
TONIGHT OCT. 19 - TRACTOR PULL
ECIAL FEATURE 9 CLASSES - DOUBLE SHOW
S BUCK TRACTOR PULLS LOCATED ON RT. 272
jwwww
Mrs. Alexander says she was
no stranger to agriculture
when she Joined the
department in 1971 as
director of the Bureau of
Foods and Chemistry.
During a recent interview in
her Harrisburg office, Mrs.
Alexander told Lancaster
Fanning, “As a lawyer, I
had represented just about
every kind of group that was
involved with the bureau. I
worked with feed and fer
tilizer companies, orchards,
millers, broiler growers,
feed dealers. I worked with
mushroom growers and the
grape industry. To represent
clients like that, I had to
leam a lot of basic facts
about the way they operate.
That exposure to agriculture
has been invaluable to me
here at the department.”
With the regional offices -
she calls them mini
departments of ’agriculture -
Mrs. Alexander is respon
sible for seeing that all
programs begun in
Harrisburg are implemented
throughout the state. ,
Each regional office has
one rural and one consumer
coordinator; The rural
coordinators work with local
governments to identify
needs and problems and
potential areas for im
provement. “An example of
that kind of work,” Mrs.
Alexander said, “was a pilot
project we conducted this
past summer in Indiana
County. We worked through
STARTING AT 6:00 P.M
FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
' '.L OFFICE 569-3296; TRACK 284-2139
10 MILES SOUTH OF LANCASTI
the welfare department to
provide seeds and young
plants to welfare recipients
so they could grow some of
their own food. We feel the
program was successful, and
we plan to expand it to other
counties next year.”
The consumer coor
dinators in the regional
offices work with such
groups as senior citizens and
high schoolers. Educational
programs are designed to
teach these groups basic
nutrition planning and
money-saving food shopping
methods.
The Bureau of Rural Af
fairs, also in Mrs. Alexan
der’s baliwick, is the focal
point of much Of the cri
ticism leveled by farmers at
their department. This is
where the rural tran
sportation and housing
programs began. Mrs.
Alexander defends the work
of that bureau by saying,
“You must remember that
Pennsylvania has the largest
rural population of any state
in the country. And the
disadvantaged - especially
the aged - are a significant
portion of our rural
population.
“These are proud and
independent people, though,
and their philosophy is that
they’d rather take care of
themselves. Our goal is to
help them do that. We’re
working with transportation
problems in 23 counties,
(Continued on Page 9]
Jane Alexander, a York County department during *a recent Lan
attorney who is Pennsylvania’s caster Farming interview in her
Deputy Secretary of Agriculture, Harrisburg office,
discussed her role within the
The Proven
Performers!
aS* CLARK ELECTRIC,
•W -INC.
RD. 1, Box 82 Kinzer, Pa. 17535
f DIPLOMAT -
/ I Proven on thousands of dairy farms
the world over.
200 to 1500 gallon sizes
FULLY FLOODED GIRTON COLD PLATE
STEEL CONSTRUCTION
IRE FREON 12, THE SAFE REFRIGERANT
[FOAMED IN PLACE) INSULATION
AMBASSADOR -
\ -The ultimate tank for the
large, quality conscious
dairy farmer 500 to 300 C
gallon sizes
Lk,
PH: 768-8228