By Frank Mustac, Contributor
Beasts of burden, plows and dirt recently came together for more than the start of a new crop at the Howell Living History Farm, as teams from around the area gathered to see which one would be crowned this year’s plowing champion.
The farm, located off of Wooden’s Lane on Mercer County’s northern boundary, hosted its 33rd annual plowing match last Saturday.
Throughout the day, a crowd had gathered to watch teams compete in an old-fashioned plowing contest, as well as an obstacle course.
Though the plowing match was the main event, attendees were also able to enjoy a lunch of roast pork sandwiches, barbecued chicken, kosher franks and potatoes and sweet corn grown on Howell Farm. For entertainment, there were pony rides for children and live music by the Jugtown Mountain String Band.
Sheep, chickens and pigs were stationed in the farmyard area for attendees to visit.
In each contest, teams of horses or mules led by their human driver, or teamster, alternated in negotiating the same four-wheeled farm wagon through a winding track marked by orange traffic cones.
Seven teams of powerful draft animals from New Jersey and Pennsylvania vied for the title of champion of the fine plowing match. The teams were judged, in part, on straightness, depth, width and coverage.
According to officials, judges determine straightness by considering whether there are “hooks or skips in the plowing.” Judges also paid attention to the depth of a furrow plowed, as each one “should be 7 inches to 8 inches deep,” while “the width of the furrow varies with the size of the plow.” The key there is whether the team was able to create a “uniformity of width.”
As for judging coverage, one of the functions of plowing “is to turn under stubble and other organic material lying on the surface,” so a judge looks for a farmer’s effectiveness in “turning in” those materials.
The teams from New Jersey were Philip Andras from Historic Longstreet Farm in Holmdel Township with Percheron draft horses Gus and Ada; Pat Hlubik, of New Egypt, with Brabant horses Ike, Jethro and Jebb; and Mary Tolmie, of Stockton, with Percheron horses Lorrie, Shiela and Nika.
From Pennsylvania, the teams were Daniel Ruth, of Telford, with Percheron horses Ted and Bud; Scott Stephens, of Brodheadsville, with Suffolk Punch horses Madia and Cleo; Kelly Stewart, of Mt. Bethel, with mules Pete and Paul; and Aaron L. Vastine, of Millville, with Belgian horses Turbo and Kole.
According to the Howell Living History Farm, the plowing match marks the beginning of a crop production cycle that will take 10 months to complete.
Ultimately, it was the work of the New Egypt team, led by Pat Hlubik, that won the contest and became this year’s plowing champion.
The ground plowed on Saturday will be sown with winter wheat in early October. The wheat will emerge like a fall lawn, establishing a good root system before winter arrives.
In the spring, it will green-up early, grow waist-high, form grain and then ripen by mid-July. The crop will then be harvested using a horse-drawn reaper binder before being threshed and ground into flour.
Howell Farm is owned by Mercer County and operated by the Mercer County Park Commission, with the support and assistance of The Friends of Howell Living History Farm.
The farm is an educational facility open to the public that preserves and interprets farming life and processes from the era of 1890-1910.
