"Land drainage has been
practiced in some form since man
first began to till the soil”, says
John Fior of the USDA Soil Con
servation Service in Leesport.
Records show that the early
Egyptians employed drainage
principles to improve agricultural
production in the Nile Valley
around 400 B.C. Later the Greeks
and Romans applied agricultural
drainage practices on their lands.
The English, French and Germans
used agricultural drainage prin
ciples as early as the 1600’s. The
earliest use of agricultural
drainage in the United States was
made in New York State in the mid
1800’s.
Pennsylvania has nearly six
million acres of cropland.
Although much drainage work has
already been done in the state,
over one million acres still need
some form of drainage. Berks
County has its share of poorly
drained cropland and pastureland.
What are some good reasons why
Berks County farmers should
invest in drainage practices on
their farms? “There are several
reasons”, says Fior. For example,
surface water problems can be
better managed. Surface runoff
can be controlled on steep slopes
where high intensity ram storms
cause excessive water to move at
high velocities down the slopes.
Surface drainage structures such
as diversions and waterways
properly located and constructed
will reduce runoff velocity, carry
water to a safe outlet, and allow
greater percolation into the soil.
Surface drainage channels will
help prevent other surface water
problems such as ponding in low
depressions with no outlets where
tight clay textured soils or
fragipans prevent adequate
drainage.
Equipment limitations are also
reduced", says Fior. Farm
equipment can get into fields
earlier in the spring for planting
and later in the fall for harvesting,
fuel is consumed working in
well drained fields than wet ones.
Well-drained soil is more resistant
to compaction by heavy equipment
than wet soil.
in addition, the soil en
vironment is greatly improved for
plant growth”, says Fior. The soil
warms faster in the spring and
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Write or call Chemgro for a complete report on Agrigold test
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Soil
Drainage Pays
permits earlier planting, better
seed germination, and faster plant
growth. Crop cover is produced
earlier, the soil is better protected
from erosion, and increased in
filtration rates increase soil water
retention. More open pore spaces
increase soil aeration and promote
deeper and more extensive root
development during the spring and
summer. Plants extract more
water and nutrients from the soil,
grow faster, and withstand
drought periods better. Increased
soil microorganism and ear
thworm activity improves soil
structure and fertility. Aerobic
bacteria break down more
unavailable nitrogen in green
manure, animal manure, and
commercial fertilizers and make it
available as nitrate nitrogen to
plants. Toxic salts and disease
WASHINGTON Strawberries
produce a compound that can be
formulated into a natural pest
control for aphids on lettuce and
thnps on sti awbernes. Scientists
with USDA’s Agricultural
Research Service say the com
pound, ethyl formate, cannot
simply be squeezed from the fruit
but must be prepared in the
laboratory.
USDA tests showed that by using
ethyl formate as a fumigant on
packaged lettuce and strawberries
in a partial vacuum, 100 percent of
the pests were killed. Other test
results; the compound leaves no
residue and it destroys insect pests
on dried fruits.
The Environmental Protection
Agency has not cleared ethyl
lormate for use on lettuce and
strawberries, the scientists say. If
approved, the fumigant could aid
U.S. export of these commodities
to countries with restrictions on
residue levels of fumigants.
A notorious weed, quackgrass,
may get a new reputation.
Quackgrass (Agropyron repens)
has had a bad name because it
spreads aggressively into cul
tivated crops. But it is also one
of the most nutritious and
palatable grasses for livestock.
USDA Agricultural Research
Service scientists have bred a
RETAIL AND DEALER INQUIRIES INVITED.
organisms are more easily leached
from the root zone area.
“The quantity and quality of
crops and forages is also un
proved,” says Fior. Crop yields
are increased for every day the
planting date is advanced to the
start of the growing season.
Longer growing seasons are
achieved. Crops mature sooner
and earlier fall harvests are
possible. Crop quality is increased
and the risk of crop losses due to
wet soils is decreased. Frost
heaving of alfalfa and small grains
is greatly reduced. Weed control is
easier because shallow rooted
moisture loving, weeds and un
desirable grasses do not compete
as well with crops. Well drained
grazing land supports more
livestock with less compaction
damage to soils and forages.
Strawberries natural pest control
hybrid, using the unpopular
quackgrass and the drought
resistent bluebunch wheatgrass.
The unnamed hybrid not only
satisfies livestock appetites, it is
also a good candidate for con
trolling erosion on meadows and
WASHINGTON - Secretary ot
Agriculture John R. Block and
Venezuela’s Minister of
Agriculture Felipe Gomez Alvarez
have Announced an agreement to
continue and expand bilateral
agricultural consultations begun
with a visit to Venezuela by a U.S.
Presidential Agricultural Task
Force in November 1982.
Block and Gomez agreed that a
meeting of the Venezuela-United
States Agricultural Commission
will take place in Caracas in the
spring of 1985. The commission
was established by the two
countries to help implement the
recommendations of the task force
visit.
It was agreed that commission
members will consider
cooperative activities in the fields
of agricultural marketing,
agricultural economic information
systems and private investment in
IS PROUD
TO
ADD
17.5., Venezuela ag talks to continue
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, December 29,1984-AI3
York Co . to Nominate
6 Conservation Teacher 9
The York County Conservation
District is accepting entries to the
national “Conservation Teacher
of-the-Year” awards program.
The competition is open to all full
time teachers working at the
kindergarten through high school
levels who have developed an
outstanding program of con
servation education.
The winner will receive $l,OOO in
cash and an expense-paid trip to
the 1986 convention of the National
Association of Conservation
Districts in Nashville, Tenn. The
pastures in northern states. In
addition, it seems well adapted to
saline sites in states like Montana,
possessing more tolerance to salty
soils than most other
wheatgrasses. The new hybrid is
>n be available corn-
agriculture on a joint-venture
basis.
Block and Gomez also agreed to
continue collaboration through
scientific and technical exchanges
involving agricultural specialists
Franklin Dairy Day
CHAMBERSBURG - Fly
control, keeping somatic cell
counts low, improving
reproductive efficiency and
marketing forces beyond the farm
gate are topics that will be in
cluded at Extension Dairy Day on
January 3,1985.
Penn State University speakers
on the program include Clarence
Collison, Robert Eberhart, Mike
O’Connor and Lou Moore. Twenty
or more agri-business firms that
At the local level, the teacher
chosen to be nominated to the
national contest by the York
County District will receive an
environmental education grant of
175.
Co-sponsored by NACD and
Allis-Chalmers Corporation, this
awards program promotes the
development of creative learning
experiences in conservation for
young people. Interested teachers
should call the Conservation
district, plume 755-0406, for more
information.
mercially within two years,
Researchers say other weeds
now considered offensive and
obnoxious could become sources of
fuel alcohol, human food, firewood
and nitrogen fertilizer.
from both countries and through
agricultural training programs.
These activities include irrigation
and drainage, agricultural
economics and statistics, dairy
production, grain storage, animal
health and plant protection.
work with dairymen will co
sponsor the educational event by
having exhibits and represen
tatives on hand at Kauffman’s
Community Center.
Dairymen are invited to come at
9:00 a.m. to visit the exhibits. The
formal program begins at 9:30
with adjournment scheduled for
2:45 p.m.
For further information contact
the Franklin County Extension
Office at 717-263-9226.
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2 miles West of
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