4—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, April 6, 1963
From Where We Stand...
Spring The
(Reprinted By Special Request)
A slender V, pointing north, silh
outted; itself against the leaden sky
the eerie honk of the wild goose, on the
long-awaited journey to his ancestral
nesting ground, echoed in the first faint
grey of dawn, and Spring slipped North
on slender wings.
Knee-deep frogs peeped their
awakening chorus; cat tails and skunk
cabbage thrust exploring fingers through
the surface mud of the swamp, so re
cently thawed, and Spring sneaked
North on quiet feet.
Mosquitos buzzed and ■ hummed
around the old apple tree stump in the
backyard orchard; the honeybee ventur
ed forth in search of the blossoms which
will nourish the bodies of his brothers
long after, he has gone back to the
earth from which he came, and Spring
wended her way North on gossamer
wings.
Robins hopped hopefully along the
frozen lawn and flew back to the apple
tree to squawk at the impertinent black
birds already carrying the winter-dried
weeds to their nesting sites, and Spring
swung North on a magnolia-scented
zephyr.
All across America millions of snow
shovels gave way to garden spades in
the show windows and the minds of
suburbanites, and Spring swung North
with a vengence, on stout legs and
nimble feet.
And all across America, on farms
and ranches, thoughts turned from fro
zen water pipes and drifted lanes to
newborn lambs and newsown seeds;
thoughts turned from the brightly color
ed seed catalogs to the brown earth with
the wake-up smell behind the plow, and
Spring came on with a bound.
“Spring”, whispered the swelling
bud on the cherry tree
“Spring”, answered the grass from
beneath the snowdrift.
“Spring”, insisted the catkin on the
Pussy Willow.
“Spring”, grumbled the mud in the
lane
“Spring”, cried the bluejay in the
walnut tree.
“Spring”, screamed the weasel as
she traded her white coat for brown.
“Spring”, shouted a million noisy
and silent voices in chorus and in dis
cord all at once and, all of a sudden.
“Spring”, said the farmer. “Thank
God for another seed time and the pro
mise of another harvest ”
In. spring it is somehow hard to
worry overmuch about the woes of man
kind and his self-inflicted suffering His
war-mongenng and incessant wranghngs
over the material possessions of the
world seem somehow to pale into in
significance alongside the orderly a
wakemngs of Mother Nature’s children.
We feel proud, but humble, to have
witnessed this awakening, and we feel
sorry for those who have never had the
opportunity to witness it But we feel
more sorry for those who have lived in
the midst of it all their lives, and have
never yet, had the time to see or feel
it.
At least, that’s how it looks from
where we stand.
★ ★ ★ ★
Above normal relative lium-
idity associated with above
aionnal temperatures gieatly
increases the tiansit death
ante in mai ket-hound hogs, un-
less precautiouaiy measuies
pie taken, emphasizes Live
stock Conservation, Inc A rel
ative humidity leading of 50
per cent or abov e when tem
peiatuies aie 75 to SO degrees
01 moie is a “danget” signal.
Hope Eternal
Cattle prices are taking a beating.
You don’t need to talk to many cattle
feeders to find this out pretty quick.
A lot of reasons for the low prices
are being offered, but the one most of
ten heard is that there are too many
cattle.
The annual survey by the United
States Department of Agriculture shows
that the number of cattle and hogs is
climbing, but not a dangerous rate, and
sheep numbers are actually down.
Compared with last year cattle
numbers increased four per cent up
from 100,002,000 in 1962-to 103,754,000
head this year. llog numbers increased
from 57,000,000 to 58,695,000 head for
a three per cent increase.
This is a small increase in itself, but
when you remember that we need a two
per cent growth just to keep up with the
population increase and sheep numbers
during the same time went down by
four per cent, the total increase becomes
quite small.
Cattle on feed are up 12 per cent,
and this will probably push the price
of finished cattle still lower, but based
on the total figures, the breeding herds
must be smaller. While cattle feeders
have some rough sledding ahead for the
next few months, long range prospects
are bright People still like beef and the
cattle herds have not built up as fast in
this cycle as they did in the last one.
With most Lancaster County cattle
feeders, and we presume, others in the
country selling at lighter weights, than
they did a few years ago, it iyill take
more cattle to put the same amount of
beef on the market.
We have reason to believe that the
livestock business is still on very firm
ground.
Af least that’s how it looks from
where we stand.
Vermont Experiment Station re
search shows the best time to breed
dairy cows for highest milk production
is within 50-90 days after freshening.
★ ★ ★ ★
Farm Workers Decline The lar
gest drop in farm workers ever report
ed for a 10-year period, was announced
41 percent, according to Labor Secretary
for 1950 through 1960 with a decline of
W. Willard Wirtz. He noted that “the
technological revolution in agriculture
which led to decreased requirements of
labor contributed to about two-thirds in
crease in farm output per man-hour'
during the last decade.”
★ ★ ★ ★
Going to Sell Machinery? -
Persons planning to enter the re
tail farm machinery business should
have at least $20,000 to $25,000 of their
own money to invest, according to the
Small Business Administration.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow said
it and it’s still as true today: “Look notv
mournfully into the past, it returns no
more; wisely improve the present, and
go forth into the shadowy future with
out -fear and with a manly heart.
Lancaster Farming Jack Owen, Editor
Lancaster County’s Own Farm Robert G. Campbell,
Weekly Advertising Director
P. O. Box 1524 .Cstablish&rt November 4,
Lancaster, Penna. 1955. Published every Satur-
P. O. Box 266 - Lititz, Pa. ,j a y by L ancas ( ;er .p' arin i n g ( Lit-
Itz, Pa.
Olllces:
22 E. Mam St.
Lititz, Pa.
Phone - Lancaster
EXpress 4-3047 or
'Lititz MA G-2191
Beef Cattle Prices
★ ★ ★ ★
For highest milk production
★ ★ ★
Go Forth
Entered as 2nd class matter
at Lititz, Pa. under Act of Mar.
8, 1879.
The Torn Veil
Lesson for April 7,1963
Bible Material: Mark 14:10 through
15.41
Devotional Reading: II Timothy 3:l*
.5, 14-15.
upon a time Gethsemane
and Calvary were only names.
People in Jerusalem knew; where
, they were. Gethsemane, was in
one kind of suburb; it was an or
chard, much like a park, a good
quiet and rest
\ the fresh, air.
dvary was alto
ither a different
\ce.The air was
; fresh, itsmell
of death. For
it place (Skull
(ace they, called
) was the Roman
:my’s place of
ecution. The
place reeked with
blood and the flies were every
where. Nowadays these names
have a different sound. They are
beloved names, poems have been
written and hymns sung about
them.
The Torn Veil
Whet sort of place would be best
suited for the God of heaven, and
earth? In contrast to the jeweled
shrines which enclosed the images
of tiie pagan gods, the God of the
Jews lived in a dark chamber into
which even His priests were for
bidden to enter. Of course those
who thought much about such
matters knew that GocLwas not
in there. Yet if you asked them,
“Where is the house of God?”'
they would have pointed to the
Temple. It was resplendent in
marble and gold, to be sure; but
in that Temple, as in its model
the httle tabernacle or tent in the
wilderness 12 centuries before,
God Himself did not sit among
the hghts; His own chamber was
dark, silent and bare, empty of
all but Himself, invisible and ter
rible-.
Between that chamber and the
rest of the Temple hung an im
mense veil. It was a symbol of
the mystery and the barrier be
tween man and his God. Now on
the afternoon in April when Jesus
died, a strange thing happened.
That great veil was found to be
Now Is The Time . . .
There is little to be gained by waiting
until hot weather to remove the fleece from
sheep, in fact some animals will begin t*
lose their wool when waim weather arrives.
In addition, ewes nursing a lamb or two will
milk better out of the fleece, also, a shorn
ewe will be more sensitive to ram and cool
winds and bring their lambs into shelter
quicker than one with heavy wool.
To Make Straight Legume Seedings
New stands of alfalfa or clover may be
M4X M SMITH ma< * e in the s l 3nn S without any nurse crop,
pioviding the seeding is made during late
March or eaily April and also, some special ettort is made to
control the weeds We lecommend either Eptam just prior to
the seeding time, or the use of 4 (2,4-D-B) after seeding and
when the weeds are fiom one to two inches high. Additional
details available.
to lie down on the coM ground'
until warmer temperatures are|
All dairymen look; forward * iere t 0 stay ‘ j
to the pasture season for fresn Handle Packed Manure
forage and reduced barn ehor- Many steer barns and live*,
es; however, this is the sea- stock pens are being cleaned i
son when very careful man- at this time ot the year. The*'
agement is required The herd front-end loader is a big laborf
should be gradually accustom- saver but these large sections 1 !
ed to fresh grass to eliminate of packed manure are very
bloating, and grazed only alter hard on manure spreaders an
the milking period; being re- less the section is broken up
moved to the barn or diy lot by handling one or more times,
at least 4to 5 hours pnor + o Piling the manure and then
the next milking period; if re-loading the same day is
this is not done, otf-flavored suggested in order to relieve
milk may result. The milking the spreader of this wear and
herd should not be permitted tear.
T > Manage The Milking
Herd Carefully
torn in two.
What dots Oailnwnana ntaanf^,
We may. be field to, say that the
torn veil let in light upon, what
otherwise would have remained
dark forever. The tearing of the
veil .may symbolize the light shed
by God’s Spirit, as Christians be
lieve, on the dark events we call
Gethsemane and Calvary. What
would Gethsemane have meant to
you if you had been there? In the'
shadows of the great spreading]
trees hiding the full, moon, you
might have seen four men, three]
of them asleep but one of them'
praying. You could not have heard 1
all that he said, but you might
have been close enough to have
heard the words wrung from him, 1
“Let this cup pass from me . . ’J
Nevertheless, not as I will but as
Thou wilt.” You could see that be
dreaded something. .Yet you could
not see what it was he dreaded.
Certainly not'death, nor failure;
for he had faced death and failure
before this,-and he knew bow ta
take them. What was this “some
thing” worse than death? Ope of
the men sleeping, here wouldone
day write: “Christ suffered for
you ... He comrnitted.no sin . . .
He bore our sms ..(I Peter 2.)
By the light the Spirit pours
through the opened veil,- we can
see what Gethsemane means:
that Christ took on IBs own heart
the sins of mankind.
What doas Calvary mean?
Through that same rending of
the mystic veil, a light is shed
also on Calvary. If at Gethsemane
Christ felt the shame of our sins>
on Calvary He felt the dire result
of our sins. For the nature and
the result of sin is to separate the
sinner from God; Again without
the light that the Spirit shed (in
various ways through the New
Testament) we could make very
little of Calvary. What could you
have seen? Three men being tor
tured to death, Roman style, by
being nailed to crosses. You might
not have known—for certainly hia
executioners did not know—tha,t
the few words spoken by the man
on-the middle cross, in all the
hours He hung there, would be
immortal. Even if you had known,
you could hardly .have understood!
Yet in. the light thafpours through -
the torn veil we can see even ‘a,
meaning in the darkest of Calva
ry’s sayings: Why hast Thou for
saken me? The meaning, part of
the meaning, of Calvary is that
Christ underwent, for our sake
and taking our place,—being shut
out of the presence of God. Our
shame, our sentence, He took on
Himself!
(Based on outlines copyrighted by
the Division of Christian Education*
National Council, of the Churches of
Christ in the U. S. A. Released b T.
Community Press Service.)
BY MAX SMITH
To Shear Sheep
-1