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BUILDINGIHI FUTURE
Robesonia FFA Students
Continue Successful
Nursery
"We've sold out and we're
ready to replant," said Steve
Miller, agricultural science
teacher and FFA adviser at
1 Conrad Weiser High School in
'Robesonia.
The FFA has been raising dis
ease-resistant American Liberty
elms since 1992, has replenished
‘ their nursery once, has sold all
its trees, and is ready to order
another 300. "We plan to keep
this going," said Miller.
Actually, they've saved one
large elm to plant beside their
m « i- •-
new ag building, where they
expect to move in the fall of
1999.
The American Liberty elm is
a product of university research
funded by the nonprofit Elm
Research Institute (ERI) of
Westmoreland, NH. The
Robesonia FFA is a participant
in the Johnny Elmseed Nursery
program offered by ERI
Elm sales have allowed the
Conrad WEiser FFA to install a
drip irrigation system, order
more elms, and fund the FFA
treasury. With the next batch of
trees, they plan to use proceeds
from one-third of the elms to
fund scholarships
"It surprised me how well
everyone takes to the American
Liberty elms " Miller said "We
have no lack of volunteers for
the elm tree nursery committee
The committee is divided into
groups that take care of fertiliz
ing, watering and pruning the
trees, training younger commit
tee members, and taking cus
tomers orders "Every student
learns what the trees are and
how they came to be," he said
In a 1995 interview by Elm
Research Institute Miller said
the project had brought "nursery
craft" to the school curriculum,
and that both FFA members and
other students were involved.
He described the project as "a
combination of an old-fashioned
nursery production program
woven into what we like to think
of as a modern science program."
The chapter sold many of its
trees through mention in Elm
Research Institute's newsletter,
Elm Leaves, Because of the
newsletter, we had calls from a
radius of 100 miles greater than
we would have had otherwise,
said Miller.
The FFA chapter plans to
send out letters to college and
universities in the region when
the next batch of nursery elms
reach transplanting size. "I
think many of them will want
two or more for their campuses,"
said Miller
He noted that Picatinny
Arsenal in Mount Hope, N.J.,
received a federal award for its
planting of 56 Liberty elms pur
chased from the high school.
In the 19705, ERI sponsored
research to save the American
elm, which was threatened with
extinction by Dutch elm disease
By selecting American elm
parent trees that proved their
ability to fend off the beetle
borne fungus, researchers pro
duced the disease resistant
American Liberty elm, intro
duced for public planting in
1983
The tree is a purebred
American elm, not a hybrid It
retains the American elm's clas
sic vase-like shape and grows
well in urban conditions It is
the only disease resistant
American elm that comes with a
ten year warranty against
Dutch elm disease More than
250,000 American Liberty elms
have been planted in more than
750 communities.
The American Liberty elm is
distributed only through ERI
and volunteer groups such as
the Conrad Weiser FFA If you
would like to reserve a Liberty
elm or help sponsor additional
trees for the FFA nursery pro
ject, contact Steve Miller at
(610) 693-8537 or visit ERl's site
at http;//www forelms org
Mother's Day
Tribute
Surprise your mother, wife or
grandmother by sending one erf her
recipes to be included in a special
tribute to mothers in the May 9th
issue of Lancaster Fanning.
Include a few sentences about
her and a picture if you have one.
Make sure that you include your
name. Your address must also be
included if you want the picture
returned.
Submissions must be received
in our office by May 4 to be
included. Send the information to
Lancaster Farming’s Mother’s
Day Tribute. Attention Lou Ann
Good. P.O. Box 609, Ephrata, PA
17522.
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We Sell, Service & Install
Ph: 717-345-3724
Fax: 717-345-2294
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Owner - Samuel P. Stoltzfus
RD3, Box 331
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