—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, March 13, 1965 4 From Where We Stand... Negligence! That single word can cost you a lot of trouble and money m the days ahead. Many words have been written of the dangers to life and limb that exist on farms But each Spring another optimistic editor adds his words in the hope that someone may listen and profit thereby Many farmers maintain what is legally referred to as an “attractive nuisance”. For example, a child tres passing on your farm might be attracted to your farm pond, fall in and drown. You may be involved in a legal suit if it can be proved that negligence was in volved on your part The court could decide that your negligence in not properly fencing the pond contributed to the child’s death. Farmers can also be held liable for accidents to their employees Suppose, for example, you had permitted an em ployee who, was an unskilled driver to haul laborers to and from work If one of them were injured because of the driver’s lack of skill or knowledge, you might be legally held at fault. How can a farmer protect himself from such unforeseen loss? First thing he must do is take a good close look at his farm, and clean up or remove 'any existing “booby traps” that could be ha±ardous to him, his family, friends, or even to strangers. For example, we heard of a very • Ammon Martin (Continued from Page 1) ket This practice helps keep down the incidence of disease, Martin feels. He makes a swing around his supply area twice a week, and buys enough calves to keep his starting pens full. Most of these are Holsteins, hut toe will also buy a few crossbreds Charolais, Angus, and Swiss all general ly crossed with Holsteins He likes to buy calves an the 90- 110 pound weight iange, but will take crossbieds a little lighter because their confor mation is usually better and they finish out earlier than Holsteins He buys eithei heif er or bull calves, but piefeis the lattei Calves are weighed into the starting pens and aie weighed again when they are sent to market Then the ovei-all in dividual feed conversion is computed /In the starting pens, wheie the 'calves stay foi about ten days, theie is supplemental heat furnished by hot an and by individual heat lamps The stalls aie the same as in the finishing pens —22 inches wide, 4Vz feet long and 4 J 4 feet high The floois of the pens aie com pused of a panel of flattened, galvanized, expanded metal which should Irst foi five years or so The pen floois are raised about one foot above the sloped con'ci ete floor of the building The calves Lancaster Farming Lancaster County's Own Farm Weekly P. O. Box 266 - Lititz, Pa. Offices: 22 E Main St. Lititz, Pa. Phone - Lancaster 394-3047 or Lititz 626-21‘C Don Timmons, Editor Robert G. Campbell, Adver tising Director Established November 4, 1955. Published every Satur day by Laneaster-Fanning, Lil- Pa. Second;,-Class Postage paid at Lititz, Pa. and at additional costly accident in the county last week end. A fanner lost ten cows by eleclri cution. We don’t know the final details, but first information seemed to point directly to faulty wiring of a barn cleaner. This is a serious loss; it could have been much worse it could easily have been one or more human lives tragically destroyed. In addition to farm ponds and wir ing there are other common causes of fann accidents, such as weak construc tion of ladders and stairs; poor lighting at dangerous points; pieces of wire or broken glass that could cause falls or worse. On some farms the list could be extended endlessly. Since it is impossible to anticipate •every eventuality, the next thing he may want to do is transfer some of the remaining risk to an insurance company. Such “liability” insurance is not too ex pensive, and it could be the means of averting a financial disaster for some farmers There are fellow countians with ingrained convictions against any form of insurance; that is certainly their privilege But in our “lawsuit minded” society there are few of us who can afford to assume the entire risk. Before Spring really breaks and floods the farms with its seasonal work schedule, take time to go over your farm with a fine-toothed comb and eliminate "hese traditional farm hazards. This af ter all is really your best, and cheapest, insurance. are secured to the front of their respective pens with a chain, and they only move twice while on the Martin farm once to the finishing pens, and finally, to market. Each pen cost about $l5 to construct according to Martin, and there are 32 units m the starting room and 84 in the finishing area. There are no window’s in the starting pens Tempera tines aie controlled by a com bination of fans and hot air heat In the finishing pens theie are windows as well as fans, but no supplemental heat A unique ventilating system that hi mgs the air In and exhausts it at ceiling lev el to pi event flooi drafts has been designed with the help of Di Poitei Accoidmg to Ammon Mai tin, it takes him and his son and daughtei about thiee man houis morning and evening to feed the llfi-dalf operation Washing down, which is done once a day, takes about Vz hom Undei puie ieseaich conditions, the calves would be fed foui times a day, tout eveiy effort has been made on this farm to keep the opei ation as piactical as possible For example, Mai tin has de signed a batch mixer which can put out about 1000 pounds ot leLquefied milk in about foui minutes not counting the time requned to fill the tank with the lequued amount of wmtei The tank itself is a stainless steel pastunzer wnth a reciieulating pump at tached Mai tin has ingenious ly used an old one-half inch dull motor to power a home made beatei which keeps the mix agitated and peifectly blended as it is drawn off into individual buckets for feed ing The high fat milk replac ei is used in thiee diffeient concentrations dependmgupon the age and weight of the calves being fed When on full feed, eaoh calf receives about 14 pounds of liquid /about 2Vz pounds dry mat ter) twice a day The amount of milk as 'adpisted twice a week, to meet individual needs The calves aie fed to about pounds 'body weight. As each calf is judged “fin ished,” it goes to market. ■The operation bias been marketing 10-12 calves per week Martin and Or. Porter estimiated that 1.4-1.5 pounds of feed are re quired per average pound of gain. The most efficient gams are made up to 200 pounds body weight; after that the gain becomes more costly Calves marketed since the operation began have graded about 75 percent Choice Fed and managed in this way they are presently bringing about 10 cents per pound more than conventional veal calves on a caicass weight basis, .actoid ing to Di Portei What is the difference be tween the meat quality of these calves and those i arsed conventionally, we asked’ “The idea,” Di Porter said, “is to pioduce ‘anemic’ meat That is, meat with no discol oiation” The only way to do this, he told us, is to keep the calves away fiom any feed but milk, don’t bed them; don’t peimtt them access to any source of nist; don’t pei mit them to run about, and above all, handle them caie fully all the way along the line The marketing cycle for these calves aveiages aiound 60 days Although the select maiket that buys the total output of this farm piefers calves in the 225-250 pound weight 'class, they aie even moie intei ested in the degiee of finish The production goal of the Mai tin veal program is to turn four calves per year through the pens It is felt that (his is a conserva tive and leasonable expectation and that undei these condi 10ns the expectation of a fair return on the investment is good True keynote on this farm is management, and the se cret of management is sanita tion Careful selection of stock is the first step in the sanitation program Disinfect ing and cleanliness is the sec ond The dioppings and urine are flushed into a septic tank ■flatly,* -and -this -reporter -can (Continued on Page 13) WHE / lv©a®as / p'A SPEAKS >,V' iv latemaheiul Untlaim Sunday School Lhkhi Yes But... Lesson for March 14, 1965 joy. There is no command, just B " kCTOund ScttoUres Matthew 21 and invitatio n. Yet the king for PcVotionat Readme: Matthew 7 i3-2o some strange reason is snubbed ' ... ... ~ by his own people, his guests ATOBODY in his right mind that never W ere. Some were ?,° ; ic '* b f Wicked murders, bat some .veie against tae will of God. Yet j us j. jj US y and preoccupied peo people do go against God every pj e They had no intention of re day. You have seen it done; you j, e jjj n g a g a i ns t the king. Their have done it yourself. How c- n trou jji e was s i m piy that they this be? Are we all out of our had other fish to fry> they i minds. The rca- Colddn >t be bothered, they re son why so many gretted . . . and so forth. But people do go whether for a good reason, or against God’s none at all, they didn’t come, will and com- This seems strange behavior for mandments invited guests at a palace; yet it shows (unless in- happens every day. The lazy son deed they are left work undone; the I-don’t ‘■off their rock- car ® guests simply cut them- Dr. Foreman er”) one of two out of a good time. things about the man: Either he Expected to appreciate does not believe in God really. That little story of the matt or else he has some common but without a wedding garment has fatal wrong notions about him. puzzled many. Here is one mean* Commanded to serve th#t h « s found in it! a u tachc* n » r a. The guest’s lack of proper Anyhow, Je ~h p t h„ clothes was his own fault, for the bles that have to do with the . .. . al „- disregard of God on the part of 1"*?! 22*? Sh! man. These are the parables of ®very one present a spec »1 robe the Two Sons and of the Wed- Bot ding Feast, with the difficult appreciating the royal gift, this little postscript parable of the individual tosses it into « Wedding Garment. These bring «ra« and comes in bis old out still another reason why clothes. We are like that nun people disregard God’s wish and we take aome wonderful will -They deceive themselves in- *«“ ? ur . f Go ? * nd to supposing "that to acknowledge thank him for-it at all. God’s commands is enough. They - So: whether God i* ordering have no intention of disobedi- ut to do, or Inviting us to enjoy, ence, they just aren’t quite ready ® r expecting us -to appreciate, to obey. They have an attitude bow often we just ignore hind which might be given the name