—Lancaster Farming. Saturday, December 30, 1961
4
FROM WHERE WE STAND -
Did You Dig Weeds Or Carry The Hoe?
Fast away the old year passes
As the strains of the old caroling
song die on the night air m these last
few days before Janus turns his for
ward face, maybe we ought to take a
last look backward before we look in
to the new year
We used to tell the high school stu
dents to look back only to remember
the pleasant moments and look for
ward only with hope and faith in your
future.
We still believe this is good advice,
but, in farming it sometimes pays to
look back to see if we dug out all the
weeds It sometimes pays to look back
to see how straight our fuirow is turn
ing—to see if we can _ straighten out
some of the zigs and zags.
There is not one of us farming to
100 .per cent of our potential, but if we
go on doing things the same way year
after year without ever looking for the
mistakes we made in the past year, we
may never know where we are failing
to come up to our potential.
Where did we waste money last
.year on materials, feed, fertilizer or
Farm Safety - Whose Responsibility Is It?
Farm safety rules, like safe driving
rules, have become so trite and stereo
typed that their repetition seems al
most a waste of time.
Everyone knows the rules of safety
anyway. Every man who has ever had
fingers or a hand or arm gnawed off in
the rollers of a corn picker knew full
well that he was supposed to shut off
the power before pulling stalks out of
the machine Any person brought up
on a farm knows the danger of bulls,
boars, sows with young pigs, and cows
-with young calves. They understand
the dangers of riding double on trac
tors with machinery attached or of
driving a tractor on the highway with
‘out proper warning flags and lights.
They also realize that to operate a ma
chine without all the safety shields in
place is an invitation to disaster. Still
all of these rules and many more are
violated every day on farms through
out the country.
All safety rules, after all, are com
mon sense rules, and as a group, rural
people are traditionally more practical
Extension Assn.
Sponsors Truck
To Farm Show
The Extension Association
will again sponsor a truck
to the Pennsylvania State
Farm Show in Harrisburg
next month, County Agent
M M Smith said this week
The truck will transport
small exhibits, both agricul
tural and home economics
exhibits, to the farm show
lor any farmer in the
county However, Smith spe
cifies the truck is for small
exhibits only
Persons wishing to have
their exhibits transported by
the tiuck must have them
at the Farm Bureau Coop
erative Assn building on Inc
Dillervilie Hoad, Lancaster
by Bam on January B
There will be an addition
al stop at Newcomer’s Hard
ware store in Mount Joy
at 8 30 a m for agricultural
exhibits only
All home economics exhi
bits must b" at the Farm
Bureau building by Noon on
Friday, January 5 and must
have a completed entry
blank attached
Place a good creep ration
before your pigs when they
are one week old Pigs will
usually start eating feed in
meal form quicker than
pellets, however, after the
pigs have been eating a few
days a pelleted ration may
be preferred to meal A
good cheap ration should in
crease weaning weigh's
machinery that tailed to increase our
income or our potential for income
production? Where did we waste mon
ey on inefficient livestock, plant varie
ties, or practices?
Where did we waste money bj.
skimping on feed or fertilizer? Where
did we waste potential through lack of
capital and failure to make good use
of credit?
When did we waste our resources
through poor planning or poor use of
labor? When did we work so hard and
long that our efficiency was imparcd
and we became a health hazard to co
workers as well as ourselves?
When did we get so involved in
community affairs that we neglected
our business, or when did we get so
involved in our businesses that we
neglected our civic responsibilities and
the responsibilities to our families?
We could go on and on, but you get*
the idea, and anyway, we don’t know
where you dug last year and where
you carried the hoe. But you can tell
if you look back down the row.
'At least that’s how it looks from
where we stand.
and imbued with the value of common
sense than any other people. Despite
this, farm families continue to take
chances, and farm accidents mount up
at an alarming rate. In fact, more
farm accidents occur per capita than
in any other major occupation.
The senseless maiming and killing
of farmers and their families should be
stopped
Actually there is little that editors,
Safety Council publicity men, or any
other group can do to reduce farm ac
cidents. It is up to every farmer to
take the subject seriously, then come
up with his own program for making
his farm a safer place to work and
bring up his children.
There is no reason why America’s
farms should be listed among the most
dangerous places in the nation to live
and work. Only individual farmers
with an every day awareness of the
dangers of operating machinery and
handling livestock, however, can make
it otherwise
Swine Forecast
Shows More Pigs
Throe per cent more pigs
are expected on the nation’s
farms during the spring of
1962 than there were in the
spring of 1961.
Based on farmers’ reports
Crop Records
Set In 1961
The all-crop production
index for major crops was
reported at 119 m the US
Department of Agriculture
Crop Reporting Board’s An
nual Crop Production Sum
mary for 1961.
The 105 page publication
points out that this is above
all previous years except
I°6o when the index reach
ed 121
However, the composite
yield per acie index, cover
ing 28 leading crops was
147, two per cent above last
yes and a now record high
/ mong the maior field
cro is reported yields per
acre weie set for corn for
giam co>n silage, sorgum
gram and silage soybeans,
popcorn, dry beans, and
clover-timothy hay
The acreage planted or
grown to the 59 major crops
was 310 million acres in
1061, down 4 5 per cent
from last year and the
smallest planted acreage sin
ce 1912 The acreage har
vested for the 59 crops was
296 million acres the lowest
since comparable records be
gan m I°o9
Livestock Reporter,
East St Louis, 111.
on breeding intentions, a to
tal of 7,268,000 sows will
farrow from December 1961
through May, 1962, ac
cording to the U S Depart
ment of Agriculture Crop
Reporting Board’s December
pig crop report.
If intentions are carried
out, this would produce
three per cent more than
a year earler and seven per
cent above the spring of
1960
The current report also
shows that the 1961 pig
crop totaled 93 2 million
head, up five per cent from
last year The 1961 spring
crop of 50.5 million pigs
was seven per cent larger
than in 1960, and the num
ber of fall pigs farrowed, at
42 7 million head was four
per cent above the 1960
crop
Lancaster Farming
Lancaster County's Own Farm
Weekly
P O Bot 1724
Lancastei, Pcnna
Offices
53 North Duke St.
Lu.ncastor Ponna.
Phone - Lancaster
BXpress 4-3047
Jack Owen, Editor
Robert G Campbell, Adieitising
Director (L Business Manager
Established November 4 1955
Published every Satuiday by
Lancaster Farming, Lancaster, Pa
Entered as 2nd class matter at
Lancaster, Pa under Act of Mar
?, 1879 additional entry at Mount
Jov Pa
Subscription Rates- J 2 per year
three years $5 Single copy Price
7 cents
Members Pa Newspaper Publish
es Association: National Editorial
Association
One way to make this test is to
read over the Gospels and pay
special attention to the things
Jesus said. Do they seem, from
time to time, more true, more
living, are they more attractive,
do they reach us,—or do they
seem, from year to year, stianger
and stranger to our ears? Are,
we, or are we not, more sympa-
B sJa C ns I 4 < n i 24 :l Counthlons 13 ■ E P h °- thetic and responsive to the mmd
Devotional Reading : Ephesians 1 15 23 Of JeSUS than lie Used to Or
is he becoming a kind of eccentric
stranger?
Goal of growth
Some one may object at this
Are We Growing
Lesson for December 31, 1981
1 can I ever be the man Christ
jDEFORE the Old Year dies, it was 9” Two answers can be given
is well to look back over it and to this question. One was put by
do some serious thinking. How are Dr. E. D. Soper years ago; "If
we different from what we w'ere you’re not aiming at perfection
a year ago? The world has then you’re aiming at imperfec
changed, but have tion.” And the other is, that in
we changed? We all walks and activities of life,
are a year older, people do aim at more than they
each one of us. may ever accomplish. Eveiy
But “older” breeder of horses aims at “the
means different perfect horse; every artist tries
things at different to produce the perfect painting,
stages of life. A poem or what not; every minis
cluld has grown ter tries for the perfect sermon;
larger and strong- —even criminals attempt the pei
er by growing feet crime. They never succeed—
older; his grand- though maybe some criminals
father has perhaps shrunken and do; it’s easier to be perfectly bad
grown weaker by growing older, than perfectly good! But even if
But the question is about our they never succeed, “Not failuie,
real selves. Do our souls have to but low aim, is crime.” And the
shrink, grow sickly and feeble fact remains that perfection, in
with age, as bodies do? The Apos- any line, is the bright background
tie Paul felt his age, as we say; against which we can tiace ouv
he was conscious of becoming an direction up or down.
old and shaky man. But he can
write of himself, “Though our out
ward nature is wasting away, our
inner nature is being renewed
every day.” (II Cor. 4:16.)
Metsurt of growth
How shall we measure the
growth of a soul? How can we
measure our true selves? A child’s
progress can be shown by pencil
marks on a wall. A young man’s
progress can be seen by his pass
ing examinations in more and
more difficult subjects. But to
grow taller is not necessarily to
grow better; and a mind may be
highly developed while the soul is
shrinking. Paul gives us a stand
ard hP which we can test our
selves—the standard of the one
perfect Life, Jesus Christ. We are
to “grow up in every way” mto
him.
Let it be remembered that only heavenly father is ready to give
God is the true and final Judge the Ho] y s P irlt to who ask him.
of us all. Our own opinion of our- le year now dawning, we may
selves may well be distorted by P r ay for many blessings, but what
pride. Nevertheless we need to are other blessings woith, if we
examine ourselves, and the one ao not welcome God himself?
basic test and standard is this:
Are we growing more, or less, N»uon»i council -of the churches or
like the Christ whom we say we community PrVss S sem bT
adoie, and whose name we bear?
Now Is The Time ♦ ♦ •
BY MAX SMITH
TO ATTEND FARM SHOW MEETINGS—
The 1962 State Farm Show will open on
January Bth, many people go there to see
the exhibits, or the events in the big
arena, or just to eat “hot dogs’’ However,
there is an educational value in the many
state-wide meetings and educational ses
sions held during the show. The Farm
Show Program will list these sessions and
local farmers are urged to attend those of
their particular interests
MAX SMITH
TO PREPARE FARM SHOW EXHIBITS CAREFULLY
Extreme care should be used in selecting and packing farm
show exhibits; exhibitors should obtain a copy of the Pre
mium List and follow directions carefully It is very im
portant that an Entry Blank be filled out for each exhibit
showing the exact class number as well as the correct name
and address of the exhibitor Some exhibits not properly
entered and identified may never be placed upon the exhibit
table
TO LEARN ABOUT CORRESPONDENCE COURSES -
Many-folks throughout Pennsylvania are benefiting from
the Correspondence Courses at Penn State University These
are available at any time of the year on a wide variety of
subjects These courses by mail are very practical and
provide a chance for more education during leisure hours.
More details are available.
TO KILL RODENTS—Reports indicate a heavy population
of rats and mice on. many farms and in buildings. All farm
ers and property owners are urged to stage a special eradic
ation program to eliminate these rodents With costs of
production on the increase in most commodities it is ver>
important to reduce the waste from rats and mice Poison
bait stations and a real strict sanitation program in all
buildings is recommended
TO GIVE BREEDING ANIMALS EXERCISE During the
winter months with snow covered ground it is very easy to
forget about the merits of daily exercise in herds and
flocks However, this is very important with the flock of
breeding ewes, the herd of brood sows, and the milking
herd of cows In case of the sheep and hogs it is urged
that the animals be forced to move about by scattering the
watering and feeding equipment. Larger returns will be
obtained with outside daily exercise.
point: “Isn t this impossible? How
Secret of growth
So Christ is the standaid, Chiist
the goal, of the Christian’s life.
Yet we are troubled by a dark
thought. That question, “Isn’t this
impossible?” haunts us. Humanly
speaking, it is impossible. Yet if
the New Testament makes any
thing clear, it is this, the Chris
tian life is a supernatural life. It
is spoken of as “life in the spirit”
or “life m the Christ” or “life in
God.” The process of becoming
Christ-like is not something we
do all by ouiselves. The seciet
of Christian growth—that is to
say, the growth of a Christian s
inner and true self, is that we
have a Power that is not our own.
—Or do we? If in this year now
past we can detect no signs of
growth, is it perhaps because we
have not wanted to grow? Our