County Zoning Law Coupled with New
Assessment Might Save Farmers Money
COUNTY zoning is a subject that is get
ting a considei able bit of attention
here in Pennsylvania and elsewhere these
days One big leason for many farmers
wanting such a set-up is that they believe
that it will tend to reduce their tax load
An investigation made in Illinois by
the state university showed that while
farmers were only about 10 per cent of
the population of the state, and that they
owned only some 30 per cent of the
estate, farmers were presented with a*
whopping tax bill that represented oyer 50
per cent of the real estate taxes in the
state
Now we are not saying that the situa
tion is true here in such a degree, but peo
ple are people wherever you find them It’s
easy for the tax man to see the 120 or how
ever many acres you have on the faim
A house that cost $50,000 often doesn’t
look much diffeient from one that cost
825,000
And then there is this business of sav
ing to the farmer living near an urban
area, “Look here, your faun has more
\alue because it may sometime be used
for building lots We are going to tax you
more because of it ”
This, in our mind, is one of the most
inequitable situations that a farmer can
face
But to get back to the zoning business,
proponents claim that by having the coun
ty rigidly zoned as to land use, a farmer in
an agricultural zone need never have a
worry about such a situation developing
The administrators of the new tax re-
This Week'
in Lancaster Farming
BY JACK REICHARD
75 Years Ago
People have alwavs made em
baiiassing bluncleis in judging
o*heis by the clothes they wore
Some seventy \eais ago a dis
patch out of Boston told of a
piominent lawyei by the name of
v, hitman who appeai’cd in that
uU dressed m a homespun suit
and was quizzed by a number of
1 idnonable guests at the public
house
\s the lawcei enleied the par
hn ol the house henoted secci d
ladies and two gentlemen seated
in the loom, and occiheaid the
innaik iiom one ot them “well
licie comes a countiyman of the
i m 1 homespun genus” V> hitman
staled at the gioup and then sal
d n\ n
Say m\ luend \ou aic liom
the countn icmaiked one ol
lhe gentlemen
Ya as answeiod the lawyer
\ nil a ludicioils twist ol Ins face
1 he Ladies giggled
Mam people wheie cou came
1 1 om ‘
Wal some
Blent' ol ladies I suppose’
’i a as a laii spunklm
1 suppose mhi die quite a beau
mioiu them’
\aas I beaus cm home
l< w meedn and smgin schwel
Bci haps the gentlemen fiom
the count) \ will take a glass ol
" nu '
I hankc e Don I kcci il I do
llk wine was hi outfit
Y mi must dunk a toast
O ml out' 1 cats toast
mu) hie id ol sueh a thma as
dnnkiii it lint I can ane m a
si nlnnt nl
l he ladies (lapped tin n hands
dal lemud the follow, lira K
-ponsi
1 adie - ami a< nth im n pe i nut
im to wish \ou health and han
oimss a j th cun ollici hlessma,
e nth (an alloul and ilia! \ou
dou ik ltd and uwi with ad
\ im ina m ai s Ik ai ma m mind
'hai onluaid appeaiaiic( s an .ill
(iide'illnl Von mistook im lioin
on dicss ioi a coimtn booh*
c hih I hum the same siipctlicial
(oilsi thought sou were laaiis
..ml m nl it nun The mistake has
assessment project now going on m the
county have assued us that land now in
use as farm land, regardless of the proxern
ity to choice building sites, will be assessed
as farm land One of the men pointed
out the complexities of a situation of this
sort of allowed to get out of hand
In one northern Pennsylvania town,
-the city fathers wanted all the land next
to the mam roads leading in and out of the
town for a distance of one mile assessed
as prospective building sites although they
had been planted and were still planted
to crops , , , .
When the assessment teams looked at
their* maps, they saw that there were six
main roads leading in and out of the town
This meant that 12 miles of farm land
would be assessed at an inflated value. It
also meant that the town would have to
quadruple in size before all this land could
be used Needless to say, the city fathers
were over-ruled.
Lancaster County farmers are, when
the i e-assessment program is completed,
going to have a real and clearly defined
tax base structure A county zoning law
would help protect that base It would
idso help stabilize real estate values
The legal problems and work in set
ting up such a system would be hard But
in such a highly populated county as Lan
caster, or any of the other southeastern
counties for that matter, we believe that
the farmer would reap real benefits
Some of the twonships have done the
job already, but a full and comprehensive
pi ogram for the county as a whole would
be much better.
Alfred C Alspach, Publisher, Robert
E Best, Editor, Robert G Campbell,
■Advertising Directoi, Robert J
Wiggins, Circulation Director
Lancaster County’s Own I arm Weekly
Established Nor ember 4, 1935
Published every Friday by OCTORARO
NEWSPAPERS, Quarryville, Pa
Phone STerimg 6-2112 or Lancaster,
Express 4-3047.
Entered as Second-Class matter at
been mutual” the Post Office, Quarryville, Pa, iP"Jer
Just then Caleb Strong, Gov- AC s u £s C JJptron S ’Rates -$2 per year,
01 nor ot the state entered and three years S 3, Single copy Price 5
inquired toi Mr Whitman cents.
‘ Ah, here I am Governor Glad
to sec you ’ Then turning to the
dumb-founcled company Whit
man said
i wnsh you a very good eve-
ning ’
Seventy five yeais ago, “Metal
lic Bed ’ was selected by the Post
mastei General as the color for.
the new two cent postage stamps
r l lie vignette used on the stamps
was copied horn the life cast trom
Houndin’s statue ol Washington
50 Years Ago
y scnous problem confronted
IT nnsylvania laimeis who fat
tened cattle dunng the winter
months foi bulchciing pmposcs
The 1907 coin crop which 'yds
led mainly to steers had tinned
out badly much ol it spoiled in
the cubs The eais became vei\
lough and the cattle iclosed to
eat much ol it The com also lack
id fattening qualities rcqunng
ncaih wine the amount used in
piecious yeais to pioducc 100
pounds ot meat Many fanners
wire compelled to hue Western
min which was high in puce and
till down profits
J, \NCASTER CO, TOBACCO
CL \BLOCK BROKEN
In Lancaster Count! where
tol'aee'o atoweis had held back
thiii 1907 11 op from the maiket
because oC a disaMi cement with
(leak is selling got into full swine
dm lira thi eail.s pail of Ylareh
IOOd with lona line ol wagons
\undin, their \va\ to the waic
honses to unload then leaf
’! he hicak in the deadlock was
not onls a meal boom to the laim
(is hut also piosicied emnlcr.
ii n( to a laiae numhei ol idle
nun '1 he hnae waiehouses stall
id packing open at ions and took
in’ additional woikmen to help
h, mile the woik
1,1 ST ( OW I\
Tllli WORLD
Damnicn ol the counlrs wete
Lancaster Farming
watching with keen interest the
test of a Holstein cow Colantha I
V ’& Johanna which was being con
ducted by dairy officials of the
Wisconsin e\penment station
Achievements both along the line
ol yield of milk and butter fat
showed the animal to be the best
dain cow on record, with a butter
lecord for the best week of 28 li
pounds loi the best month 110 83
pounds
The cow’s milk yield over a
twelve month peuod was 27,432 7
pounds, nearly fourteen tons, with
the milk testing 3 64 per cent but
teitat
A popcorn growei in central
lona, where a large portion of
the product was laised in this
countiy a hall century ago, had
a yield of 2,000 bushels from 33
acies The growei leceived SI
pci bushel
25 Yearis Ago
Ownais ol pet shops m Pcnn
s\ Ivam i which were olfcimg na
tive birds for sale under the
guise ol foieign species weie
warned they would be subtcct to
heave fines unless the practice
was stopped It was pointed out
that under the game laws no one
ma\ sell or possess any protected
buds which belongs to the same
family as those in a wild slate
in the Commonwealth
The warning was issued after
a game piotector noticed an ad
vcitisemenl ofienng blue hnmts
foi sale He visited the pet shop
and identified the buds as indigo
buntings
Furthci investigation revealed
(hat the caidmal or led bird as
it is cominonlv called, also vveic
being sold in the guise o( a fot
eign resident
FUCHS SERVED WITH
ELECTRICITY AT RECORD
Government figures icleased
in 1933 showed a gain of 90,800
in the numbci of farms served
4 Lancaster Farming, Friday, March 7, 1958
Bible Materiel. Matthew 5 1-2 13 18,
Acts 19 21-41, I Thessalonlanss 48,
James 2 14-17 I Petei 1 13-16, 22
Devotional Keadlnj: Maih 4 2b-32
Church's Voice
Lesson for March 9, 1958
DOES society have a con-
We all know what
we mean by a "conscienceless”
individual He is a man who does
whatever occuis to him, what
ever he feels like doing He can
murder his own mother and re
gret only 'that he
man without a
conscience does
not see things as
right and wiong.
only as piactical
and impiactical,
what he can get
by with and what
he can’t Nobody
loves a consci-
enceless man
Nobody wants to Dr - Foreman
live with him, because he is dan
geious, a human rattlesnake
If society has no conscience,
then society.—social gioups such
as whole communities or even na
tions. —can become one vast rat
tlesnake But wheie can society
get a conscience? Moie impoitant
Wheie can society get a conscience
that is right? A faultv compass
can lose a man A faulty con
science can ruin him, and so it is
with society
How God’s Voice is Heard
“The voice of conscience is the
voice of God,” it is sometimes
said This is ti ue onlv in so far as
conscience is in line with the Woid
of God So if society is to have a
conscience, it can only come fiom
God’s Word But who will speak
the Word to society? The mere
existence of the Bible will not do
it The Bible no moie teaches it
self than books of mathematics do
The Chuich of God is expected to
bring the Woid of God to society;
to insist that it be heaid, to ex
plain it, interpret it, to confiont
men with God’s ideals and God’a
demands. jjj
Now Is The Time . . .
By MAX SMITH
County Agricultuial Agent
TO CONTROL WILD GARLIC Early to mid-
March depending upon weather conditions, is the
time to spray wild garlic for best result 0 This
peucnmal weed is isually one of the first to stall
giowmg m the spung and should be sprayed when
four to six inches tall The chemical to use is
(he ester form ol 2,4-D at the rale of three pints
per acie When 3 pr a yed eaily in the spring veiy
little damage is done to legumes in the pasture
mixtuie
A'
"S>
TO TOP-DRESS FORAGE CROPS Legumes
die heav\ feeders of both phosphorus and potash
Unless these elements aic returned to the soil
each veai the leitility level of the soil will be ie-
Max Smith
duted as well as the yield In the case of alfalfa
it is best to apply the forlih/ci after the last cutting in the fall, how
ever, fields that arc not treated last fall should be top-dressed duiin->
carlj March The lecommcndalum is 400 pounds pci ade of 0-20 20
01 o*ls-30
TO PLAN FOR LARGER CORN YIELDS W ith noimal lainlall no
doubt many torn yields will be broken in the next decade The trend
is towaid thinker stands and heavier foitili/ci applications, a plant
population of 16 to 18 thousand stalks pei acie should give good
yields on heavy, lei tile soil The me of extra nitiogen especially
whole a giass-lcgume sod is not plowed down, eithci plowed down
ui side-diessed at the Inst cultivation should give icsults
TO KEEP CATTLE OFF PASTURE — The piacticc of allow
ing cattle to mn ovci the mam pasture axca this early m the spring
may do far more haim than good the giound is so soft they wdl
deslioy many places and make the pi dure rough A small lot should
be coustiucled to confine them until the glass gels some giowlh and
Ine lound becoings mole firm Even with vvmtci giains it is best not
lo glare (he cattle immediately altei heavv lains
with clectiicily in 1931 the these obtain it horn high tension
largest annual increase on rcc lines owned by large utilities
oid up to that time The icpoit the cheapest and most efficient
slated
“The Amencan farm has taken
. , , ~ , Before shooting himself Wil
to elect.ic service with rcma.k , bur Lindsav> J Fort Worth
able enthusiasm At the moment Tc \, wrote “All women are
almost a million farm homes chislcrs of one sort or another,
have powei and 650,000 of they' are gold diggers".
AtL ,
Conscience Is shaipcst—that la
to say, it hulls most, when theia
is resistance to it In fact, th«
moie violent the icsislance, tha
nioie the stabs of conscience ar*
hurting.
What Stifles the Voice?
As with individuals, so with tha
community The voice of con
science can be stifled and smoth
eied and finally silenced One way
to do it is the simple way; just re
fuse to listen Another way is to
bonow a tuck fiom childien who
don’t want to hear their mother
asking for help in the kitchens
turn the radio higher, make such
a lacket nobody can be heard
through it The woild aiound us,
the ordinary ungodly woild, is
like an immense ladio shouting to
us in tones quite unlike the Woid
of God If a poison, or a com
munity listens to the world’s
voices moi e than to the “still small
voice” of God they will presently
be unable to heai God at all Put
it as a plum question Who is to
tell us what is tight and what is
wiong’ If we listen to what
“evei \ body" says if we count
noses and see what the maiouty
says if we take our ideas from the
world we shall end by being no
difleient from the woild Like tha
chuich of Saidis w>e mav have
the name of being alive, but we
shall be dead
Words and Ofeeds
The church itself let it be re
peated ought to be the u oild’s
conscience not the other v\ ay
aiound Every congregation ought
to be a conscience in that com
munity It should necer sunender
that right and dutv But the church
must be moie than a voice Its
deeds must match its wolds The
chuich calls tor unity among man;
but how can it do this with a
straight face if itself is all torn
with factions and fights? The
chuich calls for "economic jus
tice", but how can it be taken seri
ously if it does not pay its own
employees a decent wage? The
chuich speaks for Christian edu
cation; but not convincingly when
it will not suppoit its own churen
colleges The chuich speaks toP
temperance, but with what a fee
ble voice, when Its own officer*
set an example of drinking, an#
its membeis mostly vote wet'
What church people do speaks
even louder than what “the
church” pieaches
(Based on oolllnea oopyrlehUd by th«
Uftislon of Christian Education, Naj
tlonal Council of the Churches of Chrlsf
In the II S 4 Released by Community
Press Servlca.)
kind of sciv'ice ”