Current Farm Price Boom Works Against
Drouth-Stricken Western Stockmen
EVERY COIN has two faces This is true
with the cunent agricultural boom
Here, reproduced in part, is an editorial
Irom the Farmei’s Exchange, published in
Indiana It sums up very well some of the
v lews from the other side of the fence.
“Statistics dealing with farm prices
and incomes may be enlightening and they
may be cruelly deceptive. An example may
be found in a typical headline, ‘Reports
show farmers getting higher prices ’
“This is true for only a poition of our
faim population, for some who produce
i egetables and citrus fruits or livestock for
market But good price per unit means
good income only when the volume for
•.ale is sufficient It is small consolation to
thousands of vegetable and citrus growers
of the south to know that prices are high
for the crops they 'fried to grow, when all
or most of their crops have been destroyed
b\ frost and rains Where one grower
profits by high prices, many more will lose
their season’s work and possibly ownership
of the very land they planted, or be forced
bv losses to cease operations on leased
(and They are obliged to join the ranks of
the unemployed when jobs are scarce and
through no fault of their own
“Much of the same thing is true of the
good livestock prices The benefits seem, at
first thought, to be widely distributed But
just a little analysis of the entire field re
leals that this is not correct
“A five-year drouth over
6
'l,',''. 2s~.
by jack reichard
75 Years Ago
An at tide appearing in Apple-
Journal, 1883 gives some
interesting facts- lelatne to the
it anspoitation ol mails in this
tountn In spite of the numerous
i.ihoads and steamboats, three
Quarters of a century ago the
mails weie still earned thiee
e.iles bv hoises to one mile by
i.'ilroads
Dut the mails in geneial weic
U'creasmg in weight and delivery
In the early 1800’s mails for the
Smith left the New Yoik post-of
nce earned b\ one man, whoiow
ed a boat acioss the lenv then
plated the mail m a wailing stage
jti ath
l Awa\ back in 1781 Postmastei
(General Beniamin Fiankim had
tnciea'td the speed ol letleis be
k aecn Philadelphia and Boston b\
j educing the tunc lioin six to
itince weeks
1 Seven’s live \cais ago Jenny
Jf ’ud the 'a.nod Swedish soprano
Juas Imng at South Kensington
(fngJand in a mansion sin rounded
tin specious lawiu She was sixty
Ithiee then and note a wig She
knpg only occasioiialh in the Bath
jchon (minded in hei husband
diio at local icquest She had two
jniaiiKd daughteis and a son who
Juas an ollitei in the BtiUsli
1 GeoigeW Di\on o! Bethlehem
Jl'a had gi\en S2G GOO to the Lin Apathv and emnutv helween
Jr’en ILil) I'tmale Seimnaiv at Lit the lush and Dutch was quite
(ii/ Lancaster Countv The monev ewdent m Lancaster Countv's Ml
pvas to lie n-orl lor 'he election ]o\ Township, back in 1000
Inf a Gothic Chapel as a memonal Chiisl Shoemakoi a supcmsoi,
ho his daughtei Mai> Dixon who was saving things to his hoises in
Jl <-0 giacluaUd liom the school Dutch An Irish hobo not under
, stciulinq the dialect thought he
( S< noi Haifa Spanish Mimstei u<is being guv eel The Irishman
(to the Called States shot and became luiious and used all the
ikilkd hnnscll in his loins at the adjectives at bis command in giv
'Mheimaile Hole! \ Y The rea- mg Shoemakei a pcdigiee This
sun was blamed on business uas 100 much loi the Dutchman
|1 onblcs and when the Inshman showed
j light Shoemaker gave him a
I Bcinaid G Scnig .Assistant poncing icsultmg in a pan of
■Surg( tm U S A uas lound dead black ejes and a swollen nose
in bis bulioom at the Occidental
Hotel San Hanusco with a boi
led labeled poison be his side
'1 he cottage at loidham New had icturned Dom the collar with
oik vvhcie Kdgai Mien I J oe had a pan o( potatoes While peeling
v ritlcn Bells and Annabel the tubers the gnl was almost
1 < us sold at auction Poes 1 Tightened out ol hei wits to sec
Plains, which is the heart of the cattle
region, had forced many to reduce their
herds and others out of business. It is
cruelly deceptive to assume that these
famers are profiting by high prices of cat
tle when they are obliged to buy to re
plenish herds with the coming of the rains,
and have few, if any cattle to sell The re
sult is—stock that would normally go to
market aie held for breeding which re
duces market receipts enough to create a
strong market for others. ,
The WOeS of the cattleman of the '-r'jjgjjE are three kinds of law
plains do not end here By the time he can 1 the o]d Testament ' chris
raise young stock for sale, the market tians are sometimes confused
price will be down again, according to the about them because of not stopping
law of the cattle cycle to f < ; onsider w £ at ese tand /
~T , u J i-i-t + of law are The Ten Command-
Tt would seem here that the misfoi- ments come first of aU _ arB
tune of one group of farmers serves to the key to aU the other laws . From
make another group prosperous, under a that day to this
system where the farmer has only partial —or for that mat
control of both production and marketing te J> lons before
. “The free use of statistical averages
in reporting farm yields, prices and in- i n human society,
comes is legitimate, but may carry wrong so far as they are
implications Plenty of illustrations can be good, will bo
found Here is one top level source - ‘No seen t 0 be P ar *
recession in farming’ It is based on the ticul , ar case *
j- l xi. i. ° n u or applications of
mere fact that the average farm price has som e one or an
advanced 5 per cent in the last two months Other of the Ten Commandments'
But even with this price advance the price These are universal, they are God’s
level is only 87 per cent of parity Any tews for an, they are stai the basic
other group of our population would regard pattern ° f ngl ! t in f’.
themselves in a real denression if nrices Second aie the "statutes" as they
memseives m a real depression ii prices , re sometimes ca u e d, the special
were onlv 87 per cent of an admitted fair laws for anC ] ent i srae i, embedded
the Great price—that’s what parity is
-Tfiis Week*
in Lancaster Farming
initials which he cut on an apple
tice m the oi chard behind the
cottage were still legible, seventy
ine jeais ago
50 Years Ago
E/ia Reist, a Lancaster farmer
near Manheim, had lor seveial
seats grown Ginseng in a small
wav Bock m 1908 he sold his
List crop to a Philadelphia whole
sale drug company, receiving $5
per pound foi a ciop of fifteen
pounds of the dried roots which
was taken from a bed 16 x 24 feet
in sue
Fifty years ago the root of
Ginseng was highly valued as a
medicine among the Chinese, ahd
vas an item of cxpoit ftom Unit
ed Slates to China
Up to 1873 not more than ?25
000 yvas invested in the growing
01 oianges in California But as a
icsult ol the introduction ot the
”a\el mange dining that year the
industu had giown into an in
vestment in the cultivation ot the
oi.iiige amounting to over SlOO
000 000 m California alone m
1908
I’ll tv vcais ago this wck laim
eis lioin all pails ol Lancaster
<.nd Ymk Counties woie making
ti ips daily to the Susquehanna
Tin ei to procure the toothsome
Susquehanna Shad’ which wei e
being caught in unusual large
nuinbeis
Lise while in Lancaster Countv
iiistt week a Warwick teenage gul
had a hon living expel icnce She
Lancaster Farming
Lancaster County’s Own Farm Weekly
Alfred C Alspach, Publisher, Robert
E Best, Editor, Robert G Campbell,
Advertising Director, Robert J
Wiggins, Circulation Director
Established November 4, 195 , j
Published every Friday by OCTORARO
NEWSPAPERS, Quarry ville. Pa
Phone SXerling 6-2112 or Lancaster,
Express 4-3047
i
Entered as Second-Class matter at
the Post Office, Quarryville, Pa,
Act of Maich 3, 1879
Subscription Rates' S 3 per year,
three ’years $5, Single copy Price 5
cents
a snake, eighteen inches long,
laise its slimy form in the dish
pan All preparations ended
abruptly, and a hned man was
called in to dispose of the reptile
25 Years Ago
In the men) month of May,
I't33, work at the Pennsylvania
Fish Commission’s new trout rais
mu and stream improvement de
volopment on Spring Creek, near HU»t Ao AIIC J.IIIIC • • ■
Bcllefounte, was being pushed
steadily to completion A crew of
fuinteen wotkmcn had already
laiscd the level of the giant spung
that fed the nurseiy ponds and
installed aerators
Other woik well underway was
the completion ol a diamage ca
nal and temporaly ponds fed di
lectly bv water from Spiing
Cieek Small tiout were to he
placed in these ponds lor experi
mental purposes, to determine
rate of growth and reactions to
the water supply fiom the stream
At the upper lip of the pioject,
winch covered some ninety acics,
a side channel had been construct
ed to divert the water ol Spring
Clock into a dam newly con
st! acted The first unit included
si\lj four trout ictaining ponds
below the springs Each ol the'
ponds measuicd 100 feet in length
and eight leet in width
Twentv-livc vcars ago this week
a timeh remmdei tiom the Penn
svlvania State College School ol
Agi itullural cautioned all pci
sons, laimeis in paiticular to be
c'apeciallv vigilent in keeping a
close check on blasting caps kept
01 then piemiscs It was pointed
out that when waimei weather
and school vacations hue young
sieis out oi doois accidents to
children lioni exploding blasting
c..ps mu ease The authonties
Said the oxplosivies and Caps
should he sloied sepai atclv
Morgan Cmliss, of New Yoik
Cilv, provided m /ns will for a
hole] banquet to mourners who at
tended his funeral which took
place 25 rears ago this week
4—Lancaster Farthing, Friday, May 23, 1958
Bible Material: Deuteronomy 6:11.
, Devotional Readlntt Deuteronomy
80:13-20.
Life, Law and God
Lesson for May 25, 1958
in the books of Exodus, Leviticus. 'God’s Law Not God’s Whim
Numbers an d Deuteronomy, in An Impor tant third point about
vanosu legal codes. These are like' tbe Law of God i 9 sug gestea In
the laws of any country or city these chapters from Deuteronomy,
that no longer exists The law died It is the nght answer t 0 an old
when the country died What is question: Could God have turned
»UU living in the statutes is their ‘the Ten Commandments upside
principles, and these are as good down, so to speak, if he had wanted
as new. The third class of laws is t 0? Could be just as well have sa , d _
the great mass of regulations gov- Thou shalt have others Gods be
einmg the rituals and the sacn- fore me . . . Thou shall kill, thou
flees. These have no binding effect 'shall commit adultery, dishonor
whatever today, because the Taber- | thy parentSi he and steal? Dld he
na j le ..^ d are no mole > ,draw these laws, so to speak, out
and Chiist our Passover” has ' o f a c ] olldi as tickets are drawn
een once and for all sacrificed a t a raffle? In short, are the laws
or USI {of God arbitrary, a matter of dl-
God’S Law No Barbed*Wirt Fenco ‘Vine caprice’ Is all we can say
What is said about the Law~ot {about “right” and “wrong” only
God in Deuteronomy 6 and 11, not “He wants It that way, so shut
to mention elsewhere, supports (Up!”? Absolutely not. God made
three propositions. If we put each ,man, he made man in his own
of these propositions negatively, it Image With man, and In man, God
Is because the opposite pioposition created and implanted the laws of
Is positive, but positively -wiong. (man’s existence. God’s will for
First It must be said, against a man Is looted In his love tor us
chorus of croakeis, that God’s Law his children.
Is no baibed-Wlie Or any other sort (Based on outlines copyrighted by (he
of fpnrp Tt lo not O U, n j Division of Christian Education, Ns-
OI lence. it IS not a Chain, hand tlonal Council of Hie Churches of Christ
cuffs, nor a prison wall. It doc I? ,he P s A Released hr Community
Rtcaa Service.)
By MAX SMITH
County Agiicultural Agent
TO SPRAY CORN PRE-EMERGENCE Spray
ing the coin lield after planting and before the
corn gets any lute leaves tor the control of gras
ses and weeds is recommended The use of 1 to
l’/a pounds per acre of the amine or the low
volatile ester foim ot 2,4-D per acre is the dosage.
This method is very good for the control of
grasses on the row especially in case of wet
weather following the planting The application
ol this spray when the com is coming through the
ground (spike stage) has given excellent results
1 1
TO KILL CANADA THISTLES All land own-
Max Smith eis aie responsible for the control of Canada,
Thistles on their propeitv. this in cities, small towns, or in
the open country These thistles arc listed as one ot the noxious
weeds in Pcnnsvjvania and laws state their compulsory control
Spiavmg with 2,4 D or with Amino Tna/ole during periods of rapid
growth will give good results, allow ten days to two weeks time for
the chemical to get down into the loot system betoie plowing 01
c ultivatmg
TO BE CAREFUL OF TOBACCO BEDS The weed spray chemi
cal, 2,4-D ~ very dangerous on or near tobacco beds the drift or
tunics from near-by helds will often cause some damage to the
>oung plants Spiaycrs used on tobacco beds should be free from
all 2,4 D residues, Ihoiough soaking and washing ol the sprayer with
household ammonia will help icduce the danger This icsidue will
last for several yeais m a sprayer
TO SIDE-DRESS CORN WITH NITROGEN If side-diessing is io
be done on a field of com; it should be made at the fust or second
cultivation when the corn is under 10 inches tall, the earlier the bet
tei after the coin is up Extra nitrogen at this time should increase
vickls espcciallv wheie a legume sod and manure was not plowed
down The nitiogen should be applied as deeply and as closely to
the plant without culling an\ side loots
fO SOW TEMPORARY FORAGE CROPS Mixtures of soybeans,
‘-udan glass and ioiage soigluuns should be seeded during late May
or cai Iv June loi best results If these uops arc to be made into hay
the curing conditions will usuallj be better during late August or
September than later in the tall The value ol sweet sudan grass
lor grazing must be icalizcd prior to time of killing frosts Fertilizer
should not be applied at the same time or come in direct contact with
anj of these seeds Drill the fertilizer separatelj and prior to the
seeding operation
,not repress, it releases. Note how
■often In these chapters, and In the
Bible, God’s will and law are con
nected with life. Religion has been
called (falsely) a “set of scruples.”
—that is to say, all that religion
can do for a man is to make him
dieadfully uncomfortable in the re
gion of the conscience. That is,
definitely not the idea of Deuter
onomy. The law of God sets man
fiee. It no moie hmdeis him than
a railway tiack hinders the tiam.
God’s Law Not Superfluous
Another pioposition suggested by
Deuteronomy is that the law of
God is not supeifluous Some peo
ple think that because we live un
der grace, as Chuslians do, the
law is not needed any ,moie. A
remark made by the great Saint
Augustine is often quoted and en
larged on: Love God, said he, and
then you can do aa you please.
Any act done out of love is right,
theiefore all you need is love, and
the law will take caie of itself
Now it is not true that all acts
done from love are right. A good
many really vicious things have
been perpetrated in the name of
God by men who loved God with
all their might. There have been
some qiute benevolent tyrants The,
New Testament does not suggest
that we have grown beyond the
law of God now that we know the.
new law of Love, father, love
shows us ways in which we may
fulfill God’s laws You will find
“Love God with all your heart”
in Deuteronomy (6 5) and “Love
your neighbor as yourself” m«
Leviticus (19-18), But no writer or
user of the Old Testament has sup
posed that all the other laws but
those two could be erased.