—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, July 7, 1962 4 From Where We Stand... Adaptation To Halt Surplus We have heard so often that Am erica has a surplus of agricultural com modities that it comes as somewhat of a shock to find that one crop is actually in short supply But it appears that this is just the case. Two leading US. authorities on potatoes recently disclosed that there may be developing a serious shortage of quality spuds used in making potato chips. This shortage could, in the opinion of the two, bring about a rise in con sumer prices of potato chips, reduce sales and production and create unem ployment in many businesses and in dustrial fields The two men are-Dr Ora Smith, a Cornell University professor noted for his potato research for the United States government, and Harold B. Cregar, a noted agricultural economist who has worked closely with 4-H Club members. Both the men agreed that while the supply of table stock potatoes has been increasing, and in some instances keep ing ahead of the demand, the supply of chippable potatoes has been lagging be hind the demand The market for chip pable potatoes is ahead of the output and a shortage is upon us. While many of us think of potato chips as a snack item and wonder how it could ever amount to a very sizable business, figures show that the industry turned over $550 million last year We believe all will agree that this is no small potatoes. Chippable potatoes differ greatly from even the best table stock. Chipping potatoes must be very low in reducing sugars and high in specific gravity of total solids, besides being free from de fects which could be trimmed out of table stock potatoes To grow an acceptable chipping potato, the grower must pay attention to selecting the right variety and good seed. A specific fertilizer program must be followed, vines must be killed at the right time, sprout retardants must be used, and special storage and shipping practices must be followed There are those who will say ac ceptable chipping potatoes can not be grown in Lancaster County, but we be lieve research and experimentation will show differently We believe potato chips offer a Prices to Pennsylvania Farmers Less Than To Others In U. S. The economic position of Keystone State larmers was relatively the same in June as m the month previous, but the relative position of Penn- sylvania farmers with the rest of the nation’s tanners suffered somewhat during the month and year t tiding m the month In its monthlj pnip repott, the Pcnnsclvatna Crop Report ing service i,mi that national ly the parity ratio plated the IT.S tanner in a sligiulv poor er position than in Maj suite the prices received bj tann ers across the country remain ed highei than in I'enna Farmers in Pennsylvania were not 111 as good etonomic posi tion as those ot most oc.hei slates Pnt es paid and pn.es re ceived in the state Acre ,n ti somewhat better 11 hi tionbhip yeai than ihtv are now The Index of Prices Recnv od, which is the oaronieter of farm income, was 209 per cent oi the 1910-3 4 equals 100 market for county farmers who have become discouraged with the prices of table variety potatoes during the past few years. At least that’s how it looks from where we stand. During the same week that the Russian government raised the price of butter to over $1 80 per pound, and hiking the price of meat by 30 percent to discourage its own people from eating large amounts of the scarce commodity, it agreed to increase its shipment of canned and other meats to Cuba. The agreement between the two countries in May called for the ship ment of 20 million cans of meat, in ad dition to the 6,200 tons of canned meats covered in a January agreement. The weight of the cans was not specified. During 1958, Cubans consumed a bout 85 pounds of meat per person com pared to the 160 pounds per pexson in the United States. Of course we realize that the sign ing of the agreement does not neces sarily mean that the goods will be de livered. It does point up the fact that food is a powerful weapon in the fight for ideological supremecy in the world. We believe this is a fact that all Americans would do well to remember. At least that’s how it looks from where we stand. Based on June 1 conditions, the 1962 wheat crop is forecast at 1,085 million bushels. This would be 14 percent below last year and six percent below average. The surplus we now have on hand in the United States was built up on a series of years when the average pro duction was less than four per cent in excess of needs If weather conditions for several years should be unfavorable as they have been favorable for several years— we might very well be thankful for the full granaries upon which we now pay such high storage costs. At least that’s how it looks from v. here we stand base This compares to the 209 of a month earlier and a 212 la«t year During the month ending June IS, the index of prices received by U S farmers de i lined slightly more than one per cent to 239 per cent of the 1910-11 base Most im pel lant declines were reported for commercial vegetables (es pecially lettuce) beef cattle and oranges Offsetting were slightly higher prices tor hogs, potatoes and lamb I’tuos paid b.v tanners do- < lined one point to :iO.> lii--t dip since 3903 The ,nde\ was 'wo pei c<nt above a vear earlier with prices trreived declining moie than prices paid The parity ratio d.oppcd one point to 78, the c ara- ratio as a >e>r ago NATIONA L EDITORIAL jAsgjcgn^N ★ ★ ★ ★ Promises Of Food ★ ★ ★ ★ Wheat Cutback Mookown Giacious Sup a fm-jear-old registeiod Hol stein cow, owned by Robert C Grofl, Quarryville R 3, produc ed 20,053 lbs milk and 701 lbs bulteifat in 365 da>s Lancaster Farming Lancaster County's Own Farm \V eekly P O Box 1524 Lancaster, Penna P O Box 260 - Lititz, Pa Oth( es 22 E Mam St Lititz, I’a Phone - Lancaster EXpiess 4-3047 or Lititz MA 6-2191 J irk Owen, Editor Robert G Campbell, Advertising Director Established Not ember 4, 1955 Published every Satur day by Lam nster-Fnrming, Lit- the itz. Pa Entered as 2nd class matter at Lititz, Pa undei Ait of Mar. S, Ls 79 Subsc r'ption Rates T 2 per 1 ear, three .wars Jj. Single com Pru e 5 cents Member Pa Newspapers, Pub lishers Association National Editorial -Association. Bible Material* Jeremiah 1:1*3, 6c- I. 7 1-7, 19. 21. 25 1-11 Bcvotfbnal Beading: Psalm 67 1-3, Ml. 23 Years Deaf Lesson for July 8, 1962 THE woods were full of pioph ets back in times when the nation of Judah was plunging to its doom. For every single true must have been scores if not hun dreds of false prophets. Now when different men see different pictures of the future, how shall we know which is telling the truth and which is just “seeing things”? Dr. Foreman Readers of the Bible are inclined to blame the people of Israel for not paying attention to the prophets who spoke to them in the name and with the message of God. We think we could not have been so foolish as those people were. .But we can’t throw too many stones.- We ha/e to remember that the true prophets were m a small minority, and also that the false prophets said what people wanted to hear. Isn’t it true today that we would rather listen to cheerful predictions than gloomy ones? What is God Doing? In times of deep trouble, such as war or other disaster, a com mon question especially among religious people is. What is God doing? Why doesn’t he stop these disasters? Now there are some calamities which we can be saved from only if we ourselves do something about it. God will not save us from just any jam we care to get into. Those long-ago Israelites, for example, had plenty of warning Jeremiah and otheis too had told them and toid them again, just what was going to be, unless the nation radically changed its ways Read the ter rible 191 h chapter, where Jere miah predicts that these elegant city people will end by becoming cannibals, out of sheer desperate starvation God says “I will bieak this city so that it cannot be mended.” Tluough Jeremiah Now Is The Time • . . We are informed to expert some beetle infestation in various parts of our county and city this summer These insects feed upon a variety of flowers, plants, shrubs, and trees They may be Killed by spraying with DDT, Methoxychlor, or Sevih. All livestock and dairy producers should realize the importance of these two con tributions of Mother Nature, both fresh water and cool shade will enable animals to be more comfortable and produce more effi ciently If the w r ater supply is not under sure or limning water, it should be under shade If liees or open sheds are not avail- M VX M. SMITH able tor shade, then some temporary sun piotection may be made out of posts, scrap lumber, and covered with straw, bay or corn fodder Animal comfoit is important in very hot weather. To Allow Alfalfa To Blossom One of the later cuttings ol allalfa ctiou’d be allowed to get into at ica-st two-thirds blossom before it is cut, m most cases this is eitner the set ond or the thnd cutting Crop authonlicG claim this is good lor the stand of alfalfa especially when most of the fust cuttings are removed before iltlo&lora. ’ ‘/ , God draws an accurate picture of exactly how God will bring this, t 0 pass Why No Believers? Twenty-three years is a long time Jeremiah began to preach when he was only a youth, let us say around twenty or so He was a middle-aged man when finally the storm came But in 23 years no one had listened. Yet (said Jeremiah) though “1 have spoken persistently unto you, you have neither listened, nor inclined your ears to hear,” —that is to say they hadn’t heard and didn’t want to hear the truth Why this fatal, this suicidal, willful deafness on the nation'* part? It was partly, as already said, that they did not hke to hear what they considered gloomy, doomy predictions. They liked to think that if they were just cheerful enough, circumstance* would change to match their mood. But there was something else more deep-reaching. Jere miah made it plain over and over (so often that he himself wearied of his own preaching and wished he could stop, even wished he had never been born)—made it plain that the nation was not such that it could make a valid claim on God. You could put it in two sentences: The people said, “We are God’s people, he won’t let us get hurt; while Jeremiah said, “God’s people’ You don’t act like it!” Justice! What was needed, in God’s sight, was not a change in the place of worship. King Josiah had ■'leformed” the state religion that far; but a hypocrite’s worship it just as distasteful to the God of lighteousness in one place as another. In one of Jeremiah’s famous sermons (chap. 7) he w arns against bragging that they had the one true Temple. What God really desires is a people who piactice justice between man and man. The voice of many a preacher summons proud America in these days to repent But now as then it is a mistake to think of sin as just personal faults. The sins of so ciety, dishonesty and greed in political and social and economic life, are moje fai -reaching and lust as fatal in undermining a nation’s character and strength, as are purely inchudual sms. Let no one claim that social justice is merely ‘ political” ' To say that, you will have to be as deaf to Jeremiah now as his doomed people weie then. (Based on outlines copjrlffhtcd by the Division of Christian Education, National Council of the Churches of Christ In the USA Released by Community Press Service ) Bi MIX SMITH To Be \lert For Japanese Beetles To I’rotide Shade and Water To Build A Farm Pond Late summer and early fall are the best times to construct a farm pond when the ground is quite diy should seek assistance flrom one of the several agricultural agencies so that the proper construction methods and enals are used. 4 If thd area is very wet and swampy, ! - should be drained sereral weeks, prior to ,the>.start i ti >, -•t' 1 ' construction. Land owners
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