—Lancaster Fanning, Saturday. December 5. 1959
4
FROM WHERE WE STAND -
Secretary Benson Praises Farmers
Secretary of Agriculture Ezra Taft
Ben&cn today made public a letter writ
ten by him recently to ttie presidents of
nearly 100 leading farm and non-farm
nationwide organizations urging that they
help focus public attention on the "debt
of gratitfade which all Americans owe to
their neighbors on farms and ranches."
Text of the letter follows;
"My recent trade development and
good will trip to Europe left me more than
ever impressed with the fact that the Am
erican people owe a special debt of gra
titude to our farmers and ranchers. Their
efficiency and productiveness are basic
to our national progress and high stand
ard of living.
"Each farm worker in the United
Stales produces, on the average, enough
food and fiber for about 25 persons. In
contrast, a farm worker in the Soviet
Union produces enough for only six or
seven persons. Never have so few pro
duced so much for so many as our farm
ers have done in recent years.
"The productivity of our farmers and
ranchers has not only supplied abundant
quantities of food to consumers and raw
materials to industry; it has also released
manpower for the needs of the total
Davidson
Secretary of Agriculture mer at the time of World War
Ezra Benson returned recent- I, and it is only about one
iy from a first-hand survey of third the current U. S. output
farming and farm living con- per worker,
drtions inside Russia. His au- Consider that in this coun
'.hontative comments and try we are attempting to re
comparisons with American strain farm production, while
agriculture probably are the j n Russia there is a great ef
most reliable that are avail- £ o rt to expand production,
able from behind the Iron and you see that the Russians
Curtain. have a long, long way to go
The Secretary traveled to catch up with us ' t a
through farming areas, stop- * There is, Benson noted,
pmg often to talk with Rus- S a P between their pro
sian farm people. He also ductivity and ours a still
talked with Russian agricul- Wlc * er between their
tiiral officials. Prom his ob- marketing and ours and a
servations we get a good tremendous chasm between
comparison between U. S. their farm standards of liv
■aftd USSR farming. in g and ours.
“You have read,” lie said, A “Compared with a typical
“that the Soviet Union has American farm, life on a So
made, and is making, great ™ et fa ™ 13 alm f st Primitive
strides toward a more effic- have about one million
lent agriculture. This is true, tractors all owned by the
“Yet, according to Soviet ha Y e nearly five
sources some 50 million per- milll °n, owned by individ
sohs were working in agri- uals
culture in 1956—43 per cest Hand Labor vs. Power
of their total labor force. “Few Soviet farms have
The Soviet Union, in other electricity, compared with
words, has several times as 96 per cent of ours, and with
many people actively engag- electricity in the U. S. have
ed in agriculture as we have, come running water, radios,
yet our total production ex- television, refrigerators, deep
ceeds theirs by a wide marg- freezers, vacuum cleaners
m.” and a whole multitude of
F6riy Years Behind labor-saving devices un-
Khrushchev has boasted known on the average Rus
from time to time that Soviet sian farm
agricultural production will “Many families on Soviet
soon eaual, and then surpass farms live in wooden cabins,
that of the United Stales even mud huts. They get to
Russian farm output per town about as often as farm
worker is about equal to that ers m this country used to GO
of the average American far- or 75 years ago.
“Our farm families drive
modern cars on hard-surfaced
highways. The Soviet farm
family rides in horse-drawn
carts over roads to match
We have more telephones on
farms in this country than
can be found in all of Russia
city and farm combined.
“After a first hand look at
agriculture under contrasting
Lancaster Farming
Lancaster County’s Own Farm
Weekly
P O Box 1524
T monster, Penna.
Oftxes:
52 Xoi ih Duke St.
Bancaster, Penna.
1 anca°ter
Phone
4-W47
.Tack Owen, IMilor
Robc-t g Campbell Advertising forms of government and in
Dir. rtnr k Business jihn iger three Communist countries,”
EetnMished n«ember 4 iPG Benson said, “I’m all the
towtir t arming ipnca’trr pa more convinced of the super- Ground corn cobs are good
Entered as 2nd civs matter at ionty of our - agricultural * eed f° r beef catt’e during
Pa under Art or Mar system of privately owned *be winter if the cobs are
jnv p q1 ' entrv at Tr "' rl, f arm iy farms, the profit mo- supplemented with three and
Subscription Bates- j 2 per vear; tive, competitive markets, a half pounds of supplement
Oree years f 5. Single copy Pries and f ree dom for the farmer P° r cow dai! 3 r
6 Cent- _____
Pubisn- dGC uC Wnat IIG Wants to
ere' A^nci-itmn. National Editor, grow and market ful we should be, and how
UI Association “How fortunate we are to determined to keep our coun
live in this land, how grate- try free and strong.”
THIS WEEK
—ln Washington
With Clinton Davidson
Farming In Russia
economy, which has given America the
highest standard of living in all history.
. "The accomplishments of American,
agriculture thus give striking evidence of
the value of free enterprise, individual in
itiative, and creative achievements. Four
fifth of our agriculture is free of govern
ment controls. Our surplus problems are
limited to a very few commodities—com
modities for which agriculture has not
had full freedom to make necessary ad
justments. I have complete confidence
that our farm people, given necessary
freedom, will continue to do a great job.
"It seems appropriate to me that ad
ditional public attention be focused on
this debt of gratitude which all Americans
owe to their neighbors on farms and
ranches. Having farmed for many years
and worked with agriculture all my life,
I have always had a keen appreciation
of the excellent job farmers do. I have
tried to express this feeling at every op
portunity and I can pleased about the
good work being done by many groups
to publicize these facts. I hope all of us
who are deeply interested in this will
make every effort to remind the general
public about agriculture's fundamental
contribution to our Amencan way of life."
Oats Winterkill
In January Say
PSU Researchers
Winter oats kills in Jan
uary in Pennsylvania and not
in March as often assumed,
according to the latest ex
periments b y Robert P.
Pfeifer of the Agricultural
Experiment Station, the
Pennsylvania State Univer
sity.
Dr. Pfeifer and associates
have found that the major
portion of the winter-kill of
oats occurs when the soil
temperature falls below 22
degrees Fahrenheit. This is
usually between January 1
and February 6. Their dis
covery has held true during
the past two years of field
studies and special cold
chamber tests.
“Only the deep-freeze ef
fect of frozen soil on oat
seedlings makes them look
ajive,” Dr. Pfeifer explains
“Under these conditions dead
seedlings will look alive un
til frost leaves the ground in
March or later,” he adds.
The Penn State research
ers are now using their soil
temperature discovery to de
termine winter hardiness of
the different oat varieties. By
freezing seedlings in artifical
cold chambers, they can de
terming winter kill for any
one varietl.
This method of determin
ing winter hardiness can
also be used with winter
wheat and barley, Dr. Pfeifer
points out. We can now pre
dict winterkill of winter
grain well oefore the Spring
planting season, he adds.
Tests indicate that cold
hardiness of the more frost
res stant oat varieties is di
rectly related to earliness of
planting. Winter injury in
creases with late plantings
Seeding? made on September
10 had 48 per cent winter
injury When planted Sep
tember 21 the winter injury
rose to 52 per cent. Winter
injury sharply increased to 88
per cent when the planting
date was October 2.
“ In future experiments
we want to find out what hap
pens in hardy oat varieties to
cause them to build up resis
tance to freezing tempera
tures,” Dr Pfeifer states.
Bibl* Material; .Acts 9 10-31.
Derftttaast Bend toe'- Colossiane 3.12-17.
New Convert
Lesson for December 6, 1959
FIFTEEN thousand, nine hun
dred eigthy-two persons decided
ior Chtist when Billy Graham was
down m New Zealand last "spring.’’
<lt was .fall down there ) What will
happen to those 15,000 new con
verts ? What has happened to con
verts in .other Billy Graham meet
ings? The answer to that question
on the
converts them-
selves; but it^'de-
pends also a
great deal, oih
what other Chris
tians ’do.about it.
Billy himself has
.“After, the
said,
obstetrician
comes tlje pedia
trician.”. ' Tie D r - Foreman
bn th of a baby is important good
news; but suppose from that mo
ment everybody forgets the baby
and nobody does a single thing for
him? In that case the baby might
as well never have been born.
Getting Acquainted
Saint Paul Was a new convert
once The church of the ages owes
much to him, but" we also owe a
great debt to some people without
whose help Paul would haidly have
become the great apostle and mis
sionaiy that he was.
He was very eager to get back
to Jeiusalem where he had built
up his career as an anti-Chnstian.
He risked his life, in fact, to get
back there. He knew that the most
effective place to give a good wit
ness is just where you have made
a bad witness in times past It is
much easier to go to a strange
place for a complete new start,
than to make the new start in the
old surroundings. But Paul seldom
took the easiest way, and so wo
find him back in Jerusalem ... a
lonely man For not a Christian
there would speak to him He was
known as a bloodthirsty and im
placable enemy of all Christians
When he began speaking for Christ
mstead Of against him, the Clans
mans were -'locked and afraid All
Now Is The Time ...
BY MAX SMITH
TO PROTECT BARNYARD MANURE —"
Manure continues to be one of the most
valuable fertilizer crops from the farm,
all measures should be taken to conserve
the elements throughout the entire yeai
With most dairy herds the daily
production is hauled directly to the field
If the manure it to be stored, it should be
placed in a concrete pit so that the valu
able nitrogen, phosphorus, and potash ele
ments will not be washed away The appli
cation of super- phosphate to stored ma-
MAX SMITH nure will help hold its fertilizer value.
TO PROTECT THOSE ROSES—Winter winds and alternate
freezing and thawing arc hard on all types of roses; espec
ially the hybrid tea roses and the flounbundas are subject
to winter injury. The roses are not to be covered to keep
them warm, but rather to keep the soil and plant tempera
tures as uniform as possible. When the ground is once froz
en around the plant roots we don’t want alternate freezing
and thawing We suggest mounding soil up around the
plants at least six to eight inches high and then cover with
straw or strawy manure Windbreaks are also needed if the
plants are exposed to the west or the north
TO PROTECT YOUNG CALVES-—Dairymen are reminded
that the proper care and growth of the young heifer calves
is essential to a good future herd in the milking string. Calf
pens with plenty of light, dry, and free from drafts are es
sential. In barns where an exhaust fan system of ventila
tion is in operation it is important that the fan be located
over or near the calf pens in order to keep them as warm
as possible Most cases of scours and pneumonia can be pre
vented with proper conditions and care.
TO TAKE SOIL SAMPLES—There is s + ill time to take
soil samples here in the southeast before the ground freezes
for the w nter There are many advantages to having the
testing done now as compared to waiting until next spring.
The test will be just as accurate, you will get a more
prompt reply due to fewer samples to be tested now, and
you will have the recommendations in plenty of time to
take early delivery and take advantage of reduced winter
prices. Soil test envelopes and full details available at our
Extension Office.
but one man, Barnabas. He t nok
;his new convert and introduced
him to the church leaders a- a
fellow-Chnstian. And when thev
got acquainted With the man Paul,
things began to be different
That's the first thing a Chris
tian can do with new converts: just
get acquainted. Do you have evan
gelistic services in your church or
community 9 And if so, what are
the new Christians to you? Meic
statistics, just a list of names 9 Or
are they ically people 9 If all the
new converts mean to the older
Christians is statistics, then that’s
all they’ll over be, statistics And
m the end, statistics of missing
persons.
New conveits are often moie
scared than they like to admit Can
I hold out? they ask themselves
over and over. They have not yet
discovered that it is not a question
of their holding on, but of God’s.
Now put a man who half-distiusts
himself in the midst of people who
have no faith in him, just waiting
like buzzards for him to fall so they
can pick his reputation to the bone,
and you start him off against ter
rific odds. New converts need all
the encouragement they can get
It is nothing short of cruel for
people who profess to be Chris
tians, to, act and' talk as if they
were betting on failure for any new
Christian. Furthermore, we may
note that good,practical Barnabas
did not keep .his” confidence in
young Paul to himself. He took him
personally to.the leading Chris
tians of the city.
A Job
Paul was a tentmalcea no! as a
hobby but as a job for "pay Pei
haps he worked at that trade in
Jerusalem. But whether he did or
not, the job that really interested
him was an opportunity to witness
for Christ He preached and he de
bated around Jerusalem, and we
may be sure he would not have
been given an opportunity to do
this if the Apostles had not ap
proved. In short, to put it into
modern terms, they gave him a job
in the church Not that he was paid
for it; but the point is, the chuich
encouraged him to speak for
Christ, to use his talents as thinker
and speaker and debater, on behalf
of Jesus. The most weakening
thing older Christians can do for
a new one is to throttle him down,
to choke off his enthusiasm. The
best thing older Christians can do
for a new convert is to encourage
him to win others. ,
(Based on outlines copyrighted by
the Division of Christian Education.
National Council of the Churches of
Christ in tho TJ. S. A. Released by
Community Press Service)