On Being a Farm Wife (and other hazards) Joyce Bupp Modems, bits and bytes. Chips. (Not potato). Pagers. Cellular. Compact discs, digital, laptops, desktops. What strange new words— and meanings to old words—we blithely scatter among our con versations. And in our rapidly changing society and its gee whiz technology, some of the “old” words which once were commonplace to everyone are as meaningless to today’s lingo as our electronic terms would have been to our ancestors a century ago. A reader recently hammered home that point with a selection of page copies from an 1870 s copyrighted arithmetic (math, today) book. Yorker James Penn State UNIVERSITY PARK (Centre Co) - Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences has announced the recent appoint ment of Peter R. Tozer to the position of assistant professor of animal science in the Department of Dairy and Animal Science. Tozer, a native of New South Wales in Australia, comes to the department with a doctorate in agricultural economics from the University of Washington. He also earned a bachelor’s degree m agricultural economics from the University of New England Agriculture - Residential - Commercial Invest In Concrete, QualU CALL FOR FREE ESTIMATES CONTACT AND SEE HOW AFFORDABLE ROY SENSENIG CONCRETE WALLS CAN BE 717-355-0726 Authorized Dealer For Ke CONCRETE IT WALLS. INC. 531 Hollander Rd., New Holland, PA 17557 \ Eberhart forwarded this fasci nating material in response to a column I wrote more than 10 years ago (his memory better than mine!) He recalls my lament about how difficult it had been to track down the meanings of old measure ments—furlongs, pecks, etc.— for our son who needed them for a school project. The 120-plus year-old arithmetic book over flowed with reading problems (remember how you hated those?) many of them using terms and measurements com monplace to the late 19th centu ry- While the math, er, arith metic, hasn’t changed, think how some of the terms in those- Appoints Faculty Member in Australia in 1992. Before join ing Penn State, he served as unit coordinator for Farm and Resource Management A cours es in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics at the University of New England.' Tozer will teach classes relat ing to all animal production sys tems. His research focuses on managing Pennsylvania dairy and other animal production systems to improve their prof itability and sustainability. He is a member of the iroved Manure Storage SCS A| For All Your Concrete Walls And Construction Needs : acilit' Work That Witt Last A Lifetime atone Concrete Products reading problems from the Common School Arithmetic, by John H. French, might confound our students today: • “A fruit dealer bought 56 barrels of russet apples, 76 bar rels of pippins, 69 barrels of spitzenbergs, and 83 barrels of greenings, how many apples did he buy?” • “A grain buyer purchased a lot of wheat for $1078.25, and the following week sold it for $1219.125 (yes, 125). How much did he clear on the wheat?” •“A Vermont farmer made 161,268 oz. of maple sugar. How many tons did he make?” • “A drover bought a flock of 125 sheep at @52.5625. What was the cost of the flock?” • “A tanner paid $156.82-1/2 for 25.5 cords of hemlock bark. How much was that a cord?” • “A man exchanged a horse worth $187.50, and a watch worth $64,875 (yes, 875) for a span of horses worth $3lO, pay ing the balance in money. How much did he pay?” • And one which totally baf fles me: “A dealer in findings sold 13 bu 3 pk 6 qt. of shoe-pegs by the quart. How many quarts did he sell?” What were “find ings” (leftover merchandise?) and “shoe-pegs?” American Dairy Science Associa tion, the American Agricultural Economics Association, the Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, and the Canadian Agricultural Economics and Farm Manage ment Society. He recently co authored “Strategic Alliances and Marketing Cooperatives: A Lamb Industry Case Study” in the Review of Marketing and Agricultural Economics, and “Is Equity Finance in Agricultural Worth the Money in The Centre for Rural Development Discussion” Paper. This arithmetic volume was chock-full of fascinating infor mation on measurements, terms, currency, etc., which not only helped to teach students how to figure, but taught them science and business-related information as well. For instance, one table explains how to estimate the capacity of cisterns, reservoirs, and related liquid storages. Did you know that 31.5 gallons make 1 bar., or bbl. (meaning Or that 63 gallons make 1 hhd. (hogshead)? A footnote adds that barrels and hogsheads used for commer cial purposes were not fixed measures; a barrel could be from 30 to 45 gallons and a hogshead from 60 to 125 gallons How would you know how much you were getting, anyway? Another table explained the dry measurements of quarts, Carving CARLISLE (Dauphin Co.) - Finally a reason to play with your food - the Pennsylvania dairy industry unveils the Creative Cheese Carving Contest. Offering more than 600 dollars in prizes and a chance to be a winner at the Pennsylvania Farm Show, cheese lovers are challenged to come up with cre ative ways to express "Behold the power Of Cheese." Ten finalists with the most creative carving ideas will par ticipate in a Carve-Off at the Pennsylvania Farm Show in January. At this carve-off, the finalists will be provided with one five-pound block of cheddar cheese, one pairing knife for carving, a carving area, and "coaching" from culinary arts students or professionals. A panel of local celebrity Pau! B fIGDOaQFGDaCD Mv mOUWpPP . < ?r if—»— p Suspended Comfort Stalls Manufactu Finished With TGIC Polyester Powder Coating... Superior to Epoxy! Install the Best! • Increased comfort for cows • Polyester finish stays cleaner • Easy Access •Adjustable tie rail SS-45 Paul B. Zimmerman, Inc. 295 Woodcorner Rd. • Lititz, PA 17543 • 717/738-7365 1 mile West of Ephrata Hours; Call or write for additional information Mon.-Fn.:-7-5 and the name of your nearest dealer Sat.: 7-11 pecks, and bushels, with anoth er interesting footnote; H ln mea suring grain, seeds, peas, beans and small, fruits, the tfieasure ments must be even full. But in measuring large fruits, r corn m the ear, coarse vegetables and other bulky items, the measure must be heaping full 4 heaped measures must equal 5 even measures. See Manual.” I hope the manual made more sense than some of today’s com puter ones. When it comes to the new math, I was lost already back when our own kids studied it in school But just in case “arith metic” every comes back into style, I’m hanging on to this wealth of old-fashioned, book learnin’. You never know when you might need the data that 24 gr (grains) equals 1 pwt. (penny weight). Enter Cheese Contest judges will select the top three winners, who will be awarded gourmet cheese baskets and $l5O, $lOO, and $5O respective ly. All finalists will also receive prizes from the dairy industry. To enter the Creative Cheese Carving Contest, send your name, address, phone number, and age, along with a descrip tion and photo of your creation, to Creative Cheese Carving Contest, do American Dairy Association & Dairy Council Mid East, R.D. 1, Box 166 Emlenton, PA 16373. For com plete contest rules and regula tions contact Cindy Weiner of AD ADC Mid East at (814) 498- 2058 or Jayne Sebrigh of ADA/DC Middle Atlantic at (717) 486-8590. All entries must be received by December 15, 1998. Fabricated for Durability & Dependability ..... • All welded construction for years of service • Constructed with 1.9 O.D. wall, high strength tube and 2" square post with 1/4” wall SS-25 Added Value With Our 2 Coat Process! 1 Five step metal preparation including iron phosphate conversion coating, to erfhance adhesion & prevent undercoat corrosion 2 Zinc rich epoxy powder undercoat 3 TGIC polyester powder top coat baked at 400° to fuse coats forming a cross link molecular bond
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers