I'VNCE AGAIN THE American farmer is
” producing news as well as crops and
livestock
Front page of the WALL STREET
, JOURNAL, headlines and editorials across
the nation
From the smallest cultivated and pas
tured acreage in modern U S farm history
this nation’s farmers are producing the all
time record "high in farm commodities.
This is an era when official federal
policy has been encouragement of produc
tion reduction and controls A time when
the FARM PROBLEM has been discussed,
argued, cursed, exploited, and uncontrolled.
Six times the Sept. 1957 total of fed
eral wheat-storage loans are in effect To
day, seven times the Sept 1957 cotton loan
totals, and the same type reports are given
for flaxseed, oats, rye, barley and sor
ghums
Federal expenditures this year, for
support loans, the soil bank, school lunch
programs, exports, and the rest of the
farm program, are expected to reach $5
billion Predictions had been for a $3 3
billion expenditure
Of course, farmers, and most people
close to agriculture, realize much of this
cost will be repaid when commodity stores
are sold Much of the cost is in research
designed to guarantee this country’s swell
ing population plentiful food supplies twen
ty years from now Much is in soil conser
vation work
1 But don’t try to tell the man on the
street that the farmer isn’t sitting back on
Easy Sreet letting the government pay him
high prices for things there was no market
for in the first place
„ The American farmer has performed a
tiemendous job this year Even with the
recession hanging on in some places, few
Americans will need be hungry.
But, don’t expect any thank yous,
bouquets, or applause
This nation, the best-fed. best-clothed
m history, will reward her food and fiber
producers with every form of vilhfication
at'her command
Once again, the farmer can expect to
letum to his hearth from morning chores
m the chill of a winter blizzard and learn
tin ough evei v form of communication that
Fust he's un-American Second, he’s a
parasite Thu d, he’s inefficient Fourth he’s
lazv Fifth, and Sixth, and Seventh, ad
infinitum
In this lespect it will be a long winter.
Long and rough
Who will be responsible 9 Labor un
ions, desirous of low living costs for their
members Hardly, although most labor lead-
I'THIS WEEK
| W » —ln Washington
| in^°n Davidson
J Davidson
In Washington last week the Aheaciv there ai e more than 58
L S Department ol Agricultuie t diions worth of taim commoncli-
lepoitecl that American faimeis t c>- stacked up in government
til's. vear will establish a new all leased warehouses cold storage SOW r vss cprn w i
. i u it r plants and under loan on farms „ . , , w SEED Winter gram crops in
time retold high pioduction of M b,]i lo ns will be added to Subscn P tlon Rates- »p« * ear . which seedmgs of alfalfa or clover are to be made
foods and f.beis thdt s i otkpi ie during the next s s’ S ’ nC,e * earl > neXt Spnng should be thmner ln stand than
In most nations this would ha\e Jcw weeks cents ‘ those planted for top yields only Experience has
) cen good new-, and an occasion our totd i supp i y 0 f wheat will 1 ■« ■ - „ ... shown that in the average year it is very difficub
oi ea sting and leio.ung hat the , almos>t tvVQ a hdlf b]lhon Max Smith to get both a bumper ciop of gram and a good
hanest had been so bountiful I |>l|shels enough to meel olu loocl ldl S e supplies, gone up compai- stand of legume Many successful wheat growers
\ ould bate meant genuine relict Mtec | s | or t b e next iour years We able to other living costs Had food Set good yields of wheat when sowed at the rate or 4to 6 pecks per
? 10,11 the evci piesent fear of U]J) h<ne moie thdn se^en billion costs gone up as much as auto- J IC1 ? dnd lbe sland is useful as a nurse crop. Six peck per acre of
lu,n « er bushels of com and other feed , llobl les foi example the past 10 . Y 1S recommended lf , lodglng lh ilot a Problem, thicker stands
To faimeis in those countiies o, dUls t .„ o ugh to last us about nur f , ... ~ make P oor nuri > e crops and disappointing legume stands,
ihe bumpei ciops would have two years • al food blll would
meant mcicased piofils and pres ybe remaikable part of it is bdVC been S>2s billion a year moio ® SEAL TRENCH SILOS CAREFULLY Many silos are being
'.ge The government would t hot this lecoid has ben establish- than it is filled j t.tins time and the upnght presents little problem to avoid
honor them and the people would by the fewest number of farm The S 5 bilhon a year is money . e ’ thc trench sll ° operator cannot af
1. phased and appieciative c-is in more than 75 years on the * cll spent to l sure t hc Am * I’ 10 o ? en , Careful seahn S wlth Plastic
1} Washington this week the smallest number of planted acres nn , . . . . ( or olh< * r paper is stronlgy recommended After the
i( action to thc news that laimers Sl nee the Civil War We have m PCOple Ule h® 3l and ched P est mIo is filled and the top mounded higher m the middl.e the trench
ate pioducmg mom than we can i f ,ct learned to pioduce not two 111 hours worked food and 3 3e Packed from 24 to 48 houis with a tractor oi other means,
‘ d wcai and export duimg the but three blades of grass wheie clothing in thc world Moreover U ? PI f 3 V C CoVers are ve * v P°P ular an d should
e.xt 12 months was anvthing but o ne grew beloie about one-third of that is the cost tastene d down tight and then covered over with chopped silage.
ol sending food and fibers to the Wee t ds ° r low-quality g«een crops This protects the plastic and pre
less fortunate people in other i ~ be w,nd llom gellln S un der the cover Animals should be
parts of the world fenccd fro,n the area
We should be thankful for the TO BE CAREFUL IN CATTLE BUYING - The m.x.im of newlv
bountiful harvest which God and purchased steers with cattle already acclimated ,s always a dangemu s '
T"* 06 * espeClally tIUC Wlth caUle shl PP«' any distance
W'e should be giateful that no lhroUBn publlc stock y alds when both lots of cattle are able to touch
American ever need to go to bed roics or f,nnk Loin the same waleiing trough the risk is increased
hungry, thanks to the best farm The best plan is to keep the animals entnely separate for at least
crj in the world {wo to three weeks time
OA Oils
What \ DifTeioiue'
Washington is neithei pleased einphasi/e the cost" of this sup
io' appieciatiw of the reeoid ci aboundanee without slopping
inru-t It has spent billions ol t„ think about So billion a year
''illai. in an ( floit to leduce pio on all Upes of so-called 'farm
fine lion and it will have to spend pio^rams
More billions to dispose of the But (aim puces of foods and
'" r l ,lus f'bcrs ha\e not because of the
A Job Well Done 1
(ost of Plenlv
Most Anicnuins unfoitunuteh
field, the grapes they pick off some
land-owner’s vines. Here is the
family uprooted, wanderers on the
face of the earth, without home oi
lob. Here are the nameless, face
less people totally obscure, for
whom history has no name except
in the lump “the multitudes”
Here are the sick people too poor
to have a doctor; here is a woman
some doctor has made poor. Here
„ , , . ~ are the people in prison, here is a
Bible Material: Deuteronomy 15 7-11. , „ 1 . ,
34 19-21: liaiah 58 4-12, Matthew beggar shivering- at the back door.
9 35, 36; Luke 4 14-22; Hebrews
13.1-3; i John 3 u-24. What they need
Devotional Beading: Isaiah 42 1-9. Of course, such helpless people
nneed not have bebn so helpless if
perhaps society had been different
ly organized, or if there had been
j better laws. Such desperate situa
tion for September 21, 1958 ! lon f s ° u S ht , be Prevented m the
j first place, to be sure For example:
]t has not been a lifetime since
. 'T'HE LAST man 011 the totem there were beggars on all roads
Food retailers? It S doubtful The cor- A pole is still a man. The man at The tramp and the hobo were com
ner grocer has been m trouble for years, the bottom of the ladder, the man mon sights. Now how long is it
and basically because the chain stores have underneath the heap, the last man smce you have seen a tramp ? How
been underselling him by a large margin, fo * thtn ’ Uiere*^ 1 b'^B'arK^ 8 ' arK do y°" b y
while building huge super markets and For the ideal of justice, as the Eibi. £ r Tven m* a"de
paying higher not exorbinate wages, upholds it,is that ALLmen shall bn pression than we used to have even
There is profit involved in large-scale food treated with fair- m times of prosperity is partly due
retailing, but not as much as in foreign ne ®®’ and rn ? re ~ ** t 0 the fact that the man who lost
cars, for instance. tion *£■ his job in hard tames used to have
What about the farmer’ He has re
mained aloof and unconcerned with what name of God If , er ty 1S much easier than curing it.
happens to his product when it leaves his everybody get' f Nevertheless, with all the proven
ownership He has remained stubbornly fairtreal -™ entex > tion we have the wit and the cour
independent often refusing to join in la y er> then when SlemTases*’ tTe and
such small joint efforts as watershed con- you who have HH Ik helpless ones ’ P
trol for conservation, disease control, local been fortunate all Dr. Foreman
co-ops, or marketing groups these years shp into that bettor.
What is even worse, in this age of the no^omuciTulsfin th ft re
nu j nu > u , ’ , ~ . not so much justice as you thought
“hard sell”, he has heard himself called in Mark Twam’s story “The Prmci
every name in the book, and usually re- and the Pauper" the prince though i
acted by mumbling, “Ah, they don’t know everything was smooth and fine
what they’re talking about ” when he chan s ed P laces wit)
Up hoc hppn inn npr ppnt r-icfht in env tbe pau P er and looked at thing
be , „ Been iuu P er cent rl S nt ln sa y from the seamy side, he could nr I
mg that But he has been just as wrong in find justice anywhere,
not attempting to do something about it Who
The average American doesn’t know ,
what the farm problem is all about Be- wdes the spoil with the'suon/ a f
cause no one has told him It is a subject leaves no share for the V “o.j
of vital interest Any theorist m the country °niy so-called, it is picciseiy cm
can get newspaper space for his ideas and P ersons v[ ho cannot fight foi then
people often buy them ,as silly as some of votes!’ the Umporta^plp 'e '
them are forgotten and obscuie, thm-e
The farmer is not a theorist He is of five and die m the shadow> it
neces&tv, a realist It is about time he faced P recisel y these whom a tine -ir
the reality of getting “his side” across to Christian J ' ustlce v” 11 not imgo
thP pnnsuminu nnhlfp The strong will get their sha, e , r
tne consuming public more besides if they can get fj
If he doesn t, and all farm programs with it. it is the weak wno w
are abandoned, the farmer may find him- protection and defense
self in the role of an urbanite; when in a The Blble Imes them up fm ■
few decades, the nation’s farming is done by f°^ y ra £ -ta « lot the\ am t
fewer than 1,000 economic units, closely nTel aloa^lnS% P a
knit in a powerful, omnipotent, agriculture knows) win never be able topn i
combine, evoking every possible bit of ba( k Her e are the people r, nr
profit from their products At least, this is that they cannot buy food on
the claim of one theorist. ‘ on s h ° whGal u ’° v c'-i'
T) 4. 4.1, i o tnti/t from somebody el^c* 5 - hnr
But then, who cares? DM
ers want all within reason they can get for
their members, they still know farmers are
the best customers for products of industry.
Food processors are about as low-paid as
any organized labor group.
Industry itself’ This is unlikely for
the same and many more reasons.
. Politicians 9 Hardly. Most politicos are
of the “there go my people, and I must
hurry after them, for I am their leader”
caliber. Urban politicians realize the farm
problem is a nice, safe and advantageous
issue. The farm boys haven’t been slow to
catch on to this either. But over the years,
they all have been too confused and afraid
to do much, except change the name of
USDA bureaus. Remember AAA, PMA,
etc.
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Lancaster Farming Now Is The Time .• .
Lancasi
Alfred C Alspach, Publisher, Dan
McGrew, Editor, Robert G Campbell
Advertising Director, Robert J,
Wiggins, Circulation Director.
Established November 4, 1955
Published every Friday by OCTORARO
NEWSPAPERS, Quarryville, Pa -■
Phone SXerling 6-2112 or Lancaster,
Entered as Second-Class matter at
the Post Ofnce, Quarryville, Pa., uwler
Act of March 3, 1879
ter County's Own Farm Weekly
Express 4-3047.
4—Lancaster Farming, Friday, September 19, 1958
justice for ALL
By MAX SMITH
County Agricultural Agent
&
TO FEED LEGUME CROPS Late September
or October are good times to apply phosphorus
and potash fertilizers to pastures or hay crops
containing alfalfa or any of the cloveis Fall
treatment with 30 to 400 pounds of 0-20-20 or 0-
15-30 will eliminate the need of a spring applica
tion and will give the plant roots ample time to
stole the soil elements.
Forgotten Folk
It is not only individuals who
have run into personal hard times
who need help, but whole groups
and classes of people in trouble,
need more help, more fair treat
ment, than they usually receive.
There are, for example, the people
in the mental hospitals of Amer
ica, a half million of them at a
recent count. Unless your state
is a most unusual one, such pa
tients m your state do not have
nearly enough doctors, nurses,
attendants, or attention. Then
consider that for every patient
who can get into a mental hospital,
even the understaffed, overcrowd
ed ones we have, there are num
bers of others who cannot be ad
mitted What is being done for
these people by your church, your
community, your state? Or con
sider juvenile delinquents, or adult
lawbreakers on parole. Does your
community ignore these bottom
rung derelicts, or does it do any
thing to help them, or to prevent
their hetng derelicts?
dimmed on outlines copyrighted by
the Division of Christina Education,
National Conned of the Churches ot
Christ in the U. S. A. Released by
Community Press Service.)