—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, February 2, 1963
4
From Where We Stand •..
The Strength Of The Pack Is The Wolf
And the farmer waited!
- Tobacco buyers hit the road with
contracts in their pockets and the farm
ers- looked forward to the offered price
with a great deal of expectation. The
first offers, while not high enough to
make any over-mght millionaires, were
pretty attractive.
But the honeymoon was over before
it got started, and most of the con
tracts stayed in the pockets of the buy
ers. As soon as a few crops were sold,
buying activity slacked off and finally
came to a virtual standstill, with over
half the tobacco still in the hands of the
grower.
With the purchase of a few crops,
the companies began to drop prices
slowly till now the offered bid is barely
enough to pay the cost of producing the
crop
Now, almost three weeks after the
buying season opened, nearly half of
31,000 acre crop is still in the hands of
farmers, and many of them are-begin
ning to wonder if they are even going
to see a tobacco buyer.
With spring planting se'ason ap
proaching and farmers m need of cash,
more and more of them will be anxious
Seedsmen See Shortages
Of Clover and Alfalfa
H VROL.D MEXGLK
Eastern States Fanners
Kvcliange
Alfalfa and red clover will
be in short supply this year.
Many ot the growers have
found that they can make a
little more profit on other
crops, such as cotton.
Whether this will affect the
future of ithe seed business is
hard to tell ft looks like we
will have to find a way to make
it a little more profitable for
the growers to pioduce
seed.
Seveial other factors enteieJ
into the pic ‘me this veai A
shortage of water resulted in a
shortage ot irrigation, and a
shortage ot seed produced In
HAROLiI> MENGLE
some areas there is a shoitage
of good pollinating bees This
seems peculiar, but 1 under
stand it is a problem in some
areas This, along with increas-
ed population of injurious in
sects adds to the problem
Only about half the normal
acreage was planted to Penn
scott clover seed last year Part
of this is due to competition
from other varieties, especially
Chesapeake I don’t expect too
much of a problem with Penn
scott in. spite ot the shortage
the demand has gone dpwn._
HowsVH ( i>BT ‘dufoi)!# oft
peake is exhausted. ’ r
to sell at whatever price is offered.
Could this be the situation the tobacco
companies are hoping will develop? Are
farmers always going to have to take
whatever price the buyer offers? Will
farmers ever have any part in helping
to establish the selling price of his pro
duce or will he always be content to
wait—and wait—and wait—and then
take whatever he can get.
He will have to go on taking what
ever is offered as long as the buying
power is centered in the hands of >a few,
and the sellers remain a large group of
scattered, unorganized individuals.
Rudyard Kipling, the great English
poet once said, “The strength of the
pack is the wolf, and the strength of
the wolf is the pack.”
So long as farmers are content to
be lone wolves, the strength of the pack
is vulnerable, and when the pack can
not withstand attacks, the wolf dies.
Unless farmers are willing to regulate
their own production and stick together
for mutual benefit, they will have a los
ing struggle in the market place.
At least that’s how it looks from
where we stand.
Some of the other seeds in
short supply include Alsike and
White Dutch clovers. Smooth
Broome, and Timothy,
Alsike is m the shortest
supply of record while the sup
ply of white clover' is down
slightly from normal. Smooth
Broome is in very short supply.
Timothy is short, especially
the later maturing varieties
Our Seed Service was canvass
ing oui growers and just could
not find good seed They found
some poor seed, particularly
seed with a laige amount of
weed seed, - but b.udly any we
could use.
It is becoming increasingly
for tanners to paj attention to
the Penn State Drill Uo\ Sur
vejs Sjirne of the reports they
have brought out are shocking,
but the situation is just about
as bad as they indicate Too
many farmers are using poor
quality seed because it is a low
<ost pi oduction item compared
to some other /things. Farmers
lust don’t pav as much atten
tion to the selection of good
seed as they should.
I do not believe the fanners
will gam a thing by waiting to
order seed In fact, if he waits
till summer to ordei his seed
for fall planting, the farmer
could hurt, and hurt bad Just
this week we got a seed pnc o
list and several items have ad
vanced.
The seed supply ot nhe sum
mei annuals tsudan grass, soi
ghums and the Sudan-sorghum
oosses) will be about like the
alfalfas and grasses the
supply is somewhat short \Vc
have had the greatest interest
we have ever expenem ed in
these lines, because of the
drought last summer.
One of .the most adaptable,
most versatile, most drought
resistant grasses for Lancaster
county is Reed’s Canary Grass,
It can be seeded alone or m Established November 4, ig a poor practlce because reeord sheets are available
mixtures with Ladmo or alfal- 1955. Published every Satur- , , fornirf> from our Extension office (one
fa as it associates well with ei- lay by Lancaster-Farming, Lit- pai t for each field or strip) in which
ther. Ree-dS canar> is a rank i t 7 p n a ’ P alasite e §£3 may be . , ,
g.ower and will produce lots ' consumed from this ipaterial. case_an accurate record may be
of feed, but u must be manag- Entered as 2nd class matter With the high cost of hay and ke -Pt- ' Tlus is especially true
ed properly It must be well at Lititz, Pa. under Act of Mar. forage this winter growers are wher e soil tests are being made
I '** W & M
balanced fertilizer program. ITMjjTgg - fit ML M W » EE
It should not be allowed to ma
ture beyond the bud stage, it
should be grazed hard and
clipped close, but if you take
care of it, it will produce lots
of forage in this area.
Our supply of seed com is
verj good We are short of a
few hybrids, but this is not un
usual It would compare favoi
ably with other years.
WIJjLiIS ROHRKR, President
P. hi. liohrer and Bro., Inc., r
SmokctowTi
The situation has not chang-
WILLIS ROHRKR
ed much since I reported the
situation to Lancaster Farming
(Continued on page 5)
>0 ❖ ❖ ❖
Lancaster Farming
Lancaster County’s Own Farm
Weekly
P. O. Box 1524
Lancaster, Penna,
P. 0. Box 2G6 - Lititz, Pa.
Offices:
22 E. Main St.
Lititz, Pa.
Phone - Lancaster
Express 4-3047 or
Lititz MA 6-2191
mawL 1 . 1 -i mmmm »
Jack Owen, Editor
Robert G. Campbell,
Advertising Director
V -
BtbU MaUrlal; Mark 4 35 throufh
5 43
Derallonal Rta*la ( : John 14 12-20.
Lesson for February 3, 1963
DOWER is always fascinating.
*■ A champion boxer or swimmer,
a Palmer or Niklaus driving down
a long fairway, Niagara Falls
seen from below, a severe elec
trical storm, a hurricane,—or the
power of influ
ence, of ambition,
of fear ... No
kind of power is
dull. Those who
have it, or control
it, seem awed by
it themselves; and
those of us who
have little power
are afraid lest
power of storm or
brute force of brutal men be
turned against us. But whenever
that word Power strikes the ear
or eye, one of three words—or all
of them —come to the mind at
once, as a kind of question Power
—we think; power for—? power
over—? power by—?
Power over. ■ ■
The four pictures of Jesus in the
four -Gospels are each one dif
ferent from the others. Mark’s
picture is one of the Divine Man
Of Power. Christ’s ideas interested
Mark less than His mighty deeds.
For Mark, Jesus spoke by action
quite as much as by words.
Mark’s Gospel gives an amazing
answer to the question: What did
Jesus have power over? Every
thing, Mark says in effect. Even
storms; even death. Things out
of this world, like demons, or
things in this world, like fever,—
Jesus controlled them all. This is
so astounding that there have al
ways ben. persons _who boggle at
it. There must be some exaggera
tion' here, they think, or some
imagination running wild. How
ever,- let us take it for granted
that Mark was telling the truth,
wild as it seemed to be then and
now. What he affirms is miracle,
no less. Men today have some
power over fever, storms, mad
ness and death, but they do not
claim miracles. The miraculous
feature of Jesus’ miracles was
that He didn’t do anything, He
didn’t use anything, He just willed
Now Is The Time . . .
Lice infestation seems rather heavy this
winter in many herds of cattle and hogs;
cold weather has grown a very heavy hair
M4X M smith al " h * ch P mkes lt; more d,fflcult to do a
MAS. M. SMITH thorough job of treatment. Dusts containing
either lindane or rotenone may
be used on cattle and DDT or
Lindane on hogs. Treat at
least 30 days prior to slaugh-
ter. Repeat treatment in 12 to
14 days,
To ISe Hay Hacks
The feeding of hay on the
ground or on the flour of pens
Power
BY MAX SMITH
To Order Legume Seeds
Broadcast seedings of clover or alfalfa
should be made during late February or
early March; this is only a month away.
Reports indicate some scarcity of Quality
legume seeds. If needs are not already on
hand, we suggest prompt attention to this
important seed purchase.
To Kill Lice On Livestock
(with or without words) that some?
thing happen, or cease to happen,
—and on the instant, so it was.:
.The whole.point of a
not that it is unique or astonlSh
ing. The point is, it is not what
would happen if nature were leftj
to itself. The doctor giving anti-i
biotics for infection may be using,
“miracle drugs” but the drugs
are not really miraculous, they,
are as much a part of nature as!
the germs are. Jesus’ will is su- 1
perior to nature. Jesus commands
nature ta be up-natursd; and
Is done.
Power for,,, _ -4,
There is more to be said. The
power of nature seemff at times
to have no purpose. We talk about,
an “angry sea,” a “bitter wind,"
but tile sea is not angry, and the
bitterness of the wind is nothing
compared to bitterness in the
heart. The sea just smashes and
passes on, the wind would as soon
Ereeze a baby as an escaped con
vict. Nature has no purposes, or
if she does she is not aware of
them. But all Jesus.did—whether
we call it miracle or not—was
purposeful. Now the purposes of
ordinary men may be strong, but
they are not always good and they
are never completely wise. The
purpose of Jesus in nearly every
act of power He performed was
clear.
Power by...
During Jesus’ lifetime, we are;
told, people asked one another:
Who then is this? Mark has al
ready introduced Jesus to his
readers: this is the good news
about Jesus Christ, the Son of
God. This is power exerted by
one who is so Godlike that He can
be called the Son of God. And this ‘
is why (as Christians believe)
only a few persons in the long
History of the world, and then
only for a few moments in all
their lifetime, have been permit
ted to share the divine power that
Jesus had. H G. Wells wrote a
itory called “The Man Who Could
Work Miracles,” and any one who
reads that charming and funny
tragic story will see why it it that
it is a very good.thing for the
world that miracles (mostly) don't
happen.- Miracle* are, S4fe only
when the power that wills Jhenj is
wielded by one who-shares the
Knowledge and the wisdom and
the love of the infinite God. It may
become terribly clear to a few
survivors, if any, of a nuclear
war, that ultimate power, used
by angry or ambitious men or
nations, may turn miracle into
murder.
(Based on outlines copyrighted b y
the Division of Christian Education.
National Council ot the Churches ol
Christ in the U. S. A. Released by
Community Press Service.) j
waste through poor feeding
methods and equipment.
To Uso Farm Crop Records
In order to properly keep
account of the needs and
treatment for each field on the
farm system of field aqgpumts
is recommended. These crop