The Bluffton news. [volume] (Bluffton, Ohio) 1875-current, 1953-02-26

the bright blue jackets with gold IN
sigma who are celebrating the 25th
anniversary of their national organ
ization.
We might have said STRAW
hat" since for many years it was
used to typify the farm and the
farmer, but we say felt hat
advisedly because for one thing
we don't own a straw hat and for
another, today's farmer and to-
morrow's farmer are no longer
typifed by a straw hat and a
whisp of hay.
Instead, we're inclined to picture
our farmer in one of those long,
square billed caps he might have
worn a few years back in the Air
Corps, or perhaps bright, lively red
or his favorite slouchy felt.
BLUFFTON'S FLA CHAPTER,
while not quite as old as FLA
itself, is only three years
younger. The local group was
chartered on February 3, 1881,
and during these % years has
kept local youth interested in
agriculture. Some pretty good
farmers, too, have come up from
the FLA here in Blufft0n.
1t is interesting to note that
out of IS past presidents of the
Bluffton chapter, II have taken
up farming as their life work.
Hershal Moore, Buttons first FLA
president, is one exception. At pres
ent he is a Chicago musician, but
even so we'll bet he still has hank
erin for a farm some day. Then
there are Sidney Balmer, Donavin
Steiner, Merlin Zimmerly, Harold
and Evan Sommer .
every one of them are making their
living from agriculture.
Dale Reichenbach, a former FLA
boy, turned banker, but his knowledge
Of farming should still stand in good
stead. Charles Montgomery, who
succeeded Dale, is now farming. Then
came Richard Gratz, who deserted
raising crops for raising young
players.
In the school year 1943-'44 Dale
Huber was president. Like most of
MS predecessors, he is now farmer.
And ditto for the next FLA president,
Ronald Zimmerly. More recent ex-
FLA club leaders who are reported
following the soil are Leland Gar
matter and John Schmutz, Jr.
Other past presidents down the
years who are in other occupations
are Harold Badertscher, Carl Steiner,
John Althaus in the Army, Luke
and Norman Marquart also
in the Army.
We do not suppose that the
average of all FLA members who
have followed agriculture after
schooling would hold up as well,
but it seems there is good indica-
ton that this specialized training
at high school level has not been
wasted.
LORRAIN BASINGER, vo-ag
;eacher, who keeps FLA hopping in
3luffton, recently furnished us with
an anniversary calendar illustrated
With a Harold Anderson painting
two young future farmers
and their instructor examining field
IF wheat. George Washington, the
soldier and statesman, but first and
asst farmer, is shown making a
similar inspection in the paintings
George Washington is an idol of
FLA and rightly so. According to an
in last weeks Oxford Press,
where we were formerly employed,
was the leading farmer
If his day. Mount Vernon was his
experimental station. Unlike most
Virginia farmers, he refused to raw
age the soil and soon realized that
,obacco and corn were running his
and. He conducted experiments on
est plots and finally reduced his corn
acreage and stopped tobacco-growing
altogether. In planning for crops to
'eplace them, he developed a COM
,letely new strain of wheat and in
reduced the growing of alfalfa.
He demanded skill in the use of
fertilizers as a requirement of all
'verseers whom he employed to
govern the more than 800 men and
who worked his five farms,
otalling 5000 acres.
Washington himself took great
interest in his lands and arose at
A a. m. in order to spend the day
making the rounds" of his acre
age. He invented the first deep
soil plow to be used in this
country, and instructed his over
seers never to leave tools lying
where they were last used"
The income which Washington
realized from his acreage totalled
about $4,000 a year, an admir-
able sum in any day, and an in
come which prompted him to COM
ment that farming sis honorable,
it is amusing, and with judicious