Chester County Conservation Field Day moves sod to save it UNIONVILLE After thirty three years, the Chester County Conservation District and the Brandywine Valley Association hosted another conservation field day. The field day was held on Tuesday and Wednesday at the H.E. Myrick Conservation Center, the scene of earthmoving and water control during the 48 hour conservation effort. The conservation center was recently given to the Brandywine Valley Association by H.E. Mynck, who retained a life estate Engineering equipment checks the progress of the farm pond being carved out by a Caterpillar 955 frontend loader. # r Gravel pours out of the backhoe’s bucket and into the trench to blanket a 4-inch drain tile, designed to intercept underground water and carry it to a livestock water trough. on his 212 acre property. After the death of the former Bell Telephone engineer -last fall, BVA preceded with plans to develop the neglected farm into a conservation center.' Out of the total farm, 75 acres have been set aside to serve as a model farm, with conservation practices installed to demonstrate their effectiveness on surface water and erosion control. The remainder of the property is planned for a nature education center. Robert Hicks, a Chester County fanner from Kennett Square, will >■ & t *■ , » - * '. Contractors donate tL jsitors jk over a . jtch . the con- conserve jy >. ;re on . tesday and servation plan for the Myrick Center. The Wednesday. The 212-acre farm was donated Chester County Conservation District and the to BVA last year and will serve as a nature Brandywine Valley Association hosted a education center and model farm. be farming the 58 acres of cropland. He demonstrated no-tdl com planting to the farmers and visitors at the field day. A conseravation field day had been held once before in Chester County the year was 1948. The farm where the conservation work was applied then is now a housing development and elementary school site. Over the two day period, con tractors donated their time and machinery to install gradient and storage terraces and diversions, remove fence rows, install tile drainage, construct a pond and develop a livestock watering facility. Contour strips were also staked and plowed in by the far mer. Contributing to the success of this conservation effort were: Brubaker Excavating Company, Narvon; Earnest Carter, Kennett Square; Cocahco Equipment Company, Denver; Green Valley Construction, Avondale; Erie Ha'ak, Elverson; Harry Jacobs, Inc., Wagontown; Craig Myers, Honeybrook; Harry Schlimme, Elverson: Twyford Construction Company, Oxford; and Stauffer Repair Shop, Reamstown; Agway Petroleum Corporation, West Chester; Concrete Epoxy Technical Systems, Trevose; General Crushed Stone, Dowmngtown; Hancor, Inc , Murrysvxlle; and Samuel Rice and Son, West Chester Technical assistance on con servation practices was provided by the Soil Conservation Service staff from Chester and several surrounding counties.—SM Three machines polish off a storage terrace, diversion were constructed, too all Soil designed to intercept surface water, and Conservation Service methods to control release its safely through underground pipes wa ter and erosion, to a stable outlet. Gradient terraces and a equipment * *<s!■& '< jry^i&tpb#. r ' » 1 Zy^-gZr* v-v. , # *•'' 'i'is^ >1& t ~* ****>** * i<T&> ?A # «*• t n*t v< JA?< ■# <y > Ji ' s. . , - >*■"• <v , \ > *-*. v* _, '\''-v-'t/* ' * 4 * y *j\ ' > i ‘<- ' .. - ** w ** ■* '■ £ *'**' to A J - Lines and symbols sketch the conservation projects completed in two-days at the Conservation Field Day. The cooperative efforts by contractors and Soil Conservation Service staff resulted in machines and men working in Lancaster Fanunit, Saturday, April 25,1951—A21
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