also. Here Ted Alspach owner and manager of Farmers
Supply weighs some bird feed for a customer.
STARKS QUALITY VEAL FEEDS
ARE NOW AVAILABLE IN THE EAST
Our feed is made from the highest quality
milk and milk By-Products to insure proper
growth and development of your calves.
0
Our extensive quality control laboratory will
assure greater consistency in YOUR feed.
0
We can show you excellent results, with
GOOD feed conversions in 14,15, and 16
0
weeks.
Deal Direct with the factory. No Distributors!
Starter $1035 per ton delivered. Finisher
$970 per ton delivered.
0
Our 15 years of calf growing experience will
assure you of receiving the finest technical
service available anywhere.
0
Contract growers will find our labor lease
agreements to be both attractive and com-
0
petitive.
IF YOU ARE READY TO INCREASE
YOUR NET DOLLAR PROFIT
WITHOUT HAVING TO SACRIFICE
PERFORMANCE
y STARKS VEAL COMPANY, INC.
VEAL GROWERS
CHECK US OUT!
CALL COLLECT OR WRITE
Tom Hermanek
R.D. #1 Bainbridge, NY 13733
607-639-1122 or 607-639-2147
Farmers Supply
(Continued from Page C 8)
anywhere in Lancaster county for
a minimum $5.00 order, or a $lO.OO
order of garden seeds. ‘We have
three trucks on the road. We hit the
southern end first where it gets
warm a few days earlier, then
move north,” Alspach relates
Orders begin coming in volume -
and going out - at the end of
February or the beginning of
March. Helping along the seed
order business is an order sheet
mailed to about 40,000 boxholders
throughout the county The order
forms list most of the extensive
inventory available through
Farmers buppij
Ot course there are big favorites
among customers, with peas,
beans and corn making up the
biggest volume of sales Silver
Queen is the most popular com,
although Alpsach says he notices
other varieties making a gain.
Most of their seeds are purchased
through the Charles Hart Company
which acts as "legman” Alspach
said
Although they carry seeds for
almost any plants, they also will
have a complete line of bedding
plants available and Alspach says
he recommen is buying plants for
'Lancaster Farming, Saturday, February 14,1981—C9
items like kohl crops and
tomatoes.
He also mentions that there are
new varieties available each year,
often with improvements over the
previous varieties Alspach said he
talks with growers and checks the
market before going ahead with
new items He also tries new
varieties in his own garden for
firsthand experience. He laughs
about his tomato experiment,
where he carefully planted six
different kinds which all ended up
in Maple Grove swimming pool
when lys garden flooded
Right now, Alspach says the
"hottest vegetable” is the sugar
snap pea, which he says is doing
“fantastic.” According to Alspach
it is popular because 'you get tons
of fruit from the plant and it is
delicious cooked or raw.”
Nevertheless he predicts there will
always be a big local market for
the regular sugar pea, because
■some people still like the small,
flat pea ”
Sugar peas can be one of the
earliest vegetables planted
because the seeds resist cold
weather Alspach said he has
known people to “scratch the frost
and pul in sugar peas ’ ’
He noted that people in Lan
caster County tend to be con
servative “The people like an old
standby.”
Planning in a farm and garden
supply business can be risky, as
Alspach points out, “We try to
think three to six months ahead. ’’
Alspach has been at Farmers
Supply for five years and has now
taken over the interest m the firm
from A. Lloyd Groff, one of the
original owners and founders. John
McGrann, the other founder, is
now deceased.
The business started with seeds
and other farm supplies, but was
well known as the largest toy
dealer around. Alspach says the
firm got out of the toy business
when discounters came into the
picture and then got into the
building contractor supply
business as a way of stretching
income throughout the year. In the
garden business, spring, summer
and fall are healthy seasons, but
things can be a little lean in the
winter
From December on, Farmers
Supply now does brisk business
supplying the needs of tobacco
growers.
Alspach got to know the business
when he went there for supplies as
a worker for a construction
company Eventually he made
Groff an offer, and has come to
love his new enterprise. He said, “1
can’t learn everything overnight,
(Turn to Page CIO)