Galen
Association.
out nu u r .. The Master Farmer
Ephrata Ghurcli of the program, established m
Brethren for 37 years. 1927, is sponsored by the
Crouse was named Pennsylvania Farmer
“Outstantta 8 Farmer Over magazine, Harrisburg, and
40” by the Ephrata Area Cooperative Extension
Young Farmers Service of The Pennsylvania
(Continued from Page A2l)
Crouse poses with Lime-Hollow Elevation Jessie. This cow made Holstein
history last March when she was purchased by a syndicate for $116,000.
Crouse, who is one of the partners owning Jessie, serves as guardian of the sixth
generation Excellent cow.
“Farmers First always treated me like a special customer.
This year they made it official.” I’ve worked hard to get where I
am. And I enjoy the rewards it’s brought. To me a bank is more than a
convenience. It’s a personal, financial resource. And Farmers First has always
offered me that kind of service. Take checking accounts for instance.
Farmers First gives people a choice of five different kinds. It’s all in their
booklet: The People Bank’s Guide to Preference Checking. One of the
accounts - Check-Mate Checking—suits me perfectly. More so than a NOW *
Account. With Check Mate Checking, I earn 5-1 /4% on my bill-paying money.
Plus, I get a long list of special services. Like a $lO,OOO Personal Line of
Credit. Up to $l,OOO withdrawals from Round-the-Clock-Tellers. A special
card useful in the 24 hour tellers and to identify me to the people at the
bank. It goes on and on. The point is, I
found the checking account right for me
by reading this booklet
The People Bonk -
FARMERS
first \mm
Crouse
Guide to
Preference Checking
at any Farmers First
...so even if
you don’t bank
at Farmers First,
read their Guide
to Preference
Checking.
State University.
Formal award ceremonies
will be held January 13 at a
special luncheon in
Harrisburg. Crouse will be
inducted into the Penn
sylvania Master Farmers’
Association whose mem
bership consists of all for
mer award winners.
Pick up your
office. Or call
626-4721
Extension 207.
/ -
/s " ? er " Sk”
'V-5 » ! ’
v i I
Member F D I C
The
People Banlft
Guide to
Preference
Checking.
' vT v w
/ r
• Ui.
Fighting
to save fruit crops
UNIVERSITY PARK -
Imagine an apple, pear or
lemon bud. Sensing spring, it
bursts into bloom one warm
day in February, March or
April-only to freeze to death
that night as temperatures
plunge.
Multiply such occurrences
by millions, and it’s easy to
see the plight of the nation’s
fruit farmers.
Seeking to protect fruit
trees on freezing early
spring nights, Penn State
researchers are trying to
fight ice with ice.
They’re developing a
computer method to predict
when and where frost will
occur in mountainous
terrain, to monitor its
arrival and to activate
sprinklers automatically-in
order to keep fruit buds and
leaves “warm” by coating
them with ice.
“Though the original
concept wasn’t ours,” says
project director C. T.
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Lancaster Famine, Saturday, January 3,1981—A23
Morrow, associate professor
of agricultural engineering,
“we think it offers important
and inexpensive protection
for highly vulnerable fruit
crops; and we’re trying to
adapt and perfect it for
conditions m the Northeast.”
As Morrow explains, the
fruit frost protection
technique has been used for
a few years m the drier West
and South. There, due to
different climate and
terrain, sudden frosts are
more common, and
economic losses are greater
than m the humid Northeast.
The ice method is the most
promising alternative to
farmers’ traditional practice
of heating orchards on
freezing nights, with wood,
oil, gasoline, or charcoal
fired braziers. While beating
remains one of the most
reliable techniques,
spiraling energy costs have
sparked a search for
cheaper ways.
The most effective of these
is a sprinkler system,
whereby tree boughs and
branches are continually
sprayed with water. As the
water turns to ice, a “heat of
fusion” is emitted. Ab
sorbing this heat, the crucial
plant parts are kept above a
critical temperature.
Conversely, to prevent
buds from blooming
prematurely on warm spring
days, a technique called
“bloom delay” is used.
Intermittently during the
day, the trees are sprayed to
keep the plant’s flowering
parts below, rather than
above, a critical tem
perature-probably 45
degrees Farenheit
Thus far, such methods
have not gained wide ac
ceptance in Pennsylvania
and the rest of the Northeast.
The practices are new and
not well understood; com
pared to some other parts of
the country, frosts are in
frequent; and the method
can do harm, if not used
properly.
Consequently, most
Northeastern farmers do
nothing, and often get away
with it.
Essentially, Morrow’s
group is trying to make the
method work well in the
Northeast, and to take the
guesswork out of when to
spray.
‘We think the system is
particularly useful and
economically worthwhile,”
explains Morrow, “because,
m addition to protecting
fruits from frost, the system
can be utilized for other
purposes.
1 *
“Water flowing naturally
downhill or pumped through
a pipeline system connected
to a central water source,
also can be used for drought
relief, and to apply water
soluble nutrients and
pesticides.”
However, Morrow con
tinues, both frost protection
methods are fraught with
uncertainties and problems.
The mam difficulty with the
bloom delay technique, he
explains, is that an enor
mous water supply is needed
under Pennsylvania-type
conditions , because there
are so many warm early
spring days when night
temperatures plunge below
freezing.
To be safe, fanners have
ice with
As for the “heat of fusion”
technique, the dangers are
even greater, says Morrow.
A mistake can lead to un
necessary bud deaths or
even to death of entire trees,
as in the case of very sen
sitive citrus trees.
“Another hazard of too
much water is a condition
called ‘wet feet.’ The tree
roots become surrounded by
too much water, which
chokes off their oxygen
supply. On the other hand,
too little water will result in
too thin an ice film, causing
plant temperatures to fall
below the critical 32
degrees.”
Still anger danger, he
adds, is associated with
wind, even wind as low as
five miles per hour. For if
the sprinkling and freezing is
occurring in the presence of
such wind, the heat of fusion
may be dissipated into the
atmosphere, and the plant
parts will sustain more
damage than if nothing had
been done.
To overcome these and
other problems, Morrow’s
group is trying to develop
better prediction and
detection methods for ice
formation: to learn how
much water to supply at
different intervals; and how
to use as little water as
possible.
Monitoring such climiatic
parameters as air tem
perature, temperature in
version (temperature at
diffrent atmospheric
heights), relative humidity,
wind speed, and, possibly,
blossom temperature, a
computer would
automatically activate a
sprinkler system, adjust the
water supply as conditions
change and shut the
sprinkler off when
necessary.
“We have four years’ data
and we’re confident that
we’re well on the way to
solving the problems,” says
Morrow, adding that his
team hopes to continue
testing their system next
spring.
we
to spray, day after day. Also,
it’s still unknown what the
critical temperature is-tbe
temperature below which
the buds are likely to
develop.
“One danger,” says
Morrow, “is that the trees
can be overloaded with ice.
As water is added all night,
ice layers will build up,
causing structural damage.