Read it Again: Week of March 13, 2003.

80 years ago this week. This report from Columbiana, Ohio: “Chauncey Wolfgang lost his pants while driving the mail truck between the public square and the post office recently. Anyone finding them will confer a favor by returning same, as he is more modestly inclined than most people now days and the weather is still quite chilly.”

B.M. Totten of Kinsman, Ohio, shipped 50 head of Holsteins to Topeka, Kansas, where he held a public sale. The cattle occupied two cars and arrived at their destination in three days, as they were shipped by express.

50 years ago this week. Louis Bromfield’s Malabar Farms near Lucas in Richland County, Ohio, will be known as the Mary A. Bromfield Foundation as a memorial to Mrs. Bromfield who died last year.

Mr. Bromfield, world-renowned author, columnist and agriculturist, is now in South America directing farm experiments, and his daughter and husband are with him.

It will be recalled that Mr. Bromfield, upon his return from many years living in France, 12 years ago purchased a farm of nearly 1,000 acres that was badly run down at the time. Since that time he has added land until today he has around 2,000 acres, most of which have been reclaimed and are excellent in production.

Soil conservation practices have been studied on the farm, livestock feeding and care, and experiments in land production have been studied.

Visitors have come from all over the world, and an average of 500 visitors come daily.

25 years ago this week. Distribution, bulk handling and storage of any dry free-flowing material is now easier, more efficient and less expensive through the use of a new woven polypropylene bag that weights five pounds but can hold a ton. It will fill the gap between 100-pound bags and hopper cars for thousands of farmers and food manufacturers involved with distributing or using fertilizers, animal feeds, foods and a wide variety of related materials and products. The “mini bulk” is strong enough to withstand rough handling and 10 round-trip deliveries or more. In lift tests, the bag actually holds a load of five tons.

A two-page ad spread for the Firestone Store’s Farmer Days ’78 featured 100-foot coils of 3/8-inch poly rope for $4.88; 16-inch barn brooms for only $3.99; and tubeless 7.00-15 farm truck tires for $38.15. Given away free at the event were yardsticks, pocket whetstones, balloons for the kids, rain hoods for the ladies, and farm notebooks with valuable tire information and data for the farmer, plus a metric system chart and handy blank note pages. Winners of a contest for guessing a hog’s weight were offered first prize of a hog; second, a five-speed bicycle; and third, a 5-year, 50,000-mile alignment service agreement.