—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, May 27,1978
44
Back-to-the-land movement is dead
NEWARK - That back-to-the-land movement that
seemed to be gaming momentum during the early 70’s is
dead. The latest figures, compiled by the Bureau of
Census, indicate that folks are leaving the farm at a faster
rate now than at any time in the past 15 years.
There was a time when demographers felt the
migration from American farms might be reversmg. The
rate of loss had slowed dramatically and showed signs of
turning the other way.
But then something happened, the experts don’t know
Layering is cheap way to propogate
NEWARK, Del. - How would you like to add some more
azaleas, rhododendrons, hollies or other broadleaf
evergreens to your garden without the expense of buying
new plants? There’s an easy way to do this, says
University of Delaware Extension horticulturist Dr.
Charles Dunham - just layer existing plants.
According to Dunham, layering is one of the most
successful methods of plant propagation a home gardener
can use. The process is also extremely simple. Basically it
involves bending down a branch from the parent plant and
burying this in the ground until it forms roots.
Layering works well for a large number of plants. In
addition to broadleaf evergreens, you can layer flowering
shrubs such as forsythia, weigela, spirea, and many
viburnums. Herbaceous perennials like phlox, bleeding
heart, pinks, and many others can also be layered, rather
than propagating them by cuttings or division.
This first step m layering a plant is to find a stem or
branch that can be bent down to the ground. Sometimes it
is possible to notch stubborn branches at the point of the
bend to make them more flexible.
Bend the branch so that current growth or year-old
wood near the tip touches the ground. Mark the spot on
the soil where it touches.
Next, work some extra sand and peat moss into the
gi ound at this point and scoop out a small hole about four
inches deep.
Now bend the branch down and cut partly through the
top side, using a slanting cut about a third or half way
through the stem at the point where the roots of the new
plant will form
Give the stem a half twist to bring the tip of the branch
upright Then, using a small piece of heavy wire bent like
a staple, pm the branch in the hole and cover it with the
sand and peat mixture, being careful to leave the tip
exposed. It may help to use a stone or brick to hold the
branch in place The tip can be tied in an upright position
to a small stake if desired. This growing point will form
the top of your new plant
Ail the plants mentioned above can be layered when
their new Spring growth hardens, which will be in mid to
late June. The layers should form roots by fall. Her
baceous plants which result from layering can be cut from
the parent plant and set out in the early Fall Woody
plants are probably best left until Spring when they can be
cut off and moved to their new location.
Wool pool set for June 15
CARLISLE The Cum
berland Cooperative Wool
Growers will hold their wool
pool on June 15, from 7 a.m.
to 3 p.m at the Carlisle
Fairgrounds, off Rt 34 in
Carlisle
Producers from nearby
counties are welcome to
bring their wool There are
no dues of membership fees
Wool will be graded and
weighed in the pooler’s
presence
4-H horse show held
BRICKERVILLE - The
Boots and Saddles 4-H Club
held its 11th annual open
horse show recently at the
Lower Hopewell Horse
Center, near Bnckemlle,
Pa A total of 26 classes were
held.
Adult champion rider of
the show was Dee Dee Rice
riding her horse Miss Night
Dude Reserve champion
was Jim Click on his mount,
Tn Miss Poco
The Children’s cham
pionship went to Monty
Stetzer, who rode Pallida
Wendy Weatheral riding
Rocket Bar Forecast was
named reserve champion
By JERRY WEBB
University of Delaware
Extension Service
Penn State livestock
specialists will conduct wool
grading demonstrations as
part of the day’s activities.
Also, a bulletin board will be
provided for anyone to post
their notices of items they
have for sale Rams, ewes,
or sheep equipment may be
brought along and sold from
the truck
All fleeces must be tied,
using only paper fleece
twine. The wool must be free
of excessive moisture
Jay Hughes was named
racing champion His horse
was Tolans Leo Sugar.
Reserve champion was
Ernie Rungie riding
Diamond G. Cody.
quite what, that speeded migration again. In the early 70’s
the number of people leaving farms dipped to only 1.2 per
cent a year. Then in 1974 it jumped to 5.8 per cent and has
stayed there ever since. A small share of that change can
be accounted for in a census procedural change, but that
sill leaves about half a million people who left American
farms between 1975 and 1976 for reasons unknown to the
census takers.
One can only speculate about why people are rushing to
get away from the land. Perhaps it’s the economic trend
cf the past couple of years. Maybe it’s the high price of
getting started m farming. Perhaps it’s the lure of better
opportunities somewhere else. The fact remains that a
trend that started 60 years ago is continuing. In 1916, the
peak year of U.S. farm population, one person m three
lived on a farm. But today only one person in 26 lives on a
farm and that’s less than four per cent of the population.
If farmers are getting fewer, they are also getting
younger. And although it’s still not exactly a young man’s
game, a trend that started at least a half century ago has
rather suddenly been reversed. The Bureau of Census
says that in 1910 the average age of farm operators was
43% years, but by 1970 it was slightly more than 53 years
Since then farmers have been getting younger. In 1975 the
average age of farmers dipped to 50.4 years - a youthful
net of almost three years since 1970.
Perhaps more significantly the number of fanners
under 35 years rose from 265,000 to 358,000 and that’s a
gam of 35 per cent. At the same time, the number of
farmers over 60 decreased 23 per cent.
So farmers are getting fewer and younger. And that’s
happening at a fairly rapid pace. Looking down the road a
few decades, it’s not too difficult to predict that America’s
farms will be operated by a lot fewer individuals who will
be younger and who will handle much larger operatons.
Accompanying that trend will also be a demand for
tremendous amounts of capital
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Farmers are going through an economic wringer right
now that may discourage many of them. The younger ones
seem to be particularly vulnerable. Maybe this will slow
the youth movement in agriculture but it’s doubtful that it
will be any more than temporary. Young men who are
growing up on the farm seem to be seemg more op
portunities in agriculture than at any tune m many years.
The hard knocks that some of them are getting right now
aren’t going to hold them down too long.
In so many situations young farmers are following m
the footsteps of their dads, taking up where their fathers
leave off in an expanding farm enterprise. They’re
heavily invested and steadfastly committed to
agriculture. They have always been farmers, all of their
capital is tied up in farming and all of their skills revolve
around farming. If it’s economically feasible, most of
them plan to stay in farming.
U.S News and World Report says farmland has been
the best hedge against inflation. Comparing a variety of
investments including common stocks, savings accounts,
corporate bonds, and investments in urban real estate,
farmland comes out way ahead. The report indicates that
$lO,OOO invested 10 years ago in farmland is now worth
$15,570. That’s figured m 1967 dollars. During this same
time, that amount of money invested in a corporate bond
would be worth only $10,420 and m common stocks only
$7,070.
Looking ahead another decade, there’s no reason to
believe that this same situation won’t repeat itself. So
don’t be surprised to find the price of farmland con
tinually increasing. Economic hard times in agriculture
aren’t doing much to dun the fires of enthusiasm.
Although land isn’t selling quite as rapidly, it also isn’t
selling much cheaper. The old adage about when is the
best tune to buy farmland seems to continue to be true -
the tune to buy farmland is now, for it will probably never
be this inexpensive again.
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