VOL. 31 No. 35
Lt. Gov. William W. Scranton 111
Garber Wins National Award
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Gerald
Garber of Willow Street, Penn
sylvania received one of fonr
national production awards
presented by the American
Guernsey Cattle Club (AGCC) at
its annual meeting on June 16 in
Peoria, Illinois.
The Tarbell Trophy is given
annually in memory of Gage E.
Tarbell to the breed’s highest 305-
day, two-time, mature-equivalent
butterfat producer. Grassland Nev
Julia’s 305-day, mature-equivalent
record of 22,107 pounds of milk and
1,264 pounds of butterfat at five
years of age qualified “Julia” for
Farm Family Aids Research With Split Embryo Calves
BY HELEN KELCHNER
Columbia Co. Correspondent
MILLVILLE - Dennis Wolff,
Columbia County, donated
genetically identical twin Holstein
calves to the Children’s Liver
Transplant Program, a donation
that amounts to about $30,000.
This is a story focused in two
entirely different directions, but
which bear significant importance
in relating to each other.
The donation of these \aluable
calves by Wolff was to aid in
transplant research and help
defray costs of transplant
operations for those families who
have no insurance coverage.
Children patients were designated.
First- why are these calves so
unusual and valuable? Genetic
engineering is the reason and they
are not the ordinary run-of-the-mill
twins which most farmers find
undesirable.
Genetic engineering is foreign
and perhaps, mindboggling to the
average person, but Dennis Wolff
\plams now the program can
mdiu’.. rnore calves from
..pel .o. u-\s split 1 mg 11'i
flushed embryos. For instance,
eight embryos can result from four
originals: each of the split eight
can be transplanted. However,
there is only a 60 percent to 70
percent pregnancy rate, but even
Four Sections
this P*’"' 1 by Lea Mary
Paine of Salisbury, Connecticut,
she actually made 1,290 pounds of
butterfat in 305 days, which placed
her on the national class-leader list
for butterfat.
This 90-point Gold Star Dam is
among the top 300 cows in the
nation for Cow Performance Index
(CPI). Her January 1986 USDA
cow indexes are +396 pounds of
milk, +32 pounds of butterfat and
+s76. Julia’s Modified Con
temporary Deviation (MCD) is
+5,138 pounds of milk and +339
pounds of butterfat.
this amounts to increased birth
rate numbers.
Splitting an embryo can produce
genetically identical twins (this
includes sex). Embryo splitting is
simply dividing an embryo into
two halves and is achieved by
microsurgical technique.
In a fertilized 6 to 8 day embryo,
a qualified veterinarian splits the
mass with a micro blade. Then
approximately half of the cell
mass is drawn out and inserted
into a dead or unfertilized egg. (It
should be understood that flushed!
embryos are examined
microscopically to sort the fer
tilized from the unfertilized eggs.)
It is one of these unfertilized
flushed embryos that is used to
receive the extracted half of the
cell mass.
The donor embryo remains “as
is” and, with success, the two
manipulated embryos will produce
identical twins. What is actually
happening, all the characteristics
of the superior donor embryo are
shared to produce ! wo The
f pli+ + ,p,i and ITHnl'Mttinn ‘.hnnld
LUS llu lullgLl l! 1 .xl J x\v.) JuHii
Each egg is transplanted into two
separate cows, not necessarily
premium.
Identical twins occur naturally
when an egg (for some unex-
(Turn to Page A3l)
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, June 28,1986
Lt. Gov. Scranton Thinks Ag
Represents Roots Of Society
BY EVERETT NEWSWANGER
Managing Editor
Note; To see what response Lt.
Gov. William W. Scranton 111 gives
to agriculture, this interview was
conducted in Scranton’s capitol
office in Harrisburg, Wednesday
afternoon.
In addition since the Lieutenant
Governor now heads the
republican ticket for Governor, the
opinions expressed in answers to
these questions can be expected to
show up in the next administration
should Scranton win the election in
November. Scranton was chosen
Pennsylvania’s 26th Governor on
November 7, 1978, in his first bid
Ag Progress Preparation Under Way
UNIVERSITY PARK - “Water
Quality and Your Life” is the
theme of this year’s Ag Progress
Days at Penn State. The three-day
event is scheduled for August 19,20
and 21.
“From the problems of acid ram
to the economics of water
distribution, water quality issues
are becoming increasingly com
plex,” said Lamartine F. Hood,
dean of Penn State’s College of
Agriculture, in announcing the
theme.
“Penn State continues to be a
leader both in water quality
research and education. Ag
Progress Days gives us a chance to
Lois and Dennis Wolff with baby Nicholas before his liver transplant. The two
genetically identical Holstein calves were donated to the Children's Liver Transplant
Program by the Wolffs to draw attention to the critical and chronic need for organ
donatidn- They are worth about $30,000.
for elected office.
He was born on July 20, 1947, in
Scranton. The Lieutenant
Governor is the son of Penn
sylvania’s 103rd Governor William
W. Scranton. He received a
Bachelor’s Degree from Yale
University in 1969 and was a
cumlaude grad of the Hotchkiss
School, Lakedale, Connecticut, in
1965. He and the formal Coral
Vange are the parents of three
girls all under the age of seven.
Here are the questions about
agriculture and Scranton’s
response to them.
Q. Would you first of all introduce
your family? I know you have a
share some of that information
with the public,” Hood said.
More than a dozen exhibits and
demonstrations are beingj
prepared by Penn State faculty
and staff on water quality issues.
In addition to these exhibits,
over 300 commercial exhibitors
will feature more than $22 million
worth of agricultural machinery,
equipment and supplies, much of
which will be used in live
demonstrations.
Ag Progress Days 1986 will
feature free bus tours of Penn
State’s agricultural research
areas, where new crop varieties
and cultural practices are tested.
$8.50 per Year
nice group of little children.
A. Oh, Absolutely. I have been
blessed with three daughters, all of
whom have been bom since I’ve
been elected Lieutenant Governor.
The oldest is now seven. And the
youngest is now three. And they
are very special girls. At least in
their father’s eyes. I think one of
the advantages I have about being
a father in politics is that I was also
a child of a politician (former Gov.
William Scranton) So I fully un
derstand the child’s viewpoint of a
father who is frequently away. But
both Coral and I make a very
determined effort to spend time
(Turn to Page A 34)
Natural resource conservation
practices are shown on other tours
duringthe event.
jgMj||Mfcthe most popular features
qfcfipßrogress Days the “Ask
the Expert” area will return.
Penn State research and extension
specialists will be available to
answer questions on everything
from aphids to zucchini.
More than 75,000 visitors are
expected at Penn State’s 1,500 acre
Rock Springs Research Center, the
site of the event.
The Center is nine miles
southwest of State College on
Route 45. It is open from 9 a.m. to 5
p.m. each of the three days.