On being a farm wife -And Joyce Bupp jj^^k As I knelt on the floor, my knees felt cool and hard, even through the heavy denim jeans I was wearing. Thump....thump, not that one. .thump. No, Round up denser bales. Make smooth, densely packed bales with a new Deutz-Allis GP series round baler. You’ll like the firm outer wrap that resists weathering and preserves valuable nutrients. A wide 67-inch pickup system feeds hay in uni formly. And a standard bale discharge bar saves you valuable baling time. This very reliable baler gets the job done on schedule. Stop in soon and see our full line of haying equipment, AG-IND. EQ., INC. Riling'Sun, Md. 301-398-6132 B. EQUIP., INC. Wiynnboro, Pi. 717-762-3193 GRUMELLI B & R FARM EQ. INC. FARM SERVICE Baavartown, PA Quarryvilla, Pa. 717458-7024 717-786-7318 8.H.1U1. FARM EQUIP., INC. Annvllla, Pa. 717-867-2211 ROY H. BUCH, INC. Ephrata, Pa. 717-859-2441 HUTTON DILTS FARM EQUIPMENT FARM EQUIPMENT PETERMAN FARM EQUIP, Marlon Cantar, PA Mahaffay, Pa. S’*; 412-286-9606 814-277-6647 717-249-5338 * , Feeling a bit embarrassed at the position I was in, I kept my head low. Thud....thud....thud. No, that one didn’t seem right, either. Gosh, I sure hope no one I know DEUTZ ALUS See what sets us apart SEE YOUR DEALER TODAY! j FARMER EQUIP. & SUPPLY INC. Alrvllla, Pa. 717-862-3967 HOLTRY’S EQUIPMENT Roxbury, Pa. 717-532-7261 LINCOLN SUPPLY REICH’S FORD & EQUIPMENT CO. TRUCK & TRACTOR Somartal, PA Fradtrick, Md. 614-443-1691 301-662-7622 McCoola, MD 301-786-6800 MARSHALL MACHINERY, INC. Honaadala, Pa. 717-729-7117 NICHOLS FARM EQUIP. Bloomsburg, Pa. 717-784-7731 comes along and finds me here like this. Thump....thump....thump. Well, there must be a better one here somewhere. Given my usual luck and liming, at any moment a pair of legs from the many hurrying past my kneel ing body would stop and I’d be forced to show my face. Thunk..,.thunk....thunk. Ah, at last. A watermelon that sounded just right. Over the years. I’ve carted home dozens of watermelons. This big, green-striped fruit with it’s crisp, reddish flesh is adored by all mem bers of our family. Few snacks win their vote for hot summer after noon fieldwork breaks more quickly than a slice of juicy watermelon. SPRINGS EQUIPMENT, INC. Springs, Pa. 814-662-2222 STAUFFER DIESEL INC. Ephrata, Pa. 717-738-2500 C.J. WONSIDLER BROS. Quaksrtown, Pa. 215-536-7523 Nsw Tripoli, Pa. 215-767-7611 Olay, Pa. 215-987-6257 But, the Farmer was always a better melon selector than was I. Sometimes I’d pick a good one; sometimes I’d cart home selec tions that were best described as mediocre. And, for awhile, I cheated. The purchase of half of a pre-sliced melon took out the guesswork. Then I began practicing the Far mer’s “knock-knock” technique. And, that was why I was here, crawling along on the supermarket floor, half under the produce counter, rapping my knuckles on watermelons. Eventually, one answered back with the proper, hollow-sounding thunk. A ripe watermelon doesn’t give a solid “thud” or “thump” sound. It makes a kind of “thuunnk,” with a hint of empty space inside. Knocking on watermelons is not the first activity that has earned me strange looks from fellow shop pers in supermarkets in the past many years. Soon after we built the calf nursery years ago, we were on the lookout for shallow, round con tainers which would fit the feed and water holders. Small buckets would work, but for very young calves, I wanted something with less depth. Then I spotted in a supermarket the perfect sized, tough, plastic snack bowls. The stack of some twenty brightly-colored bowls earned me some comer-of-the-eye, sidelong, glances from fellow shoppers. Friendly clerks I’d come to know through regular visits asked if I was throwing a parly. iblb. Ba&annsiiß §e®ip 2388 Old Leacock Rd., Gordonville, PA 17529 HIGH PRESSURE WASHERS TRAILERS MADE TO YOUR SPECIFICATIONS Av/ HIGH-TENSILE FENCING « |# An/ | ri || PEQUEA BATTERIES HdIUUM DISTRIBUTOR FOR BEARINGS p- DrydCHC SPROCKETS, PULLEYS, BELTS “iJ KENDALL & DRYDENE OILS & LUBRICANTS The World's Largest Double Door GAS or ELECTRIC REFRIGERATOR FROM SIBIR Lancaster Farming, Saturday, June 11, 1988-B5 Confiding that the bowls were for a bamful of calves sent them into gleeful laughter. Vindication came from a sweet, elderly gentle men behind me in the checkout line who admitted he’d bought some of the same bowls for feed ing his rabbits. Eyebrows raise even higher, and the looks carry greater disbelief, on those occasions when I stock up on dairy herd first aid supplies. Periodically, we have need for quantities for hydrogen peroxide, that neat treatment that bubbles the bacteria away on wounds and infections. When I can find it on sale, two - sometimes three - bot tles for a buck, I lay in a supply of a dozen or so bottles. (Just treating the various cuts and bruises of the family itself goes through a couple bottles a year.) Lining up a large purchase of peroxide bottles on a checkout counter generates considerable interest. One clerk eyed the parade of peroxide containers marching toward her on the automated belt, glanced at me with a perplexed look and asked if I was making up a first aid kit. Another once sug gested that I must be a nurse. Well, son of. Others just give me a suspicious look that says they’d really like to ask but will politely just speculate with their expressions and imaginations. Crawling on a supermarket floor, rapping watermelons, may not be genteel. But it’s more believeable to fel low shoppers than quantity purch ases of first aid supplies for cows. UPS Service • Effective refrigeration without electricity • Only Natural Gas AGA approved refrigerator in history • Unparalleled reliability since 1944
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers