DATE:     8/6/97
CONTACT:  Tommy and Cindy Flowers, (803) 259-1981
WRITER:   Tom Lollis, (803) 284-334

Old Time Horse Farmers Gathering
Will Show Off Real Horsepower

     BLACKVILLE -- Would you like to show your children or 
grandchildren how farming used to be done -- with real
horsepower?
     Bring them to the second annual Old Time Horse Farmers
Gathering at the Agricultural Heritage Center Sept. 26-27. The
center is located at Clemson University's Edisto Research and
Education Center, three miles west of Blackville on U.S. Highway
78.
     "We expect more than 50 draft horses and mules to be there,"
said Cindy Flowers. She and her husband Tommy will bring their
three Percherons, two Belgians and a Clydesdale. The couple
organized the first gathering last year because the S.C. Draft
Horse Association does not sponsor an event in the Lowstate.
     They sent out fliers to people who owned working horses, put
advertisements in a few papers and worked a field a few miles
from Blackville just off S.C. Highway 3 about a mile from their
farm on Ashleigh Road.
     "We had 38 draft horses and mules, about 350 school children
on Friday, and a total of between 1,000 and 1,500 counting
adults, a lot of those from out of state," Flowers said. She 
expects a bigger crowd this year.
     "We expect more than 500 school children on Friday, with
everyone getting a chance to take part in activities from picking
corn to plowing," she said.
     Horses and mules will pull antique farm equipment and
equipment still being made for use by Amish farmers in Ohio and
Pennsylvania. Demonstrations will include plowing, discing,
harrowing, planting and grain drilling.
     Corn will be bound and placed in shocks for use as fodder. 
Picked corn will be taken by horse and wagon to be shelled and
cracked, then sent to the grits mill for grinding into grits or
meal. Visitors will also see hay mowed, raked, loaded into a
wagon and taken to a horse powered hay press for baling.
     "On Saturday around noon we'll have a parade of horses to
introduce visitors to the teams and teamsters who have come to
make this event possible," Flowers said. "After the parade, a
six-horse hitch from Charleston Carriage Company will give a
demonstration."
     She promises wagon rides for all ages during the two-day
event.
     A petting farm will be provided, sheep will be sheared, wool
spun, cows milked, butter churned, soap and candles made from
scratch and horses shoed. Hand-made quilts and pottery will be on
display, too.
    "Visitors will also see an old gas-powered Maytag washing
machine washing clothes with lye soap, a pea thrasher in
operation, and other old-timey equipment," says Flowers.
     A lunch stand staffed by the Calvary Fellowship Mennonite
School will have soups, baked goods and other Pennsylvania Dutch
treats for sale.
     All proceeds from the Old Time Horse Farmers Gathering will
benefit the Agricultural Heritage Center's Educational Fund. The
AHC, when fully developed, will feature a museum, a learning
center where school children can take part in hands-on
activities, and one of four discovery centers along the state's
Heritage Corridor which runs from Charleston to the mountains.
     For more information, call Tommy or Cindy Flowers at (803)
259-1981 during the day, or (803) 259-3350 at night.
                               END