D26—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, July 21,1984
Conservation demo held in Cecil County, Md.
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - For
nearly 50 years, young boys from
Philadelphia would descend on a
Cecil County, Md. farm operated
as a summer camp for orphans by
the Sisters of St. Basil.
One of their chief delights after
tending the crops and animals was
Picking your power
(Continued from Page D 24)
entire tractor industry.
It featured three plowing
speeds: 2%, 3Mi and 5 mph, but
could travel down the highway at
15 mph.
Professional race drivers soon
brought more speed and per
formance out of the model. On
June 18,1933, a race driver, Frank
Brisko, raced a Model U with
specially-equipped high speed
gears around the West Allis, Wise.,
state fair track at a speed of 35.4
mph.
Later that same year, legendary
race driver Barney Oldfield drove
an air-tired Model U around a
Dallas, Texas, course at a speed of
64.28 mph.
These and other improvements
led to the WC, the first tractor to
offer rubber tires as standard
equipment. That model became as
famous as the Model T automobile.
During the early 1940’5, tractor
innovation and production were
curtailed because factories were
converted to war production. But
after World War 11, tractor
production boomed again.
In 1948, U.S. tractor production
reached an all-time peak: nearly
530,000 wheel-type models rolled
off assembly lines.
Innovations such as three-point
hitch, automatic draft control and
improved transmissions boosted
popularity among farmers.
Between 1948 and 1957, more
than 230,000 model WD-45 tractors
were produced with two-clutch
power control. Traction Booster
hydraulics and power shift wheels.
Horsepower was increasing
rapidly. About 90% of the models
build in 1950 had less than 35
horsepower; by 1960 only 17% were
under 35 horsepower. Today, the
average horsepower has passed y,
the 100 horsepower mark.
Turbo Introduced
In an effort to boost engine
horsepower, designers looked to
the turbocharger, a device on the
engine to increase air pressure
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going for a swim in the creek that
emptied into the C&D canal a short
distance away.
Today that camp is closed and
the creek is just a sandbar covered
with cattails and other marsh
plants. For years it’s been a
graphic example of what happens
within the engine and allow more
fuel to be burned in the combustion
process.
In 1961, AUis-Chalmers unveiled
the 65-horsepower D-19, the first
diesel powered farm tractor
equipped with a turbocharger.
The progress continued as
farmers increased their crop
production in the 1970’s to the point
that the crop of one acre out of
three was exported.
Four-wheel-drive models
became more popular as did the
improved transmissions and
hydraulic systems.
Operator comfort rose to the No.
1 consideration for manufacturers
and farmers alike. Cabs, air
conditioning, fancy seats and other
features made the job of running a
tractor just as comfortable as
working in a modern office en
vironment.
The 1970’s brought many im
provements including the 7080, the
first Allis-Chalmers tractor with
more than 180 hp. Then came the
6060 and 6080 that added front
wheel-drive assist.
Then came a series of new
models with power shift tran
smissions that provide the
capability to change speeds at full
power. “These and other features
from Alhs-Chalmers and other
tractor manufacturers are
designed to help the American
farmer in his important job of
producing food and fiber for the
USA and the world,” Tweedy says.
Looking at his crystal ball,
Tweedy predicts that the era of
tractors bring more muscle to
farming has peaked. “Now the
farmer is getting alot of comfort
and convenience in his new
tractors,” he says.
“By the 21st century, tractors
will offer farmers even more. On
board electronics, mini-computers
and other technologies will tran
sform tractors into decision
making tools as well as sources of
horsepower to get the job done,”
says Tweedy.
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when farmland is neglected and
the soil allowed to erode.
But last Saturday it became an
example of another kind. The Cecil
Soil Conservation District and
Land Improvement Contractors
Associations turned the farm into a
model of good soil and water
conservation. They demonstrated
to other farmers as well as the
public what can be done to keep
farmland productive and keep
sediment and other nonpoint
pollutants out of the Chesapeake
Bay.
“A lot of attention has been
focused recently on the decline of
the Bay and on the fact that
sediment and nutrients from
cropland are one of the major
sources of pollution,” says Dave
Wilson, U.S. Soil Conservation
Service. “We wanted to show some
of the positive things that people
can do to conserve soil and protect
water quality.”
According to Wilson, soil loss on
the farm ranged as high as 21 tons
per acre per year. That’s five to six
times higher than the tolerable
rate, or the rate at which new soil
is formed.
“One 4-acre field alone is losing
about 218 tons a year.” Wilson
(GSI) QUALITY bins made in u.s.a.
said. “About two-thirds of that
eventually washes into a roadside
ditch and discharges through a
pipe into the Canal. The other third
is deposited in a sandbar at the
base of the hill.”
Installing a terrace and a
diversion was designed to bring the
erosion rate in that field down to
about 7 tons, he added.
Visitors to the field day saw a
wide range of conservation
measures under construction.
Tillage demonstration set
BURNHAM - The Mifflin
County Conservation District is
sponsoring a conservation tillage
demonstration of no-till grass
seedings on Aug. 13 at 9:30 a.m. on
the Ferguson Valley farms of Boyd
Aurand, Nelson Aurand, Raymond
Snyder and Fred Myers.
Gullies cutting across fields were
shaped into swales and seeded with
grass. These grass waterways,
along with diversions and terraces’
will channel runoff water to a safe’
nonerodible outlet.
Grass buffer strips were planted
along field edges to filter out any
sediment before it reaches the
stream. And a rock drop structure
will be installed to keep runoff
from a waterway from gouging out
a new gully.
Lynn Hoffman, of the Penn State
University Agronomy Depart
ment, will be on hand for the
demonstrations.
Refreshments will be served on
the Myers farm.
For further information, call the
district office at 717-248-4695.
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