4 —Lancaster Farming, Saturday, November 28, 1964
From Where We Stand...
'What Is Lancaster County?
The Pennsylvania Almanac says
Lancaster is the greatest crop produc
ing, non-irrigated county in the United
States This we all know; although we
may at times take it for granted, we are
certainly grateful for its abundant fer
tility.
But Lancaster County has more
than a unique soil fertility. It has the
people, without which the world’s most
fertile soil would be barren.
The agricultural phenomenon that
is Lancaster County didn’t just happen.
It took people with a purpose to bring
about such abundance You know who
these original people were for it was
their seeds which produced you You
carry their names, and you walk the
same fields and furrows in which they
walked. Many of your nchest'fields to
day were cleared by their back-breaking
labor.
It seems to us that we get so in
volved with the demands of today that
we tend to forget there was ever a
yesterday Yet it was yesterday that
made today just as surely as today will
father tomorrow.
The Almanac gives us a few other
facts about our county. It was named
after Lancashire, England; it was the
fourth organized county in Pennsyl
vania, after Bucks, Chester and Phila
delphia; it was formed from part of
Chester County; it has produced one
President, James Buchanan; it produces
ninety percent of the nation’s cigar leaf
tobacco; and most interesting, Lancas
ter City was for one hectic night, when
the British over-ran Philadelphia, the
capital of our desperate young republic
that so nearly died aborning.
But the people; who were they?
The Almanac says only that the earliest
settlers were Sjwiss ’and French, fol-,
lowed in 1'717-1723 by German farm
ers from -the Rhine, and that it was
this combination that produced the
“Pennsylvania Dutch”. As Professor
Schnitzel says, “that ain’t much to go
on ”We’d like to know much more about
these people, your ancestors. Would you
share with us, and with our readers,
some of your rich heritage? In many
households there are old handwritten
records and letters. Though ancient and
dusty perhaps, these words were written
by the people in who’s footsteps we now
walk. What they were, to a great extent,
has effected what we are. Perhaps un
derstanding them could help us under
stand ourselves a little better. At any
rate they deserve better than to be
idly forgotten.
The report also shows the complex
problems of rural poverty. These in
clude less dense populations and the
resulting adverse effect on employment
opportunities; the advanced age of the
heads of the poorer families one-third
of all the heads of poor families five
years ago were at least 65 years old and
40 percent of these were rural folk; the
migration of the young from the rural
areas thus depleting the chance for crea
tive development of those areas.
Whether or not you agree with
Johnson’s approach to this problem, it
will not be hard to see that this boom
will provide some hitherto non-exis
tent business opportunities in the rural
areas. But this will probably be of little
We think that our personal history immediate consequence to our area,
has much yet to say to us. With your since we doubt that Lancaster County
help it can speak again through these rates very high in the rural poverty
pages. We ask that you reexamine the department. This plan will' particularly
written records that history has left attack the isolated little pockets of
you, sift out the facts that tell the story poverty that exist across the land
of your own heritage, and pass on to us A copy of the research report “Pov
that information which you think would er ty in Rural Areas of the United
be of interest to our readers Please States”, AER No. 63, may be obtained
don’t send us any documents or pictures by writing to the Office of Information,
through the mail’ We would prefer that USDA, Washington, D. C. 20250.
these do not leave your keeping. If it
• Pa. S & W made application foi water-
I nnmcf or Exrminn (Continued from Page 1) shed piotection and flood pre
t-ancasrer farming mak]ng Pennsylvania a better mention covering over three
Lancaster County's Own Farm plate ]n which t 0 i lve Robert milllon acies of land m Penn
„„ „ ''Y” kIy T „ C Lott, Pi esident of the As- s y hama . Lott said -
PO. Box 266 - Lititz, Pa. souatlon of Soil and Water A Lancaster County conser-
Offices: q. - ~ vationist, Heniy H. Hackman
22 E. Mam St.
Lititz, Pa.
Phone - Lancaster
394-3047 or
Lititz G2S-219J
Don Timmons, Editor
Robeil G. Campbell, Adver
tising Dneetor
Established November 4,
1955. Published every Satur
day by Lancaster-Farming, Lit
itz, Pa.
Second Class Postage paid
at Lititz, and at additional
mailing -offices.
• I 1 «rtl» Vf
would be desirable to reproduce these
we would rather do so while they are
in your possession. In that way there
would be no risk of loss or damage to
these irreplaceable objects.
Whether or not such historical ma
terial will appear in this paper depends
upon your interest. We think that this
rich vein of folklore should be tapped
because of the benefits it holds for the
future, aside from purely local interest.
Our children should know and under
stand our past for is it not their heri
tage too?
Rural Poverty
As part of his Great Society. Pre
sident Johnson plans to boom all of
rural America. The aim of this boom
will be to push opportunity for the
rural people that will equal the urban
opportunities. This will be done in the
form of government-sponsored credit
through redevelopment funds, FHA
housing, water facilities, anti-pollution
programs, small business loans, etc.
A recent report by USDA’s Econo
mic Research Service has blue-printed
the problem of rural inequities. It re
ports that there are 17.4 million rural
persons with family incomes below
$3OOO per year, and suggests that pro
grams pitched toward upgrading the
economic conditions of these people can
go a long way toward solving the pro
blems of rural poverty.
This war on rural poverty is not
solely a Johnson creation; Eisenhower
and Kennedy also fought it. But John
son plans to go after it in a big way, on
a par with urban renewal. The Econo
mic Research Service report showed
that the number of persons with pover
ty-level incomes had been reduced 40
percent from 1947-1962; without a crash
program.
-onsei vation Distuct Direc- -*> _
1 01 s, told the group that by icceived a citation fiom the Tax Reports
develomncr soil and watpr ip- ftssocistion o£ ciiicctors. Hsck- IVlflny iHimcis could
S22cUetvmg sguZtur- »»»• ot llanheim R 2, „ ttom a bettor undevstandmg of
al soils, and by developing Presented with the citation by the income tax stiucture We
adeauate reueational facilities Amos H Funk, Millersville aie , no t P° sin § as authonties
adequate lecieauonai lacimies d t of the Lancas m this area, but feel that many
they we!e impiovmg the live- « ; Patent of me Laneas could beneht flom moie know y .
ability ol the Commonwealth if 1 '-ouniy son
for aencultuie mdustiv and Distlict The aw aid was based lecl oe ot the\ai ions deductions
Si H-ckmene achievement ” d , *X‘ «
Lou added that today over ““JJ' in th ' ,eld o£ 10 be given at Penn 1 State
30,000 farmers aie cooperating Umveisity on December 7 and
with local soil and water con- Hackman is a member of 0
servat'on distnets in the state, the faculty at Donegal High
Thnty-four counties have School, Mount Joy.
What Do YOU Think?
Gospel in Brief
Lesson for November 29, 1964
Background Scripture: Titus 1 I*3;
2 n-H. 3 < ; 3a
Devotional Keadmc; Ephesians 2 1-10,
THIS WEEK we shall do some
thing a little different. This
is an invitation to study the
Bible together. The veises under
“Background Scripture” are re
markable in bringing out, in
their brief sentences, many of
the most vital
truths taught by
the Christian
Chuich, Taught
to the chuich,
we ought to say,
first of all, for
what the church
teaches she first
learned, at least
in vital germ,
from her own fiist teacher, Paul,
and above him, our Lord himself.
The groce of God
The word of "grace” often
means gracefulness, as when we
speak of the grace of a violinist’s
work, or the invitation of a
hostess. In the New Testament
it means graciousness, a quality
some people have without know
ing it, the quality we associate
with true aristocracy. We can
say for instance that Dean Husk
is a more gracious character
than Gromyko. Grace is not the
same thing as goodness; some
people can he mighty good with
out being very gracious. Grace
is goodness come to life, shin
ing. In the'New Testament the
grace (Graciousness) of God is
mentioned far oftener than the
grace of men. (Why should this
be so?) The New Testament
speaks often of the grace, of
God as something which has up
to now not been well known or
understood. For the crowning
act of God’s grace is the gift of
his son, Jesus Christ, the living,
walking grace of God in human
Jiving. The supreme moment of
that grace, of course, is Christ’s
identifying himself with sinners
and being willing to "give his
life a ransom for many” to
use his own words. The grace of
God and the Saviorhood of Jesus
Now Is The Time . ..
With the winter’s supply of hay and
feed in the barn, and most barns filled to
capacity with livestock, it is very important
to practi.ee fire prevention. We especially
call attention to the stove in the tobacco
cellar and the condition of the stove pipe and
chimney. Be sure all joints are tight and all
masonry m place - The investment in several
hand fire extinguishers is a good one to pre
vent serious loss. Be sure the extinguishers
are in good working condition and that
everyone aiound the farm and home knows
wheie they are located and how to operate
them.
MAX SMITH
To Use Pig And Lamb Brooders
Newly-born pigs and lambs need some protection if born
dining extremely cold weather. The use of the heat lamp 01
bi ooder-type heater has saved many head of livestock We cau
tion breedeis, however, about the danger of these lamps if not
securely fastened and if within reach of livestock; they could
be a senous fne hazard. If the young animals are given a
chance to enjoy the warmth and the diyness of the biooder
for the first week, they will get off to a faster start
To Study Farm Income this practice but far too many
To Do Forage Testing
Most larmers have heard of
f' * » * * I k
are not two different things;
they might almost be called, from
the Christian point of view, the
same thing.
How Christian life begins
Paul speaks here also of how
the Christian life begins. It starts
with what theologians call “justi*
fication,” which hteially means a
judge’s vcidict of “Not Guilty’'.
Justification refeis to man’s
status in God’s sight, not to his
state. A newborn baby is in a
wi etched state. He badly needs
a bath. But he is his parents'
much-loved child all the same.
They da not demand that ha
must do something lovable be
fore they love him; they wel
come him with love even before
he is born. God is like that. He
loved us before we were born
not because of what we have
clone but because he is love.
How Christian life operator
The life of God in the life of
man; how does this operate?
Theie is mystery here, to be
sure; but some things are clear.
One tiuth is that it means to be
daily, even constantly renewed.
The Christian’s life is not an
autdmatic business that starts
with one big Bang! and keeps
on with no further effort. The
greatest Christians are those who
feel most strongly the need of
being continually re-created.
This has its definite effects. The
Christian is one who becomes,
with the passage of time, more
and more godly, that is, God-l}ke.
This is so tremendnous we some
times shrink from it. We find it
enough to be like our parents or
someone else we admire. Our
heavenly Father wants us most
of all to be like himself. ‘Ha
wants us to love what he lores
and to hate what he hates. Final
ly (though much here has not
been touched) the Christian lives
a lifeof hope. He expects Christ
to be Lord of All. No Christian
ever wept that he was born too
late for the Golden Age. The
Golden Age for us is not in some
lost yesterday, it is the great
tomorrow, when all tears have
been wiped away and God shall
be all in all.
(jiisej on outline. ooujrlrhte*
Division •f Christlan Education, NittjniiX
Cornell «f the Obnrehet of Christ InHlie
V. S. A. Xeleaiei hr Commonltr ijrfi*
Service.)
Church Sunday
BY MAX SMITH
To Prevent Farm Fires
dairymen are not taking advan
tage of this chance to become
more efficient and to make
more net leturns. Here at the
beginning ot the winter feed
ing season we feel that many
could benefit from the testing
service The gram recommenda
tion that accompanies the foi
age report is a very good guide
to the needs of the herd in ad
dition to the forages being fed.
This might be on e farm .prac
tice that could help many dairy
men stay in the business*
* > *•< * <*<ti 7 r "*r w
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