BY MARYALICE MELI MAMELI@NCNEWSONLINE.COM

For one dairy farmer, Thursday's inspection of the 43-acre Dawson's Orchard in North Beaver Township was an eye-opener. "You learn a lot on these tours," said Blanche Kind, a Plain Grove Township resident. The outing was part of the 12th annual Legislative Farm Tour sponsored by the Beaver-Lawrence County Farm Bureau. Carolyn Dawson Cowher led the tour and pointed out how she and her husband, Kevin, who died in 2000, had diversified the orchard. There, visitors find more than a dozen varieties of apples as well as peaches, pears, watermelon, raspberries and blueberries. She joked that one row of Red Delicious apple trees is as old as Lawrence County Commissioner Dan Vogler, who is 46 years old. To which Commissioner Steve Craig quipped, "and better preserved." Vogler said he and Cowher were classmates at Mohawk Elementary. Oil heaters are interspersed throughout the rows of trees to combat cold temperatures, especially in spring. Two wind machines return warmer temperatures that rise at night back down to warm the blossoms. They also help the oil pots to be more effective, she said. Trees and bushes are watered by a trickle irrigation system that comes from two wells. Cowher said she is forced to use some pesticides to treat diseases caused by wet weather. She also sprays to kill weeds, a task she usually performs at night when the air is still, often with the chemical in a backpack. Trim and fit, she joked that it's her system of personal weight control. She added spraying at night allows bees to remain undisturbed. Although the trend among a lot of retailers is to stock organically grown produce, Cowher said, "It's tough for the smaller farmer to grow without chemicals. Labor is tight and weeding by hand is impossible." However, she added, many of the chemicals are not as toxic as they were in past years. A Beaver County beef producer noted the carefully mowed grounds between the rows of trees, absence of weeds, pruning and branches bulging with fruit. "This is one of the best kept orchards I've ever seen," Richard McElhaney said. Cowher sells her fruit to a few smaller retailers such as Loccisano's Golden Dawn in Ellwood City and to Paragon, Whole Foods and McGinnis Sisters, all of Pittsburgh. The three dozen tourists were accompanied and entertained by two energetic German shepherd pups who tagged along. At one point, everyone turned to see why the two were softly growling. Cowher was embarrassed to see them playing tug-of-war with a newly deceased groundhog. The winner carried it around like a stuffed toy. The incident spoiled no one's appetite for the lunch served after the tour, especially not for the cobbler made with Dawson freestone peaches.