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* ■-» **• ' 'I PENNSYLVANIA STATE (JNIVERSiry I J
Vol. 20 No. 25
Dana Irving, an Oxford potato
grower and horse breeder, doesn't
often have the time to lean on the
fences of his 600-acre Chester
County farm. In addition to 120 acres
Potatoes and Horses
From Maine to Pa.
One of Pennsylvania’s
busiest farmers lives in
Chester County, with 250
horses and 120 acres of
potatoes The morning we
visited Dana frying at his
Oxford R 3 farm, we bumped
around with him in a pickup
truck while he talked to
helpers, and checked on the
construction of a diversion
ditch around his half-mile
race track. We somehow
managed to cram a two-hour
interview into a much
smaller time slot in Irving’s
packed schedule.
Franz Appointed Agent
Mrs. William (Linda)
Franz has been appointed as
Youth Agent in the Lan
caster County Extension
Service Office. Mrs. Franz is
working as an assistant
under the Manpower
Program for the coming six
months and will be coor
dinating the 4-H programs in
Lancaster County.
Along with working with 4-
H Youth, Mrs. Franz will be
helping to train adult 4-H
leaders and officers of the
Linda Franz
of potatoes, Irving farms 100 acres of
hay and 150 acres of small grains
which he uses to feed the 250 horses
boarding on the farm.
Irving has been involved
with both potatoes and
horses for the past 30 years.
He began farming in Maine,
where potatoes are the
leading cash crop. And,
when he wasn’t growing
potatoes, Irving was
sitting on a sulky, urging one
of his trotters towards a
finish line.
One of his favorite race
tracks was Brandywine just
outside Philadelphia.
Finally, some 16 years ago,
Irving moved to Chester
County. “We wanted to get
county clubs.
Before entering the
assistant program, Mrs.
Franz worked with youth
projects in the Community
Action program and under
the Neighborhood Youth
Corps which employ youth in
summer volunteer
programs.
Mrs. Franz graduated
from Buffalo State College
with a degree in Secondary
Education and Social
Studies. She enjoys gar
dening and raising indoor
plants as a hobby. The youth
agent resides with her
husband at 26 S. Ann St.,
Lancaster.
Also to be assisting the
Extension staff with 4-H
activities this summer will
be Debra Gregory, Lititz R 2.
Miss Gregory will be acting
as a 4-H Summer Assistant
helping to coordinate the 4-H
program and activities.
Both Mrs. Franz and Miss
Gregory will be working with
Extension personnel. Max
Smith, Doris Thomas, Alan
Bair, Jay Irwin and Anne
Hinkle.
Serving The Central and Southeastern Pennsylvania Areas
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, May 3, 1975
our potatoes closer to
market,” he said, “and I was
convinced we could grow a
lot of potatoes here. It is the
garden spot of the world, you
know.”
Some local farmers told
Irving that he wasn’t going
to be able to grow potatoes
here. His first year on the
farm, though, the Maine
transplant harvested close to
600 bushels per acre from his
(Continued on Page 12]
Donald Bollinger, Myerstown R 2, is a youhg farmer
who is now serving his community as an adult 4-H
leader for the Fort Zellers 4-H Community Club.
Like Apples and Oranges . . .
Comparing Pa. and
Md. Tobacco Prices
by Dick Wanner
Farmers everywhere are
at the mercy of the
marketplace, and tobacco
growers are no exception.
Pennsylvania and Maryland
tobacco producers market
their output in markedly
different ways. Lancaster
County growers sell their
tobacco right out of the shed,
while in Maryland, farmers
take their tobacco to one of
eight central auctions.
Four of the Maryland
auctions are in or near
Upper Marboro, which is a
few miles outside
Washington. Most of the
tobacco that does through
these auctions is Maryland
Type 609. This type, in fact.
In This Issue
r4rm CALENDAR 10
Markets 2-6
Sale Register 64
Fanners Almanac 8
Classified Ads 29
Editorials 10
Homestead Notes 38
Home on the Range 44
Organic Living 49
Junior Cooking Edition 47
Sale Reports 71
Farm Women Calendar 41
Berks DHIA 56
Farm Women Rally 48
Com Growers 64
accounts for about half of
Maryland’s 30 million pound
annual crop. The day this
reporter visited the auctions,
the good Maryland tobacco
was selling for 85-cents to
$l.lO per pound, a price
which disappointed most of
the growers who were
standing on the auction
floors.
Until recently, there was
little similarity between the
Pennsylvania and Maryland
crops. Nearly all the Penn
sylvania crop has
traditionally gone into cigars
or chewing tobacco.
Maryland’s crop is nearly all
destined for the cigarette
markets and some 25 percent
of the crop is exported to
Swiss tobacco merchants.
But about three years ago,
a few Lancaster County
farmers began growing
Maryland Type 609 tobacco.
Their reason for doing so
was its resistance to black
shank disease, a problem
that had been plaguing
farmers particularly in the
eastern part of the county.
Last fall, this writer watched
three tractor trailer loads of
609 tobacco pull away from a
gathering point near
Hinkletown. The buyer, a
partner in a Hughesville,
Md., tobacco auction, had
Donald Bollinger
Young Lebanon Farmer
Serves As 4-H Leader
by: Melissa Piper
After spending nearly
eight years as a 4-H mem
ber, Donald Bollinger, a
young Lebanon County
farmer has found himself in
a new role, that of being an
adult leader for the Fort
Zellers Community 4-H Club.
The young man certainly
has quite a successful
background to aid him as he
was an active 4-Her both in
Lancaster and Lebanon
Counties.
Donald, who is the son of
Mr. and Mrs. Paul Bollinger,
Myerstown R 2, began his 4-H
work in Lancaster County as
his parents then lived in the
Middle Creek Area near
Ephrata.
A member of the Lincoln
Community 4-H Club and the
Red Rose Baby Beef and
Lamb Club, Donald became
well known for his out
standing work with
livestock.
During his years in 4-H
Donald had numerous Grand
Champion hogs at the County
$3.00 Per Year
paid from 70- to 75-cents a
pound for the tobacco.
The price was a notch
above the 60-cents or so paid
to growers here of
traditional Pennsylvania
types. The growers’ net
income, though, was about
the same with 609 because
the leaves tend to be light
than Pennsylvania tobacco.
But, 70-cents a pound
doesn’t come close to the top
price of $l.lO that we saw on
the Maryland auctions.
One’s first reaction would be
to think that Pennsylvania
growers should hold their
tobacco and take it to the
Maryland auctions to sell it.
After looking into the matter
though, we came away with
the impression that holding
onto the crop might not be an
automatic path to a higher
income for the producer.
Tobacco on Maryland
auctions is very dry, very
brittle, very light in weight,
and it’s tied in bunches
called hands, The leaves are
separated according to
color.
The 609 tobacco that left
Pennsylvania was more
moist, the leaves were
thicker-bodied, and all the
leaves are baled together. A
pound-to-pound price
[Continued on Page 17]
4-H Roundup and for three
straight years took
showmanship honors.
The young Lebanon
County farmer, also showed
many award winning steers
both at the Ephrata Fair and
the 4-H Round-ups.
In 1970 the Bollinger’s
were forced to move as the
Middle Creek Project took
their farm. The family
relocated in Lebanon County
north of Schaeferstown and
Donald finished his 4-H
activities for the last three
years as a member of the
Fort Zellers Community 4-H
Club and the Lebanon
County Livestock Club.
Donald has been vice
president of the Lebanon
Livestock Club for two years
and also gave his time as a
teen leader. His outstanding
work with the club helped
him to become a member of
the livestock judging team
and during 4-H activities
Days become the out
standing judge in the state.
IGonKmod on Pit* 21)