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.
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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
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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
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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