—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, March It, 197*
120
Bair recounts Bahamian experience
By SALLY BAIR
Staff correspondent
LEBANON - With predic
tions of more snow ringing in
their frostbitten ears, 200
Lebanon jCountians were
able to relax and dream of
warmer temperatures
Tuesday night as they
listened to County Agent
Newton J. Bair relate his
experiences in the Bahama
Islands at the 61st annual
meeting of the Lebanon
County Extension Service.
In other business at the
meeting held at the Mt. Zion
fire hall, new officers were
elected for the executive
committee.
Bair returned in January
PUBLIC SALE
OF FARM MACHINERY
Along Route 272,16 mile South of Lancaster,
4 mile South of “The Buck".
FRIDAY, MARCH 31
1974 White tractor 2255 diesel w/3208
V 8 Cat 145 H.P. w/cab & heater, wide
front, wheel weights and new dual wheels,
556 hrs.
1977 White 2-85 diesel 85 H.P., 450 hrs., cab w/air
cond. & heat.
1977 John Deere 2040 diesel 40 H.P., weights, w/John
Deere #37 manure loader.
Minneapolis Moline 16 in. 6 bottom hyd. auto, reset
plow, Oliver 4 bottom 16 in. semi-mounted plow, White
#25314 ft. transport disc, Taylor-way 12 ft. chisel plow.
1975 White 7300 diesel combine, 340
hrs., cab, van & heater, 13 ft. soybean &
grain floating head & 4 row narrow corn
head. t
Fox Brady grain wagon 20 ton running gears 425 bu.
box w/bottom unloading & hyd. auger unloading (like
new), Allied 8 in. grain auger 60 ft. long, Gilmore-Tage
Model 370 gram dryer used 2 yrs., Flow E-Z gravity bin
Model 300, New Holland Model 1012 auto, bale wagon,
Massey Hams #lO baler, John Deere crimper, Fox
chopper w/1 row comhead. Grove forage wagon,
Massey Ferguson #24 forage wagon, John Deere 1240
plate com planter, IHCI4 ft. culti-mulcher, hyd. dump
wagon, Myers snow blade for tractor or truck.
1964 Chevrolet pickup.
1966 Dodge 700 w/ 9:00-20 nearly new rubber, White
high pressure washer.
Forks, chains, shovels and other articles not men
tioned.
Terms by
RALPH S. TREGO
717-548-3430
J. Everett Kreider & Carl Diller, Aucts
Lunch furnished.
from a two-year stay on San
Andros Island working on
the Bahamas Agricultural
Research, Training and
Development Project,
sponsored jointly by the
government of the Bahamas
and the United State Agency
for International
Development. Bair worked
under a contract with The
Pennsylvania State
University.
Calling it “the beginning of
something better for the
Bahamas,” Bair said the
project originated to help the
Bahamians realize some of
the potential for providing
their own food. Currently,
12:00 noon
Lebanon Co. Extension banquet
they import 85 per cent of
their food needs.
Andros Island, the largest
of the Bahamian chain, is
2300 square miles, with 8000
people. The island consists of
coral, a soft, porous
limestone rock, which Bair
said is still forming
geologically.
Fresh water is abundant
because rain is absorbed in
the pores of the rocks and
trapped in a “lens” which
holds the fresh water above
the salt water below it and
around the island. The
average height of land above
sea level on the island is four
feet.
The land is covered with
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Newly elected officers of the Lebanon County
Extension Executive Committee are: from left,
Richard C. Kreider, Lebanon R 1, president; Ray
Sattazahn, Lebanon 2, vice-president; Mrs. Mark
Bomberger, Lebanon R 1, secretary; and Clair
Gerberich, Jonestown, Route 1, treasurer.
PUBLIC AUCTION
SATURDAY, MARCH 25
1 mile North of Rife and Rt. 209; 3 miles West
of Elizabethville; 3 miles East of Millersburg
(watch for auction sign along Rt. 209 the day of
sale).
Ford 871 Select-o-Speed Tractor (1400 hrs.) excellent
condition; Ford Semi-Mounted single row corn picker;
Ford 14” 3-bottom plow; Ford mower; NH 68 baler
PTO; NH 56 rake; Ford 3-pt cultivator; 16’ flatbed
wagon; Case 30’ bale and gram elevator with B&S
engine; Int. No. 30 manure spreader; 3-section
harrow; cultipacker; Case 2-row cornplanter; dump
rake; 6’ blade with 2’ extension 3-pt.; cornsheller; bag
truck; platform scale; gram box; 8’ metal chute;
tractor Jack; hog feeders; troughs; surge milker;
vacuum pump; water heater; wash tubs; grease guns;
pipes; forks; raise, tools; egg grader & washer;
chicken nests & feeders; electric & coal brooders;
cream separator; swimming pool filter pump & diving
board; tires & wheels; fence wire; scrap iron; other
items.
HOUSEHOLD ITEMS & COLLECTIBLES
Oak Sideboard; Oak Claw foot table with 4 boards;
Oak bed & bureau; stands rockers; wood chest; Morris
chair; meat grinder; sausage stuffer; butcher kettle;
crocks; jugs; dated jars; hay hook; straw knife;
wooden pulleys; games; computer scale; other items
not listed
Owners
JOHN D. MATTER &
DOROTHY A. MAHER
George N. Deibert, Auct.
Lunch Available
Order of sale: Tools & Farm Equipment will be sold
first. There are not many small items.
,\
native pine and shrubs, and
2000 acres of this was
cleared for the research
project and for the 16
demonstration farms which
are now in operation.
Traditionally, Bahamians
used the “slash and burn”
method of clearing the land,
with some hand clearing.
Where the vegetation was
burned off, farming would be
established in the small
amount of soil among the
rocks. -Known as “pothole
farming” this provided some
supplemental food. Most of
this farming is done by
women, Bair said, because
the men are traditionally
fishermen.
At 11:00 A.M
FARM EQUIPMENT
For the project, virgin
land was cleared and the
rubble pushed in large
windrows. Eventually, the
Wood was salvaged from the
windrows and used for
building fence. With a great
deal of work, the rock is
eventually broken up,
leaving soil material “which
was almost pure lime,” Bair
said. The soil had a pH of 8 -
8.2, a level which Bair said is
extremely difficult to bring
down.
To make the soil
reasonably productive, he
said. “We added a lot of
fertilizer. Last year we used
1000 tons of fertilizer. We
were lavish with it, using
1500-2000 pounds per acre
before seeding.” The fer
tilizer was complete, with an
8-18-8 analysis.
Since the project began as
a livestock venture, a lot of
research was done on forage
AUCTION
SATURDAY, MARCH 25
CONSIGNMENT SALE OF
FARM & INDUSTRIAL
TRACTORS, TRUCKS
AND EQUIPMENT
To be held at Darrow’s Used Tractors, Rte.
13, Sheds, N.Y. Approx. 25 miles East of Cort
land, N.Y,, and just North of Deßuyter, N.Y.
This is one of New York’s largest machinery auc
tions
50 -75 TRACTORS
Plus lots of farm equipment. Consignments arriving
every day. Plan to make this sale, no matter how far -
it’ll be worth your while!
For more information, Call: Carl Darrow 315-662-
3876; Ed Goodrich Jr. 607-729-2866 or write to us at;
Sale Managed By
GOODRICH
AUCTION SERVICE
1153 Oakdale Road,'
Johnson City, N.Y. 13790
Auctioneers:
Ed Gooodrich Jr., Johnson City, N.Y.
Howard Visscher, Nichols, N.Y.
PUBLIC SALE
FARM MACHINERY
SATURDAY, MARCH 18
Located in Mifflin Co., 2Vi miles Northeast of
Reedsville, Pa., on the Honey Creek Road, Ist
lane on left past Kauffman’s Dairy.
IH No. 3200 hydrostatic skid loader, IH 656 hydro.
Dsl. tractor run 2000 hrs., New IH No. 450-3-16 in. auto
reset plow, JD 2010 Dsl. tractor, dual No. 300 heavy
duty hyd. loader, NH No. 268 baler w/thrower in good
repair, New NH No. 38 flail chopper, Port-a-wagon
w/steel feeder and bale rack, 3 NH wide track wagons
w/new bale racks, NH farmec 26 ft. elevator, NH No.
479 haybine real good, JD 894 A rola bar rake, New JD
No. 65 hopper blower, NH blower pipe, NH No. 327-130
bu. single beater manure spreader, Brillion 12 ft.
cultipacker seeder w/wheels, IH No. 249 A com planter
w/fiberglass boxes, IH No. 46 transport disc, 12 ft.
harrow, Agway trail sprayer w/250 gal. fibre tank,
wagon chassis, hyd. post driver, Ford F-3 pickup truck
needs repairs.
Surge SP 22 milker pump, Jamesway feed cart,
Shenandoah stock creep feeder, 2 mineral salt boxes,
about 15 tons 2nd cutting hay mostly alfalfa, 20 bags 10-
20-10 fertilizer, 2 English and 1 western saddles, bridle,
grease gun, log chains, some used tires, a lot of new
bolts and washers, some hand tools and misc. farm
items in a clean up sale.
Terms - CASH Lunch at Sale
MRS. GEORGE W. ELDER
R.D. #1 Reedsville, Pa.
Mark Click - Auctioneer
Reedsville, Pa.
crops. Many tropical grasses
were tried, but had not been
successful because they
could not survive the dry
periods. However, Bair
noted, “We found the
tropical legumes do very
well. They can extend their
root system and will go
through the rainy season.”
Alfalfa varieties were
planted and yielded up to
nine cuttings per year, with
seven to nine tons per acre
“We feel .alfalfa has great
potential, and had several
hundred acres planted m
alfalfa when I left.” Making
alfalfa hay is not without " |
problems, however. In tilf
rainy season it is not un
common to get three or four
inches of rain in a day. “The
hay got rained on a lot,” Bair
said. He added that last
Winter the project suffered
its first recorded freeze, and
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At 10:00 A.M.