On bein a farm w: -And of hazard Joyce B' As long as I can remember, the lithographed prints of Currier and Ives have fascinated me. My favorites, of course, are those nostalgic, wintry, snowy scenes of rural life: families coming home for the holidays, children in the snow, a picturesque bam with animals. You can almost hear the horses stamping and snorting as a hand some sleigh crunches through the snow, laugh with the children’s joyous merriment as they slip and slide across the ever-frozen ponds, smell the aromatic wispy smoke floating out the chimney of the sturdy, cozy farmhouse. The arctic air invasion that held us hostage over Christmas weekend did lend a Currier and Ives touch to the landscape, even though the sparse covering of snow in this area was too skimpy for the full effect. Dealing with the reality of the freeze scene on the farm, though, leaves one with less than the warm, nostalgic feeling evoked by the homey lithographs of life in the 1800’s. Currier and Ives, my friends, simply couldn’t tell it all. No way could these prints protray the frosty pipes abounding inside those neat bams (and houses!). Nowhere on the lithographs will you find a herd of heifers quiz zically eyeing their caretaker with big, accusing eyes, impatiently mooing a third-degree about the frozen water fountain and when something was going to be done about it. Careful examination of Currier and Ives materials probably won’t show a portrait of a farmer, bundled in layers of clothing, thawing out a sink drain with an electric heater, or shoveling silage into mechanical equipment because the feeder froze up, or hooking up one tractor to tow another because the battery had been chilled to death. It’s doubtful, too, that you’ll find a farm wife in any of those lithographs bundled to the hilt in snowmobile footwear, insulated Lancaster Farming, Saturday, December 31,1983—81 l coveralls and ski hat, sliding backwards down the hill, trying to balance two steaming buckets of water for us where the faucets are frozen tight. But, or course, in those days cattle likely drank from water that ran constantly into a water trough directly from the spring, hot water spigots never froze because there weren’t any to begin with, and horses never had to be jump started to bring their batteries back to life. You could endlessly debate the merits of the Currier and Ives times against life in the 1980’s and never come to a satisfactory Rabbit summary available UNIVERSITY PARK - A summary of Penn State’s Rabbit Conference talks is now available for $4.00 by writing to - Agricultural Conference Coor dinator, 410 J.O. Keller Building, The Pennsylvania State Univer sity, University Park, PA 16802 the conference included talks on “A Practitioner Views the BOW JON WINDMILL AIR COMPRESSORS Supplying up to 100 psi for: 1. Powering tools and machinery 2. Aerate ponds tor better water quality, stop algae and lower weed growth, pre vent ice from causing winter fish kills. 3. Pump water 4. Supply compressed air for farms, shops and service stations. Three sizes available, can be mounted on tower or mast pipe. Qualifies for 50% federal and state tax credits. Call or write for more information, or send $2 (refundable) for our 40 page catalog of windmills, towers, parts, wmdchargers, ram pumps, hand and windmill pumps, well supplies and much more. / O'Brock Windmill \ m./ Distributors ■■■■// / M\V\ \N conclusion. But there’s one point not even worth a debate about the merits of those nostalgic days. Did you ever see anyone on a lithographed print headed for the little house of convenience the one with the half-moon carved on the door that was usually situated somewhere out back 7 So as 1983 rolls into 1984, and another year becomes part of history, my resolution is to be thankful for one other thing missing on Currier and Ives collectibles. Indoor plumbing. Happy New Year! Diagnosis and Treatment of Rabbit Diseases,” “Residue Control in Rabbits,” “Antibiotic Use and Residues in Rabbits Survey Results,” “Managing Rabbits to Prevent Disease,” “Rabbit Nutrition and Nutrition - Disease Interrelationships,” and “Planning and Meat Processing Plant for Rabbits.” Also included in the program were workshop discussions covering several current topics and a talk by Assistant Secretary of Agriculture of Pennsylvania, E. Chester Heim. Program participants included Terry Reed, Peter Cheeke, John Spaulding, and John Harkness as well as nine other speakers and workshop leaders. Dept LF 12 f* w* A w ■WkV ta North Benton, Ohio 44449 Phone 216/584-4681 ¥
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers