A2O-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, February 11,1989 Life On The Oldest Lancaster County Bicentennial Farm BY LOU ANN GOOD EAST EARL (Lancaster) Harold and Elizabeth Zimmerman consider themselves lucky. Not only do they own the family farm that has been passed down through seven generations but also they have the distinction of owning one of the two oldest bicentennial farms in Lancaster County. Their farm dates back 261 years to 1715 when three brothers, Henry, George and Jacob Weber, who sailed from Germany to Pennsyl vania settled in the Weaverland Valley, 18 miles east of Lancaster. the brothers homesteaded 3,000 acres. George, Zimmer man’s ancester line, eventually claimed 300-acrcs that was divided over the years until the homestead is now 40 acres. Two generations after the brothers’ arrival in Pennsylvania, they adopted the English spelling “Weaver” for their name. Today, the three brothers’ gravesites are marked in a field behind the home stead. It’s the oldest gravesite known in the county. The heritage of farming was passed on to their children and their children’s children. At one point, the land was divided among five siblings. The daughter, who was Harold’s grandmother, mar ried a Zimmerman and hence the family farm name was changed. Zimmerman recalls his grand mother was one feisty lady. He said, “She smoked a pipe and a cigar. When the teamsters came to pick produce at the farm and take it to Philadelphia, she wasn’t afraid of them.” The teamsters had a rough reputation. It’s rumored that when they tried to turn around their wagons pulled by eight mules in the driveway, “they could only make the turn if they were drunk. If they weren’t drunk, they couldn’t make it” Somewhere during the seven generations since the original set tlement, the oldest farmhouse was sold to someone outside the fami ly, but the Zimmermans own one that is 150-year-old. “It doesn’t have as much charac ter as the original home,” Eli zabeth remarked. Regardless, the home still boasts such amenities as a walk-in fireplace with bread oven and plank floors. The Zimmermans are restoring and remodeling much of the downstairs. Harold, who always showed a perchance for farming, stuck with his dad for 26 years and in 1987, after his parent’s death, he acquired the homestead. “I paid for it,” he said, “because other family Son Eric find* an after school snack in the Zimmer man's newly remodelled kitchen. members were involved.” Nor did he inherit the prize herd that he has built up over the years. His 55 Holsteins have a herd aver age of 20,948 with 740 pounds of butterfat. “I’m proud of that,” he said. “I’ve been working on increasing the herd average every since I bought my first cow when I was 16.” He credits the improvement to artificial breeding using better bulls, which he chooses himself. He added, “I raised every cow I have. Most are registered. You get out what you put in it.” He points out that it doesn’t cost much more to feed a cow that milks 100 pounds rather than 60.” He said. “The nice thing about dairy farming is that cows are around a long time and you can see how you improve them.” Harold and Elizabeth Zimmerman consider themselves lucky to li two oldest farms in Lancaster County. Shown with them are their two and Scott, 4. RDOMLUSESTHE SAME BASIC PRMCIPL The best defense against tobacco disease is Ridi * Just one application (at labeled rates) in the field before transplanting controls blue mold, black shank and Pythium all season long. How? First, Ridomil stops disease on contact in the soil. Then its systemic action allows it to be absorbed ini ' fhp nlnnt tlimiioh Hip rAPtC RidomilS systemic action allows it lo UIC plain UliUUgll UIC lUUUO. absorbed into the plant dmuoi the Once in the plant it keeps the enure plant sale Hem disease P ive on one of the children, Eric, 9; Pff* 'MB' N. Jtft
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