Free Admission To Special Museum Exhibit During Ag Progress Days Aug. 19-21
Horse-drawn “Yellow Jacket” potato sprayer after dis
assembly, cleaning, and oiling. Painted emblems on each
end of tank: "Field Force Pump Co. The Leader ‘Ospramo’
Line of Sprayers Elmira, NY.” Nine brass spray nozzles
each have a patent date of Dec. 14, 1911. Wooden
wheels are 50 inches in diameter.
Cast iron cornmill is adjustable, for grinding corn into
flour, meal, or chick feed. Made by F. Wilson, Easton. Pat.
US Aug. 30, 1881, Canada, Aug 26, 1882. The mechanical
usefulness of this hand-operated mill ended by the
19305. However, its beautiful design has given it enduring
value. The mill was donated to the Paste Ag Museum in
1993 by Philip Mitchell.
The Galloway Pat’D Spreader after complete disassem
bly, cleaning, and oiling is pulled by two large horses, the
box is removable so the heavy duty running gear can be
used for other purposes. Cast iron drive gears 30-inch di
ameter are clamped to the inside of each rear wheel.
Front end gate is removable with original stenciling. “De
tachable Power Feed.” Purchased new in 1320, it was last
used in the early 1940 s and stored under cover when
“the boys went to war (WWII).”
Lancaster
Museum Showcases Agricultural History
ROCKSPRING (Centre Co.)
History on display takes view
ers back in time during Penn
State’s Paste Agricultural Muse
um’s 25th anniversary.
During Ag Progress Days,
Aug. 19-21, the museum will fea
ture a special exhibit titled
“Twenty-Five Years and Grow
ing.” Twenty-nine photographs
and accompanying text will illus
trate the growth of the museum’s
collection to more than 900 items
since 1978.
The idea to gather and pre
serve pieces of agricultural histo
ry began in 1974 with the College
of Agricultural Sciences Alumni
Society, according to the muse
um’s volunteer curator, Darwin
Braund. With $1,500 and a few
display cases in the Agricultural
Administration Building, the
Pasto Agricultural Museum was
bom.
In May 1978, the Ag Alumni
Society decided to move forward
with a building project, and a
year later the building at Rock
spring was dedicated. It was offi
cially opened to the public on
Aug. 22,1979 during Ag Progress
Days.
Starting with an initial collec
tion of about ISO items, the total
collection of more than 900 items
far exceeds available exhibit
space in the museum.
“In honor of our 25th anniver
sary, many larger items, includ
ing several horse-drawn vehicles,
will be moved from storage and
displayed in an adjacent tent,”
said Braund. “Less than two
thirds of the collection can be ex
hibited in the museum at any
given time.”
In 1980, the museum was
named for its first curator, Dr.
Jerome K. Pasto, associate dean
emeritus of the college and pro
fessor emeritus of agricultural
economics. In 1998, Darwin
Braund, professor emeritus of an
imal science at North Carolina
State University and 1956 Penn
State alumnus, took over as cura
tor.
The Pasto Agricultural Muse
um serves between 8,000 and
10,000 visitors per year. Visitors
during the 2003 Ag Progress
Days who sign the guest book
will receive a special bookmark.
Tours can be scheduled from
April IS through Oct. 15 by call
ing (814) 863-1383, by sending an
e-mail to pastoagmuseum@psu.e
du, or by registering on the Web
at http://pasto.cas.psu.edu.
Penn State’s Ag Progress Days
is conducted at the Russell E.
Larson Agricultural Research
Center at Rockspring, nine miles
southwest of State College on Rt.
45. Hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on
Aug. 19; 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Aug.
20; and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Aug.
21. Admission and parking are
free.
For more information, call
(800) PSU-1010 toll-free now
through Aug. 21 or visit the Ag
Progress Days Website at http://
apd.cas.psu.edu.
Lancaster Farming, Saturday
Made by Schaeffer, Merkle, and Company this one
horse tread power “The Buckwalter Champion” thresher
is on display at the Pasto Agricultural Museum.
Schaeffer, Merkle, and Company’s “The King” thresher
is showcased in Pasto Agricultural Museum.
Pasto Agricultural Museum
25 Years And Growing
• 1974 Dr. Russell B. Dick
erson donated over 100 items
from his collection for exhibit in
the Agricultural Administration
Building.
• 1974 Ag Alumni Society
began project to gather and pre
serve pieces of agricultural histo
ry; Antique Tools Committee
formed with Dr. Jerome Pasto,
chair.
• 1978 Ag Alumni Society
Board of Directors decided on
May 6 to build museum.
• 1979 Museum building
dedicated May 5.
• 1979 Museum officially
opened to public Aug. 22 during
Ag Progress Days.
• 1980 Museum named
after Dr. Jerome K. Paste who
was the first curator.
• 1988 Collection expanded
to nearly 400 items and exceeded
museum space; storage facility
provided by college.
• 1998 Weathervane from
old dairy barn on campus re
stored and mounted on museum
lust 16, 2003-B2:
Au(
entrance.
• 1998 After twenty years as
volunteer curator Dr. Jerome
Paste turned curatorial responsi
bilities over to Dr. Darwin
Braund.
• 2000 First themed exhibit,
Role of Animal Power in 19th
and 20th Century Agriculture.
• 2000 Horse (mule) pow
ered hay baler (1905) demonstrat
ed by donor Dr. Robert Cowan
and three generations of his fami
ly-
• 2001 Second themed ex
hibit, 6,000 Years of Small
Grains.
• 2002 First endowed exhi
bition, Early Farm and Home
Pork Processing and Preserva
tion, supported by the P. Thomas
Ziegler Endowment for the Pasto
Agricultural Museum.
• 2002 Museum collection
exceeded 900 items.
• 2003 Silver Anniversary
25 Years and Growing Since
1978.
I 3