tone Grind Flours scent Of Bygone Era er grain product, a hammer mill powered by a diesel engine is used to grind Tine whole wheat flour, commeal, and rye flours. Landis bags flour into five- to 100-pound bags for those inter ested in purchasing flour. White flour and other varieties such as rye, rolled oats, and brown sugar are purchased from other mills for resale. A few local fanners bring com in to be ground for their personal use. Landis delivers his product locally. ‘This is better for me at my age.” Landis said of the slower-paced activity at the mill. He opens at 7 a.m. Monday through Saturday. He Ponds and the race on the property have ducks and swans swimming in them. Lush green grass grows and a tangle of evergreens and shrubbery grows along the river banks. jnegrou. ,>at and cornmeal In addition to a variety of bread and pastry flours. Esther stands at the display of rye, wheat germ, rolled oats, corn muffin mix, brown sugar, oat bran and wheat bran, which are also sold to customers who stop by. has no set day for grinding. “I grind whenever it gets low,” he said. Old wooden gears and heavy belts sometimes break. Landis can patch most of it himself. As far as getting replacement parts, he said, ‘There are still machine shops around.” Ocassionally the water wheel becomes frozen in winter. Then the hammermill’s diesel engine can be connected to run the waterwheel. Memorabilia such as jute feed bags, old tools, wire sieves, and old saws of bygone days hang on the wall's. The saws are from the era when the mill also sawed ice and stored it This is the oldest of four homes on the property. It Is believed to have been the late 1700 s. It has deep window sills, fire places, and a winding stairway. The Landis family lived in it until recently when their son Jim, who farms the land, moved into It. The white tower in front of the mill anchors cables running from mill to barn. At one time, these cables transported power from the waterwheel to the barn to thresh wheat, shred fodder, and hoist hay. in the nearby ice house, where saw dust was used to insulate the ice. “It was cut and stored in the winter and kept for use until July or August,” Esther said. At one time, the waterwheel was hooked up to thresh wheat and shred com fodder in the bams. It was even used to hoist hay into the bam. The lowel level of the mill is stone and the upper levels are built of brick. Wooden barrels, wooden wheels, pulleys, and boards of all sizes add interest to the inside brick walls of the mill. Landis is 79 years old. When asked how long he plans to con tinue working in the mill, he answered, “The Lord says one shouldn’t boast about tomorrow.” His wife said, “He’ll slay until Agronomic UNIVERSITY PARK (Centre Co.) Penn State’s 1994 Agro nomic Field Diagnostic Clinic and Farmer Appreciation Day will take place Tuesday, July 26, from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Agro nomy Research Farm at Penn State’s Russell E. Larson Agricul tural Research Center in Rock spring. The Russell E. Larson Agricultural Research Center is located nine miles southwest of State College on Route 45. “The field day is designed to help farmers improve their agro nomic management skills,” said Dr. William Curran, assistant pro fessor of weed science in Penn UncMUr Firming, Saturday, July 23, 1994421 he’s able.” The farm has two large homes and two tenant homes on the prop erty. Son James, who farms the land, lives in the white stone house that is believed to have been built in the late 1700 s. Esther and her husband had lived in that house until they transferred the farm to their son James. The elder couple then moved into the brick house on the property. Another son Clair and his family live on a dairy farm, in Strasburg, which is also a century farm passed down through the generations. A daughter, Nancy, works at the Amish Farm, which belongs to Landis’s family. For more information on the mill and the flours sold, contact the Rohrers at 273 Rohrcr Mill Road, Ronks, PA 17572 or call (717) Field Clinic July 26 State’s College of Agricultural Sciences. “Penn State specialists will provide hands-on diagnostic Paining in crop production, soil fertility, and pest management. There will be plenty of opportuni tics for questions and discussions.” Topics will include com growth and development; identification of off-lypes of com; soybean variet ies, populations, and row spac ings; forage yields; and calcula tion of forage moisture content. Also covered will be the effec tiveness of row cleaners in high residue fields and diagnosis of soil fertility problems. Pest- 687-6400. Here is a recipe that they hand out with bags of the stone ground commeal mixed with whole wheat flour. CORN BREAD OR MUFFINS 1 cup yellow roasted commeal 1 cup stone ground whole wheat flour Add; 'A cup brown sugar 'A teaspoon salt 3 teaspoons baking powder Stir and add: 2 beaten eggs 'A cup oil 1 cup milk Mix together ingredients. Pour batter into a 8-inch pan or a 12-cup muffin tin. Bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes. management topics will include managing com rootworm, diag nosing com leaf diseases, under standing and choosing herbicides, and identifying weeds. To register, call the Confer ences and Short Courses Office, (814) 865-8301, or obtain a registration form from your local cooperative extension office. Mail completed forms to Field Diag nostic Clinic, Conferences and Short Courses, The Pennsylvania State University, 306 Agricultural Administration, University Park, PA 16802.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers