4—Lancaster Farming, Friday, Oct. 12, 1956 1 Lancaster County’s Own Farm Weekly Newspaper Established November 4, 1955 Published every Friday by OCTORARO NEWSPAPERS Quarryville, Pa. Phone 378 Lancaster Phone 4-3047 Alfred C. Alspach Publisher Ernest J. Neill C. Wallace Abel Business Manager Robert G. Campbell 'Advertising Director Robert J. Wiggins Circulation Director Subscription Rates: $2.00 Per Year Three Years $5.00; 5c Per Copy Entered as Second-Class matter at the Post Office, Quarryville, Pa., under Act of March 3. 1879 EFFICIENCY IN FARMING American agriculture is producing about 50 per cent more output than in 1935-1939, and it is doing it with about 30 per cent fewer man-hours'of work. Here are some other statistics from a recent speech by the U. S. Secretary of Agriculture. Farmers use over six million tons of finished steel a year, almost 300 million pounds of raw rubber, over 17 billion gallons of crude petroleum, 22 billion kilowatt hours of electricity. : There are 12 million tractors, cars and trucks on U. S farms, almost a million gram combines, 700,000 mechanical corn pickers. Over 700,000 farms have milking machines. The average investment per worker in the farms of this country is more than $14,000 The average invest ment for workers in manufacturing industries is a little over $12,000. Big business? You’re blamed right. YOUR SHARE IN TAXES The current cost of running the federal government is about $407 a year for every man, woman and child in the nation. Government spending will reach $69,100,0Q0,- 000 in the fiscal year ending June 30, 1957 the largest total cost of Government for any peacetime year in history. In 1956 the per capita cost was $398; in fiscal 1955 it was $394, but $l4 under the $421 of fiscal 1954, and much below the peak of $707 in 1944-1955. However, the new estimate will be six times greater than the $6B of 1939. Costs are going up where it will stop, nobody knows. State Corn Picking Contests are leading many an agriculture calendar this season a time when we can lament the passing of State Corn Husking Contests. Back several years ago, we well recall, the crowds numbered in the thousands when the best pickers in the land battered the bangboard of a horse-drawn wagon in a machine-gun staccato. There were favorites, there were winners who held their national titles several years in a row. The day of hand-husking, hand shucking the hook or peg is gone except in scattered instances. Corn shucking taxed the home kitchen almost as much as threshing. Both breakfast and supper were in the dark of day. Then came the mechanical picker, more efficient, more productive, demanding less manpower, combined with powered elevators and lifts. Today these mechanical pickers, pickers-shellers compete in a field once it was man against man instead of machine -versus machine, a American agriculture’s movement to mechanization has been wonderful in increasing efficiency, but we still miss the bang on the bangboard. Mechanized fanning has made it possible for a good farmer to produce 500 times moreTthan his grandfather could, according to Dr. Karl Butler, Ithaca, N. Y-, farm counselor. But, agriculture is lagging far behind in research, and is now facing the greatest technological challenge of its history. “Farmers want machinery that they can afford and which will fit into their farms. Most farmers are either trying to expand their farms to fit their machinery or vice-versa." ' What’s ahead? Roy Bainer, agricultural educator, predicts the United States will need a 40 per cent boost in farm production to feed its population by 1975. Now .that the World Series are over, it’s still time to keep box score on the injuries and deaths that will result as the 1956 com crop is harvested. Be alert. Be cautious. Be safe. Don’t be a statistic STAFF Editor CORN PICKING TIME 500 TIMES GRANDPA BOX SCORE 50 Years Ago This Week on Lancaster Farms 50 YEARS AGO (1906) By JACK REICHAttD • October 12, 1906, a Jarge sec tion of the country was'in the' dutches of one of the earliest blizzards on record. Over a vast area of western Pennsylvania, heavy snow had fallen, damag ing late crops and crippling rail road and .trolley traffic. In Cleveland, Ohio, the snowfall Was accompanied by intense cold, one person having been frozen to death. From Canada, the storm had taken a southern course down the Mississippi Valley, leaving a white mantle Of snow be hind. The fruit-crops of the middle west and the tobacco crops of Virginia and Kentucky were damaged by the freezing temperatures. ■ The cold wave extended to the cotton belt of middle Texas, where workers were at work day and night trying to harvest the crop and save it from ruin. Light to killing frost was re ported from the cotton belt in Alabama, and in Tennessee and northern Mississippi, crops were nipped by the frost. Down along the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia was the coldest part of the country. At Mount Washing: ton, U S Government observing station, the mercmy was down to freezing, while four below zero was recorded at Elkins, W. Va. s 1 At Harrisburg, 50 years ago, Governor Pennypacker sent per sonal letters to A J. Cassatt, president of the Pennsylvania Railroad and George F. Baer, president of the Philadelphia and Reading, suggesting that they arrange for excursions over their lines in Pennsylvania to Harrisburg for the purpose of Voice of Lancaster Farms ii * CORRECTION KIRKWOOD I was interest ed in the picture in LF of the Stoltzfus farm just sold. That is “Street Road,” not Bellbank, and the covered bridge one of the oldest in the area. Street Road from Philadelphia to Harper’s ferry, Md., was the direct route used by all travelers back in the horse and buggy days many long years ago, a road very historical ly important to our state. The old brick house now own ed and lived in by the John Rup pert family had Revolutionary War fame and the area known as Bellbank and the Ruppert House are in it. Across the road (Street Road) lies a farm be longing to the John Holmes, family, which is the oldest grant given by William Penn in this area. I wonder if you followed the very scenic road, which shows the stream, farm and bridge with meadow beyond?.'— An LF Reader. THANKS KENNETT SQUARE, Pa. May I at this time tell you how much I appreciated the outstand ing cooperation and publicity which your magazine gave to me as Flying Farmer Queen of Penn sylvania of 1955-56. You did an outstanding job, Ernie, and I am sure that our many friends and associates in business as well as Flying Farmers all over the United States have "read your articles. You diave been -doing an out standing job m your paper, and we wish to praise you for all that you did for us in the past year. May your paper continue to grow and spread the good news everywhere. Lois M. Logan. - giving citizens of the state an opportunity to inspect the new state capitol. On the Lancaster farm own ed by A. L. and C. ,S. Herr, of Collins, the house and barn on the property burned to the ground. The barn, which burned first, contained nearly 80 Jons of straw, 10 tons of hay, phos phate and a large quantity of potatoes. - I The fire spread to the house. It had 'been partly tenanted by some Italian people. Tfie fire was believed to have been started by a tramp. The buildings and contents were a total loss. * * «* 25 Years Ago In the Lancaster garden of Amanda B. Myers, Kirkwood, two pepper plants not only produced large peppers, but also great numbers of them. One had 32 and the other 29 peppers. < * Changes to bus lines instead of trolley lutes an some parts of the county followed immediately after the official announcement of the merger. Background Scripture Exodu? 20:1- 21. D•rational K«adlnti Paalm 19:7-14. Why God Says No! lesson for October 14, 1956 A QUESTION often asked about, tha Ten' Commandments is this: Why are they all in the neg ative? It all seems to -be “Don’t, don’t ” Does God hang chains on us to hamper our freedom? Is God more interested in stopping us from what we want to do than in show- ing us what to do? Why the em- phasis on the neg- ative? Isn’t Chris tian morality, right living be fore God, a posi tive thing? Can a set of prohibitions be a solid base for life today? “Don’t” Is a Useful Word Let’s look at this a little. For one thing, it must be remembered that the Ten Commandments, ar they are called, were not invented by Moses or first revealed to him. We know that centuries before Moses, wise men were saying it already, and it is pretty safe to suppose that most people knew it, —namely that stealing and killing and adult ery are wrong. The reason Moses gave the Ten Commandments was not that either he or God had lust discovered them. These Command ments came out in their present form (or possibly a shorter form, enlarged later) for the benefit and guidance of a very primitive peo ple, just out of slavery where they and their forefathers had been for generations. For people like that “Don’t" is easier to understand than “Do." A little child can be saved from being hurt or killed just by learning the meaning of the lit tle word NO, “Don’t” is a useful word. It is simpler, too, to say “Don’t” than “Do.” Learning to do well takes time, and brains too. You don’t have to leam to stop. You don’t have to be a “brain” to stop doing wrong. So the Ten Com mandments begm at the right end, the simple end. “Thou shalt not,” or “Don't,” in other words, is not the whole of what goodness means; but itis a good place to beglh. Trolley-Bus Merger The end of trolley lines in Lancaster County was evident ut 1931, when a merger of city and county electric lines into a single organization known as the Coni stoga Trasportation Company was officially approved. Tobacco Experiment Station ' Twenty five years ago this week, a ten acre plot of ground on the farm of Mrs. A. L. Lefev* er, one half mile north of Lan caster was taken over by Penn State College, as the site for a! new Pennsylvania State Tobacco Experimental Station. A nine year lease was given with the privilege of erecting the neces sary buildings and was signed by Dr. F. D. Gardner, representing P. S. C. The former experiment station, located at Ephrata, was to be abandoned. Greater interest waa expected in the new site because it was more centrally located and easily accessible to growers. * * Exercises, incident to the transfer of the old Delaware Canal from the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company to the Com monwealth of Pa., was scheduled to be held on Oct. 17, 1931, at the Thompson Neely Mill, locat ed on the Delaware River road between Washington Cross and New Hope. The property was to be converted into a State Park. 6nd»r Control Nowadays It Is not popular to mention such words or ideas a* discipline, self-control, temperance, j or restraint; but these are good) things in their place, and no life is, good that ignores them. Doing what you want to do whmi you'feel like doing it without asking any-’ body is a small boy's dream, but it is no way for a grown man or, woman to live. This is another rea-j son why so many of the Ten Com mandments begin with “Don’t.” | Brakes say “No” to a car, and a car without brakes isn’t safe for a minute. Stakes say “No” to sprawl ing vines, but the vines are the better for being tied up. Pruning shears say “No” to grape-vines; but unpruned grapevines soon run down. Rails say “No” to tram wheels; and when the wheels (so to speak) decide to go where they please, you have a wreck. “Doing what comes naturally” may be silly, sinful, even criminal. Im pulses can be harmful and hateful. Instincts may be warped or ex aggerated. The. disciplined, self controlled life is not a life of mera repression; but if there is no re pression anywhere, if there is noi response and obedience when God! says “No,” then life becomes a 1 tangle like an untrimmed grape| vine, a smash-up like a train that; tries to cross a field without rails. 1 Every Don’t Has a Dol Every “don’t” has a matching “do” of some kind. Thou shalt not steal means also, Thou shalt not waste property, Thou shalt con-| serve the earth's resources, Thou shalt respect property. When you see a farmer using intelligent methods to prevent or cure soil erosion, you may think about It, and he may not; but he is trying 1 to prevent stealing or wasting the) land on which future generations may depend. He is obeying the. Eighth Commandment, But such a farmer shows that right living con sists not merely in refusing to com mit a certain small list of selected crimes; right living is not only not stealing land (for example) from, the rising generation, right living includes also doing all one can to 'pass on to those who shall come after, land that shall have become —because wisely used—more fer tile and fruitful than it was before. In the same way with all other commandments, every Don’t! has a Dol Thou shalt not kill means not only committing no murder, shortening no life; It means con tributing to life and health all we can, wherever we can. “Temper ance” is not mere restriction, it Is not life-denying; it is life-building. (Based *n oattinea eopyrlebtad by th* Division of Christian Education, Na tional Connell of th* Chnrohoa at Christ In th* V. 9. A. R*l*a**d by C*aimanlty Jfraaa *#rrl»o.) * f I : !*»'
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers