—Lancasler Farming, Saturday, June 10, 1961
4
J
FROM WHERE WE STAND -
Surplus - A Rose By Any Other Name?
What’s in a name? Shakespeare ask-
And we might well -ask the same
thing. Is it surplus or a temporary
overabundance?; a security reserve or
a burdensome storage headache?
t 'HPerhap's there is no-significance in
what we call the supply of feed and
food we have in America today, but if
the' name by which we call these stor
ed supplies affects the way in which
we think about agricultural production
then the name could be highly signifi
cant.
* ,-xWe have been under the barrage of
explitives laid down by the alarmists
for so long that we are in danger of be
‘ ginning to consider top production of
any, Agricultural commodity something
to be ashamed of.
, - ,-We .have.heard so much' adverse
comment about surplusses and the
5 high* cost of storing them that we are
iii danger that farmers may soon con
sider it-unpatriotic to produce agricul-
tural commodities' efficiently.
5 .'jiKe ta.lked . with one agricultural
~ writer recently who had,received a let
— ter" in which-he was criticized for writ
ing a story; of efficient com production.
.-The-writer: of the letter rebuked the
newsman for telling his readers how
farmer planned, to grow 200 bush-
acre.
. The- letter writer said their farming
program would not produce any 200
bushels- of com per acre because they
used' the methods- the-grandfather, had
used' on' the farm? The newsman was
assured that the surplus problem
would not be aggravated by produc
tion ,on that farm at least.
- -sWe feel this is dangerous thinking.
We do not- believe any, good ends will
be-served by'farmers being deliberate
ly inefficient; If a farmer can grow his
corn needs ori 25 acres, we do not be
lieve be should use outmoded practices
‘ on”"50 acres to grow the same quantity
of grain. the acres not used for corn
- production can not be converted to the
production of a commodity which is in
demand,' then, we believe they should
beretired- to some soil building or con
serving crop.
i .'Another example of the same kind
of thinking was voiced recently by a
ijmrmfacturdr who advocated reducing
-"beef cattlje herds as a means of aiding
the cattleman to get higher prices for
His produce.
support that kind of a pro
gram.
“Do the millions of moth- MAX SMITH
ers in our cities realize that TO BE CAREFUL WITH CHEMICALS
the lunches their children Proper identification and safe storage
receive at school are charg- very important in handling all farm <■’
fanTl M»ls. With the lar S e number of cl, ‘
; i 0 ‘ being used on every farm, and each
ii, . , you mternationally - specific purpose, good management
i minded citizens know that’ . * . ~
r , r J. I;' in the aggregiate. billions of qul f es caution in handling and apt
• Pood Costs :: dollars worth of foreign aid each one * Herbicides such as 2, 41)
programs and military assist- often confused with other sprays and
Senator George D. Aiken, iann matters. ance for otlier coun t r ies are damage is done Sproy operators,
ai Vermont Republican, has ° , lr ° n ® - ago an , ken paid for with agricultural' as individual farmers; are urged to b;
been a member of the Sen- was discussing and deplor- commoditieS( the cost of MAX SMI fH careful.
ate Committee on Agricul- ln S, the lack of getneral un- wb . b .
ture and Forestry for almost derstandmg by city people g rams*> TO SPRAY ALFALFA FOR LEAFHOPPERS The
twenty years, during several of farmers, farm problems 1, 8 j b crop of alfalfa is on it’s way on many farms; we '
of which he was Chairman, and farm programs. He es- * mend that tnis crop be sprayed for the control of leaLl
'This iyp cal Vermonter is man realize that his job and when new growth is 4 to 6 inches high; the maW
a kindly, soft-spoken man ' , . P part of his pay comes from use 18 4 quarts ox 25% Methoxychlor per acre
who seldom is aroused to the •" is not the farmer so our Department of Agricul- prevent the stunted,* yellow growth that is found in
flamboyant oratory that some- muc r, as R the Public that appropriation? Does un-sprayed fields.
times characterizes debate in J™* P l°' anyone realize that part of TO PREVENT MOSAIC IN TOBACCO—One of the u
State S s en oUier° f sald * “° nl y the fact that products diseases that has been appealing quite frequently on a
spec 1 ha calm wisdom on ®°?f surpluses are produced arme d forces is charged of farms in recent years is mosaic, or '
holds retail prices for foods against the farm program? Tlus vi rus disease seldom appears until the plants ai
?=■ as low as they are today, Do those who are concern- grown and out in the field. One of the causes
Even a slight shortage would ed w jth maintaining the soil handling of tobacco by smokers or chewers while
result in skyrocketing con- and wa ter resources of our or transplanting the small tobacco plants All toi>°-c c 0
sumer prices. nation realize that nearly all should refrain from using any kind of tobacco wh' lC
Farm Properly Essential of the cost of the conserva- ing with the plants, or be required to wash their
It is the economy of the tion work is charged against thoroughly with hot water and soap after smoking or
6 S f nat th L farm Program? lmg chewing tobacco. The new strain of tobacco,
remaiked, the security of “Does the housewife reali- j mn , resktant
Pho.. i.anciHter America and the .preserva- ize that much of the research " ‘
h.,'.k 'i™„ 3 kJitor tion of our 8011 and water work done on the prepara- TO KILL WEEDS WHEN YOUNG—Experience
r-ihi .. Campbell. Aav. i nwn s resources that necessitate the tion and handling of food to that all weeds kill easier when quite young tnan
i £ Ta i n 9vir r °P eratl °u of a basically assure purity and wholesome- ty; this is true with mechanical cultivation as wd
Pa' -'> . evpry - .Satßr’da\ by sound and prosperous agcil- ness for her benefit is cahrg- the use of chemicals. With row crops and regul ar
", lt 7' , Cuß “ re " , , ed to farm appropriations? i| o n it is urged that the job be done as soon as
l.an< .isi-pi p d under Act of Mar hen most people think of ‘ The greatest stabilizing and frequently in order to keep the weeds fro lll
ly. Pa entrT Moun infIU T CO 0f the Wor 3 d ’ s acon - much of a root system, also, producers should
s " B<nririor. nates 12 per year. blllian a thev’re told btMhe° United staSs” 0 * Serf the soil is * airl y dry before cultivating; when the
ttm* voir* .single »ce DUllon a year tneyre tom of the united States, Sea. . . . .. , . , , .. , , j
* p „ p hl farm programs cost; of the Aiken derlared, “Take away ing to klll weeds 15 done when the ground «
'nSSS.i ? 9 billion worth of surplus- our assurance of plenty of er 18 me:ely transplating most of the* weeds W
la * ut,on es held by the government, food and international chaos chemicals it has been found that small weeds S ru
■^rj«sV
V I <4 « o »
Lancaster Farming
Lancaster County** Own Parm
Weekly
i- _» Hox 1524
Penn*.
Offices,
Duke St.
Lm'.isret Ptrma.
THIS WEEK
—ln Washington
With Clinton Davidson
and of the taxes they pay to .could result.”
On the surface this appears to be a -
sensible solution, but lets look a little
closer. The manufacturer who made
the proposal knows he can cut back
his output in times of slow sales and
speed up production when sales call
for more volume. And he knows he
can make these production changes on
very short notice.
He does not have to count his pro
duction machinery as current invent
ory. He can keep his production ma
chinery in a state of idleness—not pro
ducing, but able to be called into pro
duction immediately—for a consider
able length of time.
The case is not so with the live
stock producer, nor with the crop
grower to a somewhat lesser extent.
When the' farmer reduces his invent
ory, the breeding flock, he reduces his •
production, capacity, and in rebuilding
his capacity to produce, he temporarily
reduces- his output for consumption.
We feel it would be disastrous- if
the American farmer should be pan
icked into a vast reduction of produc
ing capacity. We do not attempt to
minimize the seriousness'of the over
production of agricultural supplies at
present. We know a problem exists,
but we feel there is greater danger in
the possibility of being caught short- in
agricultural potential if we should en
counter a national emergency.
If use of the term “surplus” causes
a.widespread feeling among farmers
that.ineffleiency should be encouraged,
we suggest .the use of another term. If
reference to* the supplies of stored agri
cultural products by the term “over
supply” or “reserve” will cause farm
ers to realize there is a slow market,
perhaps we should say oversupply or
reserve.
If the alarmists seize on these terms
and shout them'with- the fevor they
have shouted “surplus”, then we wou’d
have to agree- with Shakespeare that;
“A rose by any other name would;
smell as sweet”, (or as foul).
But by whatever name it is called,
there does exist a problem. We feel
that the fanners of America can over
come any problem of production they
face, and we believe they will not be
panicked into cutting production po
tential to the point of jeopardizing the
national security.
At least that’s- how it looks from
where we stand.
Biblt Material: Ecclesiastes I 12: 12:
II Timothy 4:8.8
Delations! Reading: ITlmothy 0.11-18
Two Views of Life
Lesson for June 11, 1961
'i 'HERE is something we al]
x dread, and,yet we all want:
Old Age. That is to say, the nor
mal person wants to live a long '
TZr* a T™?™J ertaml^ cs f t2lve fin ow Wan's Thoughts
a great many years without grow- &
mg old. But on the other hand, Now hs!en t 0 ‘' Paul
'hen we see some ®* d Man Paul as people
Id people, ‘we say today - At the timo h *
ly to ourselves, Timothy, he was not only 0 ]
I'd hate to be was expecting death to some,
ike that." Now He was ’ not weU - and he u,
ir study for this Jad Is ?'* II bad c ? ou 2 h to be,
-eek is about old without? having all those ;,- OJ
?e; as seen by esi(^es ? ® u * Paul docs not c
ro different old plam ' During most of Ur 1 ;
ien, the author be says noting about baj,
Ecclesiastes. He lS tMllkjn g of other PW|
- and Saint Paul * uture Sfneiations even ti
We said last week that Ecclesi- ihan ol birnseif - When h-■
astea does not harve-the last word; come t 0 sr>ealt of himscli,
in tite Bible, and this is true-of thought runs backward a sat
his- views on old age* as' it is of; xnan thoughts do; but not a
other matters. What he said about 1 erness > hot even in the quiet;
old age is true, yet Samt Paul anc b°ly of old Ecclesiastes
holds a higher truth. of u/e a * a fight i 0 ttt
- „ ... ish, a- race, a test. It’s nearli
Uft*g Havit No illusions- ln the past nw '" but he «k
in his memones. He fourin
Both these men agree on ti flght) he won the race ht!
Important point: If you hope to the test. You see Paul had I
have a happy or peaceful old-age, plep aring for old age in ®
youd better be preparing for it. the best ways possible M
Ecclesiastes says this plainly; h e had.not spent any time si
Paul (as we v shall see) m g about it, he had not defcfo
ter words but- by his example. ly prepar ed for it at all ft
Every reader of this page has an, simply lived out every mini
old person who is going to be de- the full, putting everything h*
pendent on him or her; namely, . n t o the race, the fight, the
himself, or herself. Other people By the time he leached old
may-have to take care of you, you he long had the haoit oil
may- be dependent on them for of hop(St and of i ove He dd
food-'and shelter. Or you may be< need, to Team how to be mu
financially independent m your old m old He was ahesdj
age. Either way; though, the im- way. Old age vss good is
portant part of‘being old is how had been good We re
you fSel on the inside. For this, sure that when the last hour i
you and only you are responsible, to him, "Heaven with louib
If you turn out to be a -gloomy, hid not seem strange, to ha
morose complaining old nuisance, a ott(lines ,
itnat s the fault of you yourself, the isfon ot riir
now, not some time later. If you ‘ n c t 0 h “ n ', ll . n s f . k £ “™
are cheerful with bright sunny community i-ms service i ,
thoughts, that also will be some
thing yoq are arranging for, now.
“Remfcmtfer NOW thy -creator,
m. the-days of thy youth," he says.
Now Is The Time . * .
are much easier killed than older weeds
This docs not mean call j,
mind once in a while The c
sion means to let the m in /
on something or some on
modern simple language q
habit of thinking about GOD
while you can still foim
habit Don't put alt thinking
ously and happily about o,J
you are old II you do, g 0
sedm a stiangci Think abo,!
while you aie young, i eme . (
you owe your very hie to hm
is your Cieator. If EccW
cannot say that God lov ei Joa
has redeemed you, ho
lieves In God, and
old age the happiest n, O J£
sometimes the only i'
thoughts possible, aie tho<
can have of God.