—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, August 24, 1963 4 From Where We Stand... The Price Still Comes. Down Can broilers be raised for half as - much as they could nine years ago ? If they can’t, someone is getting a good break, or someone else is coming off pretty good. This week the Lancaster Poultry Center issued a summary and compari son of broiler selling prices for June and’ July since 1955. In June of that year broilers averaged 27.6 cents a pound and a month later they were 28.75. For June and July of the cur rent year the average prices were 15.7 and 16.42 respectively. Why are live broiler prices only a little more than half of what they were in 1955? Feed, per ton, costs more now than it did then. Labor prices have consistently gone up, and the cost of equipment has gone way up above the prices at that time. While the cost of broiler chicks has dropped nearly 30 per cent, this in itself certainly does not account for the difference in price of the finished bird. Of course better chicks are being bred than ever before They can make better use of feed than could their an cestors, but this is a relatively small item. Feed manufacture has improved vastly in the past nine years. Feed formulas are so much better now than they were a few years ago that it takes only about two thirds as long to grow a bird to marketable weight. Further more, with the improved feeds, one pound will put on about as much weight as a pound and a half would a few years ago. But better chicks and improved feed do not account for all the differ ence in price between now and 1955. In fact the price of live broilers is low er now than it was in the depths of the depression. What else has happen ed to bring about this revolution in the hen house? It used to take the farmer a good portion of the morning to carry feed and water to a few hundred chickens. Now all that is done by machinery and a time clock feeds many thousands of birds in a fraction of the time it took to feed the few hundred, and it does it all while the farmer is engaged in other activity. Manure removal, one of the big jobs of a few years ago, has become a relatively simple matter with automatic cleaning equipment or pens that can be cleaned with a trac tor and scoop. Labor, one of the major items of expense in any farming operation has been cut to a minimum, and other effi ciencies of production have cut costs so much that the broiler business is more like a manufacturing process than a farming enterprize as we have been accustomed to thinking of farming. It has been estimated conservatively that over 90 per cent of all the broilers grown in this country are reared in large commercial operations financed partially or wholly by feed mills or other commercial businesses. But this aside, the American con sumer today buys chicken meat in great er quantities than ever before, (up from two pounds per person annually in 1940 to more than 27 pounds per person an nually this year) and the consumer buys Tomatoes Like It Cool, Too > ❖ ■>-< Since Redcoat wheat is hes sian fly resistant, it may be planted during August and Sep tember and used as a temporary pasture crop; if the wheat is to . . , T .be grazed this fall, it should Established November 4, be « ore heavil - ertlhzed (400 1955. Published every Satur- t „ 500 of a 10 . 10 . 10 f elt ili Z er) lay by Lancaster-Farmlng, Lit- and dnlled at the rate of V/i long coming aftei the green Ala' qt Itz » Pa> to 3 bushels P er acre - In the fiuit is full grown on hot sum- Lititz" Pa* 11 " spring it should be top-dressed mer days. Watering to cool to- ’ ' Entered as 2nd class matter W ith 50 to 60 pounds of nitro mato plants during hot periods Pbone - Lancaster at Lititz. Pa. under Act of Mar. gen per acre and may be gra (!/}penin.s 'Qf the Express 4-3047 or 8f m9 _ zed untll jt deve i o ps into die lUi^:ili SiHlnK ' u . C-2191 Jointing stage. Tomatoes ripen best in tern- 5 5 to 65 <le- rj*nc«ster County’s Own Farm grees, reports J. 0 Dutt, Penn Weekly peratures from State extension vegetable crops That specialist why that red color takes so Lancaster Farming P. O Box 1524 Lancaster, Penn a. P. 0. Box 266 - LUitz, Pa. explain may it for a smaller percentage'of his total income than ever before.' This is just one more example of how the efficiency of the American Farmer is making life better and easier for all Americans, everywhere. At least that’s how it looks from where we stand. ★ ★ ★ ★ Well Done, 4-H’ers Congratulations are in order for members of the Kirkwood community club exhibiting pigs in the county roundup. Members of the Kirkwood club won three breed champions and had the champion pen of ten. Only two members of the Kirkwood club enrolled in the pig project failed to finish in the money We believe this is a tribute to the ability and interest of the adult local leaders as well as the youthful club members. Again we say congratulations to the Kirkwood club and to all the other winners It was a job well done. At least that’s how it looks from where we stand. ★ ★ ★ A Long Hike Roads and streets in the U. S. total ed nearly 3.6 million miles in 1961, says the U.S. Department of Commerce. Rur al roads comprised slightly over 3.1 mil lion miles, or 88 per-cent of all roads under the jurisdiction of local or federal government. ★ ★ ★ Fats in the Pan American consumers may not be aware that they are eating more fats today than ever an average of more than 117 pounds per person per year compared with 108 pounds in 1935-39, says the New York State Extension Ser vice There’s no change in saturated fats drop in butter and lard use is offset by heavier consumption of other satu rated fat foods, mostly beef. Use of un saturated fats has jumped about 15 per cent. ★ ★ ★ ★ Surplus in Europe Too With milk production rising and fluid consumption leveling off, Europe’s common market nations are looking for ward to an estimated annual butter sur plus of 300,000 metric tons by the end of the decade. Besides eyeing foreign markets, the leading suggestion for dis posing of the butter surplus calls for its compulsory admixture in oleomargarine. It also is proposed by France and Bel for a irli r t i hi'-ii c>i jj-iuianir I'l'l 11/ ' .-in'lJl-ff- Urge Dairy Research The USDA’s Dairy Research and Marketing Advisory Committee urges deeper research into how dairy products affect health. In stressing the need for a multi-nutrient “sales” approach to milk and milk products, the committee urged a concentrated study to determine the role of dairy products in the diet of people of all ages. Also urged was an ap- desired height b f£ ore further grazing For the Sudan grass this « j . , * would be 16 to 18 inches and for the sudax hybrids it should praisal of new dairy products, consumer be a t least 24 inches. Eating of these crops before this 1 size use and preference, and merchandising could be toxic to some animals and promotion Jack Owen. Editor Robert G. Campbell, Advertising Director Conversion Lesson for August 25, 1963 Bible Material: Genesis 26 thiough Devotional Reading: Psalm 121. TF GOD does not speak to people m dreams today, one reason may be that few people in our time would accept a dream as a message from God. But there was a time when not every dream but ' -, al dr ms were taken to e revelations •om God. Cer unly, the least 'e can say about tch a stoiy as lis one about Ja tb at Bethel is iat this man be teved that God lad actually spok m to him and made him a mag nificent promise; and he names the place “Beth (house) El (of God)” the place, or a place, where God lived. We can learn some thing about religion from the way Jacob reacted to what he under stood to be a vision of God. One question will bring this story right down to ourselves: Was Jacob converted hv this experience, or not? Jacob needed conversion Conversion is an important word. It means a turning around, a 180-degree turn; it means turn ing from evil to good, from dis obeying God to obeying God, from hating or denying God to loving Him with all the heart. Now if you had asked any of Jacob’s neighbors at that time, before he started his journey back east to see his relatives in the Euphrates Valley,—if you had asked them what they thought of Jacob, they could have said little good of him. Indeed, his own family were against him. He had tricked his brother into giving him his birth right, and then he had stolen the blessing their father intended for Esau. In revenge, Esau had sworn to kill his younger twin Jacob; and Jacob had had to leave home to seek safety far away. We know his father had plenty of animals he could have offered Jacob to ride; but he didn’t offer one. Jacob had to walk, and we may Now Is The Time . . . Growers that are using MH-30 to stop suckers should keep in mind that it is strong ly advised to allow about three days after topping before the chemical is applied. This will permit the top leaves to mature to a greater degree and not sufficient time for much sucker growth. In addition it is best to wait until about 75% of the plants in the field show one or two open blossoms before topp ing. To Clip Sudan Grass and Sudax Hybrids After livestock have had a chance to graze down these temporary summer forage crops, they should be clipped at three to four Inches high, and then permitted to grow back to the MAX M. SMITH To Fertilize Redcoat' Wheat guess he made * hiking record. The point is, in Billy Sunday’s famous words, Jacob at this time was so low down he had to reach up to touch bottom, and so crook* ed he could hide behind a cork* screw. “The world’s my orange and I intend to squeeze it” might have been his motto; for he had never been known to do an un selfish thing in all his life. If ever a' man need to be converted, it was Jacob. Discovery of God Conversion always begins with a meeting between God and a man. The meeting may take place in many ways; but none stranger than this dream at Bethel. One thing Jacob learned that night which he had not realized before. It was a lesson even Abraham had a hard time learning: God is ev erywhere. Jacob thought he had turned his back on God. He be lieved in Him of course; he never had been an atheist. But some how he thought God must be con fined to one district, as human beings are. If you run far enough and fast enough, you can escape from most people. If you shut the door and draw the bolts, you can keep many people out. But there is no door yet made which can keep God out. He is on both sides of all doors, He is everywhere. He is the God of the traveler and of those who stay at home. This is a great discovery, and Jacob was awed by it. Promise with an If Jacob sounds pious enough. He promises to pay tithes, and that was good. So it is sometimes said that this experience at Bethel was Jacob’s great turning point, his conversion. On the other hand, there is some reason to doubt that anything radical happened to him. True, he discovered something very important about God; but knowing about God is not yet con version. (“The devils believe, and tremble.”) When you look at it closely, you find that this vow of Jacob’s to give God a tenth was a promise with an If. IF God will arrange everything right for me, and IF He will do for me what I want done (he says in effect), THEN He will be my God and I will give Him ten per cent of all profits. Furthermore, Jacob is so far from offering himself to God that in the years just ahead he is going to cheat his own flesh and blood relatives, just as he did before. He is going to be out for Jacob first. He is changed very little by this dream, and till he is changed we can hardly call it conversion. (Based on outlines copyrighted by the Division of Christian Education, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the IT, S. A. Released by Community Press Service.) BY MAX SMITH To Allow Tobacco Leaves To Mature To Permit Alfalfa To Bloom Late August is a critical-time with the alfalfa plant, 90 we have been informed by our re search stations, this is the’ per iod when the plant is develop ing new rhizomes for next year’s growth and should not be cut unless it is in the 75% to 100% blossom stage* Do not cut alfalfa during late Au gust in the bud or early jHoom stage, pi oviding the fielcftis to remain in hay another season.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers