Innovation in the Heartland

Innovation in the Heartland. . , "The most important event for poultry in Virginia and probably the whole world occurred in 1885 when a young man by the name of Sam Blosser was found putting thermometers under hens, sitting around and watching them all day, and even sleeping under the chicken house at night to hear how often the hen turned her eggs." , -Charles W. Wampler, Sr., Blosser's perseverence, which took place just west of Dayton, led to his invention of the incubator, a machine that revolutionized the production of poultry. For his earliest incubator, Sam Blosser built a box and lined the sides with sawdust. He heated water in a teakettle on a kitchen stove and poured it in a tank on the top of his box. The hot water needed to be frequently replenished in order to keep the box - with 100 eggs - warm enough. Using this simple but labor intensive method, he is reported to have hatched 60 out of 100 eggs., In 1911, Sam Blosser built the first commercial hatchery in Virginia - featuring a capacity of an unimaginable 35,000 birds., The Wampler family of the Dayton area, beginning with Charles Wampler, Sr., began to experiment with growing turkeys about 1910, during a time when U.S. turkey production was slipping due to lower demand. His daughter Ruth became one of the earliest in the U.S. to successfully grow incubated turkeys - with some incubator advice from Sam Blosser., Innovation in the poultry industry did not stop. The Wampler family developed the concept of "growing chickens on shares" - placing company-owned chicks in the farmer's chicken house. The company provided the feed, and the farmer provided the labor. This unique business approach also revolutionized the poultry industry across the United States., Dayton's innovations in agriculture were not limited to poultry. Soon after the Civil War, Abraham B. Wenger had started his Wenger's Nursery and grew it into a substantial mail-order enterprise. Trees could be purchased for as little as 7 cents. He sold more than 50 apple varieties, including Benoni, Early Harvest, Shaver's Sweet, Summer Pippin, Tetofsky, Baltzley, Buckingham, Duchess of Oldenburg, Gravenstein, Lady Finger, Rambo, Smokehouse, Ben Davis, Esopus Spitzenburg, Grimes Golden Pippin, Glorimundi, Hubbardson Non-Such, Westfield Seek-No-Further, Winesap, Milam, Nickajack, Northern Spy, Rawle's Genet, Rome Beauty, Sweet Vendevere, Tulpehocken, Twenty Ounce, and York Imperial. Mr. Wenger also offered peach and pear trees, though in more limited selections., According to Valley historian John Wayland, Thomas Herring and Joseph Clatterbuck, both of Dayton, owned a fine horse named St. Lorimer in the late 1800s. The men sold the thoroughbred horse for $100,000, a princely sum for the times. A colt sired by St. Lorimer won a blue ribbon in the heavy jumpers contest in France., A farm north of Dayton owned by Frank B. Showalter was considered to be so perfect that it was "written up" in three World's Fairs: Chicago (1893), St. Louis (1904), and Jamestown (1907)., While there were many agricultural innovations in the Dayton area, the day-to-day farming operations over more than two centuries, created a robust farm-based community. From dairy farms to beef cattle, sheep and hogs, Dayton area farms represented most the common types of farming. Many farm-related businesses, including mills, farm supply stores, and equipment dealers, established stores in the Dayton area to support the agricultural community., Some Early Businesses Supporting Farms, Dayton Creamery and Ice Corporation (est. 1907) . Specialty Harness Co. . Blossers Hatchery . Shrum Brothers Brick Manufacturers . Upper and Lower Mills . J. M. Kagey (farm implements and coal yard) . Perry X. Heatwole (fertilizers, grain, feed, farm wagons) . Swartz Brothers and Hott (farm supplies) . Dayton Farm Supply (farm implements, coal) . Heatwole-Kagey Co. (farm implements, feed, coal) . C. D. Wenger Nursery, (Captions):, WENGER'S NURSERIES , Established, after the Civil War by Abraham B. Wenger, The company grew to become a significant mail-order operation offering fruit trees. It offered more than 50 varieties of apple trees along with selections of peaches and pears., BRONZE TURKEYS , Like the rest of Rockingham County, Dayton's turkey farms specialized in "bronze" turkeys for the first few decades of the 20th Century. As the industry reshaped itself to attract more business, it eventually adopted the white turkeys so familiar today. Dayton is home to some of the most important innovations to affect the poultry industry in the United States.