—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, Jan. 17. 1976
20
Horse
rwy*
the
‘good
By DIETER KRIEG
AIRVIUJE - "Would you be
happy farming today, Mr. Posey 7 ”
“Oh my, yes'” the 83-ycar-old
retired farmer replied instantly.
“I'd love to be able to farm - I’d
have a garden if I was able ”
Now limited in his activities due
to age and diabetes, David Posey
was a hard-worlong farmer and
businessman in southern York
County until his retirement. But, as
is true of so many who “retire,” a
flame keeps on flickering In his
heart - illuminating memories of a
life style which has faded away,
and warming desires for a career
which is changing rapidly He
loved his work, says he, lived an
interesting and enjoyable life, and
appreciates his blessings.
Enthusiastic about modern
agriculture, and yet fond of “the
good old days,” Posey’s
recollections of farm life 50 years
ago are somewhat He
remembers following a horse
drawn, one-bottom plow from “sun
to sun” when he was only 10 years
old. “The plow would jump all
around and fall right out of my
hands sometimes,” he chuckled.
Farming was a way of life for his
family and he quickly became
accustomed to the work. “I’ve
always worked - never knew
anything else,” he said. “But we
weren’t too busy to visit each other
and have a good time. People were
happy. Now you never see your
neighbors. We used to get together
to play cards and eat apple pie,” he
reminisced. “We had good times”
he laughed, “people weren’t afraid
to work.”
Mechanization and
specialization have made fanning
easier, but they haven’t con
tributed to people having more
time for each other; or encouraged
members of a community to work
together more closely to pursue
common goals. These facts bother
the aging Posey a little, especially
since he can vividly remember
what life was like in the early
1900’s.
One of 12 children born to Jacob
Posey, a farmer, justice of the
peace, school teacher, and builder
all rolled into one, Posey and his
seven sisters and four brothers
helped on their father’s farm since
before their age was recorded in
two digits.
“My Dad’s monthly salary for
teaching school was $l5, and the
school term only lasted five
months,” Posey said, leaving no
further need to explain why his
father was into so many
professions.
The family of 14 tried to be as
self-sufficient as possible - with
every member of the household
contributing to the cause. Posey’s
sisters worked in the fields the
Farm & Home Center
Darvin Boyd
and buggy era remembered
old days’ are very real to York County s David Posey *
David Posey. 83, is convinced that belief in God and plenty of hard work are the keys
to success and happiness.
same as men, and much of what
was raised was primarily used at
home. One beef animal and 10 hogs
were killed each year to eliminate
the need to buy meat, while several
cows provided milk and butter.
The sale of wheat was the only
direct cash income from the farm.
Other crops raised on the 110-
acre (70 tillable) farm near the
west bank of the Susquehanna
River, overlooking Holtwood Dam,
were either fed to livestock or paid
to the landlord as part of the rent.
Ten horses and mules annually
consumed whatever hay was
harvested from 40 acres, as well as
“I’ve always worked never knew anything else
hut we weren’t too busy to visit each other and have a good time ”
about half the corn crop. “Each
one received about six or seven
ears per day and all the hay it
could eat,” Posey remembered. A
mixture of chaff and bran was also
a part or their diet.
Cows, on the other hand, never
received hay. Their main staple
was com fodder. None of the milk
was sold since the family was large
enough to use all of it themselves.
The girls did the milking, Posey
said.
A typical day during the “good
old days,” which are very real to
Posey, started at about 6 a jn. The
first order of business was to feed,
curry, and harness the teams
which were to be used in field work
after breakfast, which was at 7
o’clock. With a sparkle in his eye,
and a note of excitement in his
voice, the amiable Posey fondly
recollects the horse and buggy era.
“Two acres was a day’s plowing;
and I’d walk behind the plow all
LANCASTER - The annual
meeting of the Farm and
Home Foundation of Lan
caster County will be held
January 29, beginning at 6:30
p.m. in the auditorium of the
Farm and Home Center,
here. Advance reservations
are necessary and should be
made no later than Jan. 23.
This year’s guest speaker
is Damn E. Boyd, Akron,
associate legislative
research analyst for the
Minority Caucus of the
House of Representatives at
Harrisburg.
A former director of
Korea’s 4-H program, he will
be presenting his speech,
entitled “Challenge of
day,” he said, punctuating the
statement with a short, snappy
motion of his head. “And then,
when I’d take the team in for lunch,
I had to pump water for them by
hand.” He chuckled as he con
tinued: “They drank water to
make you think there was no end it
it!”
Seeding and harvesting methods
of 50 years ago are also remem
bered by the veteran farmer, who
in more recent years owned and
operated several hundred acres.
Most of the farming techniques of
half a century ago have been
abandoned, but not forgotten by
men like Posey. An example of a
practice which is seldom seen
today is cultivating com in a
checkered pattern. Going through
the field in perpendicular direc
tions resulted in better weed
control, according to Posey.
Cradling and shocking wheat
was a common practice during
Posey’s boyhood, and was still in
use in later years wherever a
farmer couldn’t maneuver in a
field without running the crops
down.
Hay making techniques changed
rapidly once the side-delivery rake
and loader came into being about
50 years ago, Posey observed.
Manure was hauled out on a wagon
for quite a few years even after the
mechanically operated spreader
had been invented because “$lOO
for a spreader was a lot of money
during those days.” Seed com was
obtained from fields at home,
rather than purchased as it’s done
Commitment at Home and
Abroad,” from a background
of personal commitment and
experience.
As a youth, Boyd was one
of Lancaster County’s most
outstanding 4-H members,
with many state and local
awards to his credit. He is a
1964 graduate of Delaware
Valley College of Science
and Agriculture, with a BS in
animal husbandry, and in
1966 earned a master of
public administration degree
from Penn State. In 1964 he
went to Korea under the
IF YE program.
As director of the
American Korean Foun
dation’s 4-H program from
nowadays. Wheat sold for about 60
cents a bushel and to have a horse
shod cost the farmer a dollar.
Mamed to the former Clara
Taylor in 1916, Posey moved to a
farm at Woodbine three years later
and concentrated on making a
living as a farmer. With a wife and
eight children to support, making a
living off the farm sometimes
became a real chore in more ways
than one.
“You couldn’t make a nickle in
farming during the Great
Depression,” Posey grimaced,
adding that be went to work in a
furniture factory for four years. In
addition to his work at the farm, he
also kept himself busy with
community projects helping to
build roads, a school, a church, and
cut poles for power lines. He noted
that his community received
electric service during the mid
-1920’5.
It was 1925 before Posey pur
chased his first tractor, an F-12
made by International Harvester.
“It was a good little tractor,” he
commented, showing no regret
over the fact that hoof power was
being replaced by piston power.
“The tractor would plow five acres
a day, and we didn’t have to get a
team ready or put it away - no
currying, feeding and harnessing -
we could go to town then,” he said
happily. Gasoline was priced at 10
cents per gallon.
Although his formal education
came to a halt when he reached
age 10, Posey says he’s never
stopped learning and displays a
keen interest in the world around
slates annual
1966 to 1972, Boyd was
honored many times by the
Korean government.
After returning to Lan
caster County in 1972, Boyd
became executive director of
the Pennsylvania House of
Representatives committee
on health and welfare. His
work in Harrisburg con
tinues as the associate
legislative research analyst
for the minority caucus of
the House.
Another feature of the
January 29 program will be a
showing of Colonial fashions
by Lancaster County Farm
Women Societies. Music will
be provided by Gloria
Longenecker, the reigning
Miss Lancaster County.
There will also be reports
from Foundation president
Jay Landis, treasurer
George Lewis and building
manager Howard Campbell.
The brief business meeting
at the end of the program
will include the election of
seven new directors.
Since it opened in the
spring of 1968, nearly half-a
million people have attended
a broad variety of functions
at the Farm and Home
Center. In addition to the
Center itself, the Farm and
Home Foundation operates a
scholarship fund to assist
college bound Lancaster
County youths who are
him, particularly agriculture
Aside from him being active m
fanning and community projects,
he also sold silos for a number of
years and was knowledgeable
enough about surveying to have
made a career of it.
The work he did wasn’t easy, but
Posey says he never minded it "I
liked the work and liked to labor -1
wish I could work yet. I hate to sit
around with my hands folded, ” he
said emphatically. With long
hours, and many manual chores,
one would tend to think that there
was little time for recreation But
according to Posey, people got
together more often then than they
do now, and there was time for fun
and games
Sunday was the “big day” for
leisure, but not until after church'll
“We’d walk on rail fences to see
how far we could go without falling
off, swing in trees, fight bum
blebees, wrestle, and play
baseball,” he remarked.
A man with strong religious
convictions, Posey is as aware and
appreciative of his blessings as the
earlier generations of Poseys who
first settled in Maryland in the 17th
century. According to family
records, the first of the Poseys to
settle in America was Francois
Poschet. Leaving his native
France because of religious per
secution, he came to these shores
in 1637 by way of England, where
his name was changed to Francis
Posey. He is proud of his heritage
and points out that some of his
ancestors are mentioned in George
Washington’s personal diary
(March 17, 1760). His great-great
grandmother, Rachel Posey, made-'A
bread and knit socks for soldiers at *
Valley Forge.
When asked what he believes is
most important in life, and what
advice he might have for younger
people, Posey unhesitatingly
answered: “The church comes
first, and everything that goes with
the church." Beyond that, he
considers plenty of hard work to be
the key towards success and
happiness. Looking back on his
own “ups and downs,” he says he
can’t understand why people
complain so much toady and asks:
“Why can’t they appreciate what
has been provided? Give credit
where it belongs - to the Lord.”
Modem fanning has as much
appeal to him as the “good old
days," and he’s confident that new
innovations and trends are heading
in the right direction. There’s no
doubt in his mind, for example,
that specialization is for the better.
If there’s one thing about the
horse and buggy days which he
really misses today, then it’s the
time people had for each other, and
the fact that they were never
afraid to work.
meeting
aiming at careers in home
.economics, agriculture or
nursing.
Tickets for the meeting are
available, at $4.50 each, from
Foundation directors, or
from Howard Campbell at
the Farm and Home Center.
Checks should be made
payable to the “Farm and
Home Foundation” and
mailed to; 1383 Arcadia
Road, Lancaster, Pa. 17601.
Halfway out from the cen
ter of our galaxy—the Milky
Way—is our solar system
Nine planets revolve around
the sun Our solar system
may be only one of millions
in the universe