Onbei a farm -And o bazar Joyce B “Do you always have this many?” asked a friend, visiting a few weeks ago on a pleasant Octo ber afternoon. An avid feeder of squirrels, she and her family were gleaning a few ears of com from one of our fields that had been harvested for silage. What she had noticed “so many” of were woolly bear cater pillars. those brown and fuzzy lar vae that actually lend some mean ing to the phrase “cute as a bug.” And, yes, at least here on the farm, woolly bears seem more prevalent this fall than they have for the past ST/HL Register to win the Maw/ SUM 029 Chain Saw at lhaaa participating dealers: Bechtelsvllle Eohrata. Hershev PASSMORE SERVICE BOLLINGER’S LAWN & CENTER, INC. GARDEN EQUIP. sTs-MtVoM Epbrof. PA 717-738-1131 215-367-9084 717-656-2710 Dallastown Henmy, pa 717-533-4 oeo TRI-BORO CONCRETE, INC 435 Locust St 717-246-3095 1-800-632-9018 East Earl GOODS LAWN & GARDEN CENTER Routs 23 717-354-4026 Ext. 34 Elizabethtown MESSICK FARM EQUIPMENT, INC. Rheems Exit-fit 2(3 Eliza balhlown, PA 717-367-1319, 717-653-8867 Elm/Lebanon BOMBERGER’S LAWN & GARDEN Elm: 717-664-4663 Lebanon: 717-272-4155 Ephrata WES STAUFFER ENGINES & EQUIPMENT 23 Pleaeanl Valley Rd. 717-738-4215 DISTRIBUTED BY KEYSTONE STIHL several years. The first one 1 saw came crawl ing through in mid-August, which seemed like an ominously early start for a caterpillar that sup posedly foretells winter weather forecasts. And, since mid-Septem ber, they seemed to be every where. Each trip to the garden turns up woolly bears. They are on the porches, in the flower beds, in the basement, in the laundrybasket. One day last week, I nearly squashed except for qqick side stepping two woollies crawling Gap GAP POWER EQUIPMENT 2 Mies South of Rt. 23 Corner ol Rt. 30 6 RL 597 Along 772 Thru Monterey 717-442-8970 Hamburg SHARTLESVILLE FARM SERVICE RDI, Box 1302 215-488-1025 Jonestown BLUE MOUNTAIN ENTERPRISES, INC, Rt. 72 South 717-865-2994 Mverstown EBLING LAWN & GARDEN SERVICE 688 E. Lincoln Ave. 717-866-6720 northward uup the blacktop grade between the calf nursery and the old bank bam. Folklore has it that the black to brown ratio of color on a woolly bear is an indicator of the coldness of winter. The more black, the colder the winter. It sounds nice, but our woo)jcs are wearing a whole fashion statement of stripe widths. Some were completely brown. Others were completely black. My corn-gleaning friend related that she had been told that the black-brown ratio is an indicator of how old the caterpillar was. Curious, 1 called those experts of just about everything the folks at the York County Extension Of fice. Master Gardener volunteer Sherry Rishei was handy (o the phone; she checked some insect manuals and printed material. Sure enough, she found informa tion backing up the black-brown ratio as an indicator of how close to maturity a woolly bear is. Woolly bears, she related even tually become “Isia isabella” moths, two-inch yellowish brown-colored with random black dots. But, no details turned up on Om SHUEY’S SALES & SERVICE JonMtown Rd. 717-865-4915 Ronks A & BSALES & SERVICE 370 Newport Rood Shippensburg LEINBACH FARM EQUIP. 1120 RHnerHwy. 717-532-5511 Tamaaua CHARLES S. SNYDER, INC, RD 3 717-388-5945 INFIELD EQUIPMENT INC. 720 Wheeler School Rd. 301-879-5090 The state-of-the-art ComforTECH™ cab. It surrounds you with features as advanced as you'll find in our Natural Flow rotary thresh ing system.. From the luxury seat for optimum comfort and support, to the commanding viewing area, here's high tech you’ll feel comfortable with. Solid state electronic readouts to keep you informed of every operation. Electrohydraulic controls are state-of-the-art. And much more. Lancaster Farming, Saturday, October 30, 1993*63 whether more black or more brown meant the caterpillar was still wet behind the ears or a senior citizen critter. My friend collected two wool lies in jars for her children to ob serve; overnight, one began to form a mass of silky spinnings and attached itself to the lid. Maybe she can get a grant for further stu dies. Until we know more.. . figure il*s going to be a long winter. Meanwhile, another of our per manent resident “bug" species is keeping us decorated in (he true, festive spirit of the season. For endless years it seems, I’ve waged the same battle fought by count less other homeowners and house cleaners. Spider webs. Dangling from the ceiling. Draped from the curtains. African Violet Show MORRISTOWN, N.J. Vio lets in Animation is the show theme for the Tristate African Vio let Council. The show will be held at the Frelinghuysen Arboretum, Haggerty Education Center, 53 E. Hanover Ave., Morristown, NJ. Only Gleaner* combines offer the high efficiency of an air-cooled diesel engine with the high efficiency of our deluxe climate controlled cab. Plus, every Gleaner is backed by a strong AGCO warranty and service support. Check out the Gleaner Rotary Combine at the local Gleaner dealers listed here. And ask about flexible AGCO financing. Winner of the Covoted 1992 AESO DESIGN AWARD Linking comers of the living room and ornamenting everything from lampshades to picture frames. Now, along with the wonderful orange pumpkins of the season, the clusters of cornstalks, the “scarecrows” perched on front porches, we have ornamental spi der webs. Commercial, imitation spider webs. Gosh, ain’t technolo gy grand? It’s sort of a spooky feeling to have been on the cutting edge of Halloween ornamentation. And so early in the year every year. If you don’t have your seasonal spider web yet, call us at Rent-A- Wcb. Our spiders spin organic, all natural webbing. And work real cheap. We might even throw in a woolly bear as a bonus. on November 6, from 1:30 p.m. 10 3 p.m. and on Sunday, November 7, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is free. African vio lets and related species will be sold. HERNLEY'S FARM EQUIP., INC. Elizabethtown, Pa. 717-367-8867 C.J. WONSIDLER BROS. Ouakertown, Pa. 215-536-7523 New Tripoli, Pa. 215-767-7611 Oley, Pa. 215-987-6257 B. EQUIP., INC. Waynesboro, Pa. 717-762-3193 ztfmvjKTHe /#{t\\£prtcu | t»ra | - mw^r Mk. AOCO