80 years ago this week. Between 3,500 and 4,000 farmers and their families attended the annual wheat field day at the Ohio agricultural experiment station in Wooster. Guest speakers included Director of Agriculture Taber; Dr. E.D. Ball, director of scientific research for the USDA; and Dean Alfred Vivian of the Ohio college of agriculture.
Columbiana County Agent C.E. Rowland, and Holstein breeders John Smith of East Liverpool and Theodore Stark of Salem were selected as a committee to pick animals from Columbiana County Holstein herds to make up the county’s herd for competition at the Ohio State Fair. The cattle will be “assembled at some farm and given careful feeding and care for a few weeks before the fair.”
The “Hire-A-Ford” Company has been created in Canton, Ohio, to rent automobiles with or without drivers, the same as livery stables used to hire horses. “Special attention will be given to the accommodating of vacationists, who desire to hire machines for a month or more.”
50 years ago this week. The entire plant of the Mahoning County Co-operative Association located in Canfield, Ohio, was destroyed by a fire. Damage is estimated at $250,000. The explosion of 500 gallons of paint and other items opened up the building and the flames soon spread over the entire structure.
The fire, occurring in the middle of the busy season, will cut short many items of vital supply. Among the destroyed items are tractors, farm equipment, seeds, paints, fertilizers, feeds and appliances.
A boiler explosion at a poultry plant in Columbiana, Ohio, killed two people and injured 16. Mrs. Phillis Howell, of Columbiana, and Miss. Anna Mankin of East Palestine, Ohio, died.
Two hundred Texas cattlemen visited Firestone Farms in Columbiana, Ohio, as part of a 15-day tour through Canada, the East Coast and the Mid-West. They took a hay wagon convoy tour of the 1,000-acre farm, which was the birthplace of Harvey S. Firestone, founder of the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company.
25 years ago this week. Gasoline, automobiles, livestock and tools accounted for 42 percent of theft targets in a nine-county study by Ohio State University. Researchers found theft the crime most often reported to sheriffs in the area, making up 22 percent of the reported crimes. Vandalism is the crime most often observed by rural residents, but only about half is reported to sheriff’s offices. Mail boxes are the most frequent target of vandals.
The survey showed gasoline is the most often stolen item in rural areas, accounting for 20 percent of all thefts. It was also revealed that 67 percent of gas tanks, 61 percent of automobiles, 92 percent of farm equipment, 93 percent of barns and 81 percent of garden tools are not locked up. The survey involved Athens, Hocking, Perry, Fayette, Madison, Clark, Ashland, Wayne and Medina counties.