4—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, February 1L 1961 FROM WHERE WE STAND - . Only Six Inches From Starvation Lancaster County is just eight inch es away from a desert, and. the world is only six inches from starvation. That statement sounds pretty start ling, but it is, nevertheless true. There are only about. eight inches of top soil keeping Lancaster County from being a desert, and all the food on all the tables of the world is dependent upon less than six inches of topsoil on all the land area of the world. In the days when Rome was in her glory, food production became a prob lem. To solve-the problem, the Roman empire expanded to encompass more territory. Land was plentiful and hu man life was cheap. And so lite was exchanged for land, and food produc tion for those left, struggled on. When northern and middle Europe began to become crowded, explorers set out to find new areas and new pro ducts foir food. They found a whole new world of food producing potential in the new continent. The history of the United States has been abased on the phi'oso phy that this country has almost limit less resources. Because the settlers found such bounty, there grew up the feeling that care and wise use of the resources were "not important since we cou d never use all the materials available for the taking. The country held such vast untap ped potential for food production that it was easier to wear out the soil and just move on. In many areas of the country, farmers did just that and the poor farmers made poor farms which in turn made poorer farmers. Fortunately for their grandchild ren, the early settlers of Lancaster county had come here from an area of frugal peoples. The soil of the Garden Spot was not desecrated entirely, but even this place of beauty has come in for its share of abuse. Where once trees and grasses held the life-giving topsoil on the slopes, the eager pioneers lay waste to the forest and broke' the virgin sod with the plow. Food for the families of set tiers and the aromatic weed for the pipes of European aristocrats crowded the deep rooted trees from the hillocks and valleys and opened the way lor the ravages of wind and water. When man had removed the cover with which Nature had protected her -resources from herself, he took on the xesmnSibility of protecting those re sources. Oovid < on The question we have be en asked most frequently since early this year is: “What--will Orville Freeman do about the farm situation 7 ’ The man bent qualified to answer that question is, ox course, Mr Freeman, a for mer Governor of Minnesota and the new Secretary of Agriculture So we asked Lancaster Farming Lancaster County’s Own Farm Weekly P O Cox 1524 Lancaster, Pcnna Offices: 5 ’ North Duke St. Lancaster, Pf nna Phoin- - Lancaster EXprcss 4-'{o47 Jack Oivoi Editor Robert G Campbell, Advertising Director &. Business Manager Esta’ lished .November 4 1915 Puh'lsbed every - Saturday by Lancaster Farming Lancaster, Pa Entered a~ 2nd class mine< at J-suionater, Pa under Act of Mar * J c "9 additional entry at Mount Joy, Pa Subscription Rates - $2 per year: three vc i- SI Single copy Pi ice fi cents Members Pa Newspaper Publish ers Assoristmn National Editor lad Association THIS WEEK —ln Washingtoa With Clinton Davidson The Farm Job him ‘ The first thing I want to do is get all the facts I can on the situation in all parts of the country,” he said. T want to talk to as many people as possible with as many viewpoints as I can. “When I have done that I want to develop a program which I think would help farmers get a fair income. I will then ask Congress to give me the legislative au thority to put that program into effect ” Income Priority- Secretary Freeman has so me rather definite ideas on RURAL RHYTHMS LONG CROOKED RIVER By: Carol Dean Huber This old river—Susquehanna— rolls on its merry way. It takes two hundred thousand tons of topsoil every day. And carries it on to the sea as sediment and sand As it goes by farm and village, town and forest land In ovc.-y twelve hours in spring—high water time— It takes an eighty acre farm; this is no made up rhyme But ccordug to the experts This is their estimation. Now who could question our county’s need for conservation. In Lancaster County, farmers early learned the value of replacing' the plant food removed by crops taken off the land.” The soils were not “mined’ of all chemical plant foods as they were in some areas, but because the virgin soil was so productive,, the urge to plow up more was too great to re* sist. The development of agricultural machinery made possible the cultiva tion of larger tracts and the larger tracts laid bare to rain and wind msre of the top soil. -Today, even with -our advanced technology, it is estimated that the equiva'ent of one 40 acre farm goes down the Missippi River and out into the Gulf of Mexico every day/of every year. But should you think the Mississip pi River has a monopoly on the busi ness of carrying away farms, we invite you to stand on the banks of the Cone stoga for several hours after a heavy midsummer rain', Lancaster County is not immune to the dangers of erosion. It is, in fact, one of the prime targets of water erosion because of the inten sive type of farming done here. Agricultural Research magazine for February asks the questions; will U. S. farmers in 1975 be able to provide food, feed and fibre for a third greater population than today’s?; can they meet bigger domestic needs and also provide exports to other nations? A probable yes to both questions is given- by U.S.D.A. Economists, but they qualify their answers. The challenge to 'farmers in 1875 will not be lack of resourses. but how best to use them to achieve better pro duction and a balance between produc tion and demand. If farmers adopted all proven tech nological advances, the food produc tion needs of 1975 could be , met on 27 million fewer acres than are now un der cultivation, the ecoriomists esti mate. Everyone likes to eat. Everyone must eat. And until science devises a way to produce food in a test tube, everyone is dependent upon the scant six inches of topsoil. No farmer should have to be sold on a program to consere, to use wisely, that which is the on 1 y six inches of insulation between him and certain starvation. At least that’s how it looks from where we stand. how he would like to go a bout raising farmers’ income but he is cautious on expres sMg them in terms of spe cific programs, until, as he says, “I get my feet oi the ground firmly.” The first thing to be done, he has told farm leaders with whom he has confer red, is to reduce burden some surpluses Next he will try to get production adjust ed to demand so that sur pluses will not again be ac cumulated. The first step, he hopes, toward .reducing surpluses will be distribution of foods to the .needy and unemploy ed in this country, particul arly in the economically dis tressed areas where unem ployment is now high. The next move will be ex pansion of shipment of sur plus foods to nations where the food supply is low. “I can't defend our hoard ing huge quantities of foods in this country while there (Turn to page 5) * i j. i IMhfeaiatettefe'Jolin 7 tbronch ». I>oTotloa*l Reading: Is«l«h £9:20 through 60.5. Light of the World I Intelligent Jap anese Christians will tell you frankly why it is that Christianity ' has grown so slowly In Japan: it is because it is regarded as a western religion, an importation, and to be a Chris- - tian is fin the eyes of millions of Japanese) to be unpatriotic. Wouldn’t it be better, some Amer- lean church members say, if we just recognized that the Japanese are right, Christianity is a western religion, it suits America and may be Europe, so let’s cultivate it here and leave Asia to the Asiatics? Bold From Birth x The cure for such timid Chris tians is a good look at the New Testament, and at history. Take the history first. The Christian re ligion did not start as a western religion; it began in Asia. It had its roots -in- the ’Jewish religion,' and that also was a religion of Asia. One of the big questions that stirred the early church was: Can the Christian religion take in non- Jews? In other words, can the Christian religion be acceptable in Home, Spain, Germany, Britian? Nobody thought abotit Britian at first, to be-sure; and when Chris tian missionaries first went there it was dangerous in the extreme. But they went. There were timid Christians then as now, satisfied* with Christianity as a home-town religion. But there were also bold Christians, far-sighted Christians, and with or without the backing of the whole-church they went, in Now Is The Time . . . TO CHECK FORAGE QUALITY— If the production m the dairy herd has been hi ging in recent weeks, perhaps the qualit) of hay is not as good. The amount and contents of the grain ration fed should le based upon tne kind of hay and silajc being fed to the herd When the hay quah ty changes so should the grain ration tc adjusted. The best guide as to whal change to make is to have the samples ol hay and silage tested Forage Testing Ser vice is still operating. MAX SMITH TO*BEWARE OF MOLDY CORN—When warmer wcalht arrives corn that has been stored high in moisture m 3 ' show sweating or a moldy condition Extreme care shoulc be used in feeding this moldy corn and hogs are about ‘i ,( only kind of livestock that should have access to it herd of growing or fattening hogs will utilize it best ili: the breeding herd should not get it. The moldy co.n be fed to the fattening hogs as long as it is not mixed v’ l ' l any other feeds; the hogs will eat some of it but not erou? to cause toxicity or digestive upsets Moldy corn is not - u!: able for other kinds of livestock or poultry. TO PREPARE FOR LAMBING TIME—The new lamb croi is now arriving on many sheep farms and is a very imP° r ' ant time for close supervision and careful handling lamps may be used m cold weather to get the lambs sla 1 * faster Several hurdles to use in separating the ewe to lamb will save many new-born lambs; this isolah 01 ’ ® the ewe and the lamb for about two days from the rC3 ‘ j the flock will pay dividends. At lambing time the £° shepherd will check his flock every few hours during bo day and night TO BROADCAST LEGUME SEEDS EARLY For who plan to establish a clover or alfalfa seeding in " rir ‘ ( grain by broadcasting this spring, it is important that ' seeding be made by the middle of March. Both expo- ICI \ and research has shown that these early seedings ually bring better stands than seedings made l ater March or dining April or May. time, -over the. wide -world i ttanJty today letheone wori, nearest rival k than half the number of adb that Christianity had. tlgfcl oflh* World ” , Allthis was not an accidq an afterthought. Jesus jJ though a loyal Jew had * , vision. He calledhimself the of the World. This was a la divine audacity. It didn’t loo] it in hi* lifetime. There he w» in a Very obscure corner 0 world, wlthout-one single f o j who could have been called - tlngutshed.” The intfellectuaj economic and political ceate the world-were elsewheie ] was no-religious vacuum for, religion to fill. There was no come-mat at the world’s froc| when Christianity began to lq Bat Jesus called himself, aj same, the Light of the World Jesus rightly say The light- he came to bnnj light he personally was, is dili from all other lights It is a from Ood and also a light oj Jesus is God-making-himi known., A well-known atheist he would believe in God on one ditior:."Trot him out and let see him do something." W ( ‘‘god’' who could be trotted would not be God at all; butt doing something, Christ m God ha& done, he la what Go) said. How He Shines Jesus said, also, to his ft and followers: You are the hjj the world. This is no contradu He shines through those whos his spirit and his service Thn the gradual Christianizing of ety, through the freedom art mty that has come to those have entered the Christian i through eveiy school and cl and hospital and orphanage works in his name and ser through the preaching of the! in. the languages of the it through 1 the day-by-day 1m genuine Christians, the ligK Christ shines every day aiomi world “Christianity is pcs only in a nation of Christs, 11 a 1 anions non-Christian, G BS Ee was more right than lie t u is precisely the “naisu Cnrists” that Is' our aim ei where Lights in small comen good so far as they go; buto c cis out to be the Light of World. (Based on outlines copir.s'il tT o Division of Christian i ‘ uon»i Council of the Hiurt Christ in the S. A. Kclea! Community Press Service ) BY MAX SMITH