Lancaster Fanning, Saturday, May 29, 1965
4
From Where We Stand
The Million Pound Dairy Herd
What does it take to have a herd
that produces a million pounds of milk
a year? Obviously it either .takes a lot
of cows or a lot of milk, or a combina
tion of both. According to our calcula
tions there were five DHIA-tested herds
in Lancaster County last year that pro
duced over one million pounds of milk.
These five herds averaged 11,058 pounds
of milk on 104.8 cows tested The high
est-producing of these herds was not
exceptional with 12,800 pounds of milk.
Size seems to be more of a factor in
attaining the million-pound mark than
production-level
Some quick calculations show that
a 100-cow herd must average 10,000
pounds of milk to reach the million
pound level; 90-cow herd 11,111
pounds, 80-cows 12,500 pounds; 70-
cows 14,285 pounds; 60-cows
16,666 pounds, 50-cows 20,000, etc
Any good dairyman knows that simp
ly making a lot of milk is not the only
answer to making money, he must make
milk profitably. Whether or not the five
Lancaster County dairymen achieved
the million-pound level profitably, we
don’t know. We sure hope they did,
otherwise they handled a lot of milk
for nothing!
Irving F. Fellows, a professor of
agricultural economics at the University
of Connecticut, recently pointed out
some of the factors involved in produc
ing a million pounds of milk at the
Northeastern Dairy Conference.
Fellows said that before the mil
lion-pound herd will ever become com
monplace some changes will have to
come about in the thinking of dairy
men. He suggested that they think of
themselves as “Chairman of the Board”,
primarily concerned with management
of the business. Then cows become
machines converting energy into milk.
The farmer is dealing with many “in
puts” which must be carefully combin
ed to produce “outputs”. These inputs
and outputs have dollar values, Fellows
said, which convert them to costs and
returns. The producer tries to maintain
a favorable difference between costs
and returns a profit
The economists can always make
■this business of farming sound very
simple and cut and dried One reason
is that they are dealing with theory,
while the farmer must deal with hot
■and cold running facts The economist
can put all his variables down on paper
and they stay there On the farm, how
ever, these variables sometimes get a
little out of control
We do not mean to belittle the
efforts of the economist by any means;
his theory has helped, and will continue
New Dwarf Corn
Disease Expected
In Pa. This Year
A corn disease named
maize dwarf mosaic, new to
Pennsylvania, will undoubted
ly be found in the westein
part of the State this sum
mer, says Clifford C Wern
ham, plant pathologist with
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 626-2191
Don Timmons, Editor
Robert G Campbell, Adver
tising Director
Established November 4,
1955 Published eveiy Satur
day by Lancaster-Faiming, Lit
itz, Pa
Second Class Postage paid
at Lititz, Pa and at additional
maihjafeabglces. , x
• • •
to help, the farmer who will apply ilia
new knowledge as it fits his farm. As
the old expression goes, however,
“there’s no point to a man learning
something new when he doesn’t use
half what he knows now”. The farmers
who aren’t using what they know now
have little to learn from the economists.
To operate profitably today it seems
a farmer has to use everything he
knows plus everything he can learn,
and then he has to hope the govern
ment doesn’t come along with some',
sudden program that throws the whole
thing out the window.
It can be done, Mr. Chairman of
the Board, economists and government
not withstanding, and you’re the only
man who will get the iob done profit
ably in the final analysis'
What Do YOU Think?
★ ★ ★ ★
Down With Billboards!
As you probably have heard, the
order has gone out from the White
House to all corners of the land that
the image of America the Beautiful
must be recaptured and maintained! We
agree heartily. This is not a big thing
in the sense of economic importance
(although that hardly seems likely if
the federal government is going to push
it as a nationwide program). Rather, it
is m the aesthetic sense an effort to
maintain the image of the natural
beauty of our fair land; to remove the
blight of unsightliness which surrounds
many of our rural areas
Most of our future roads will, as
many of our present super-highways'
do, pass through open country. It is
proposed that the natural beauty along
these “super-routes” be maintained, and
enhanced with 'liandsclaping, so that
travelers can find pleasure in looking
on the beauty of nature in the wild.
Instead of junkyards, which the Pre
sident said our technology has so far
failed to deal with, they will see streams
and well-tended land. Instead of bill
bo'ards they will see rolling hills and
trees. We are reminded of the famous
poem by Ogden Nash which we can
quote in intent, if not actually word-for
word:
“I think that I shall never see
A billboard lovely as a tree.
Indeed, unless the billboards fall,
I’ll never see a tree at all!”
So we say let the billboards fall'
Let the states and each rural community
accept the President’s challenge for a
more beautiful America! Rural people
can lead this fight through their Soil
and Water Conservation- Districts Even
though we can’t put a price tag on it,
beauty is one of our greatest natural
resources'
the Agricultural Experiment fe< f ed leaves °^ en have a
Station at The Pennsylvania color - „
State University. coin § lows taller,
, TT , . infected plants do not keep
Dr Wernham reports maize and eventually aie
dwarf mosaic was present d , waifed There IS generally
last season in all Ohio coun- some t in the time of
ties on the Pennsylvania bor- llen productl on and silk
der He believes the disease Nuttbins , and poorly-pol
may already be in Pennsylvan- hnated ears are quite com .
.a without being reported by mon Ninety to 95 percent
farmers It spread across Ohio reductlon in gram yiel £ s have
o the shores of Lake Erie been ted m oh io
in three years.
The virus is spread by four
species of aphids including
the coin leaf aphid, he ex
plains It is also spread by
simple rubbing of one leaf
against the other and pos
sibly by machinery brushing
against infected leaves and
carrying the virus to other
fields
Under field conditions maize
dwarf mosaic first appears
about July 1 when the corn
is about knee high In virus
toleiant varieties, the leaves
are ,-StrpSked lengthwise with
broad.‘‘•Tight colored bands In Keep in mind that bees and
susceptible varieties, the wasps are attracted by hair
leaves are sheaked with many oils and perfumes which con
short, thieadhke bands* In- tain floral odors.'
Dr. Wernham and associ
ates believe this corn virus
can. be controlled through
breeding programs unng in
bred lines resistant to the dis
ease Five corn lines devel
oped at Penn State have
shown good resistance at the
seedling stage Of 480 corn
lines tested. 72 appear prom
ising In addition Wernham
and associates have 34 experi
mental corn lines that have
passed preliminary tests for
agronomic quality and dis
ease resistance
'. UDii'MS
It "ii ml Unilein
r nrr»> v h» I 1»»mm
You are the Man
Lesson for May 30, 1965
Bockground Scriplur*: 11 Sairuel
11 through 13 ># _ , .. ,
Devotional Hooding: Psalm 51 I*l4.
TF YOU can’t admit that your
hero has any weak points and
never made a mistake, you’re no
person to write his biography.
Most good biographies are frank
about the subject’s weaknesses
and mistakes. But what about the
hero’s sins? Biog
raph ers are al
most never will
ing t o mention
sins, or they even
take the view
that their man,
being an extraor
dinary person
with unusual
Dr. Foreman gifts is or was a
privileged character whose sms,
if any, should not be held against
him.
Not so the Old Testament. One
feature that marks it an astonish
ingly honest book is the way it
records the sins, even the black
est, of its characters even
the greatest. The story of David,
their first great king, illustrates
this.
Sins and sin
Nobody in Hebrew history has
been more honored, then and
since, than King David. But no
body in Hebrew or any other
nation’s history has blacker marks
agairist him. His sin with Bath
sheba is a classic example of
what sin is and how it works.
The details are all in II Samuel
and there is no need to go over
the sad details. By the way, it
is a mistake to take the movie
“David and Eathsheba” as the
true story. The first thing to
notice-is how several sins were
tied -together. Adultery, lust,
falsehood, drunkenness, and mur
der were all wrapped together in
one foul package. And over it
all is the colossal hypocrisy of
the man. When he gets the news
of his victim’s death, all he says
is, “Well that’s the way it is”. In
war who knows? Sometimes one
man gets killed, sometimes ano
ther .... and a l l the time it was
he who a: i the details of
Now Is The Time ...
To Cultivate Weed Control Chemicals
Most of our modem herbicides depend
upon soil moisture to cany them into the
soil and near the root and seed- sprouting
area Without sufficient rainfall after appli
cation most of the weed killers are less effec
tive. If soaking rains do not come within 10
days to two weeks after the field has been
sprayed, we’d suggest that a rotary hoe smke
tooth harrow, or light cultivator be used to
work the chemical into the top 2 inches of
topsoil. If it remains on top due to dry
weather, it will do very little good.
To Fertilize Alfalfa
When the first crop was cut a bit too
early in order to reduce the weevil damage,
it is very important that the field be kept in a high state o
fertility If the alfalfa was not top-dressed last fall, or eaihc
this spring, we’d suggest that an application of phosphotus
and potash fertilizer be applied soon after the removal of the
first crop Plenty of available plant food will result in faslei
growth, more insect resistance, and greater yields
„ „ , unit, if the water is cool dui-
To Provide Fresh Water the sum mer and waim]
In order for any livestock dm , the winter mon tlis
or poultry to give ( maximum
production it is vital to have To Use Caution
plenty of fresh water at all When Cultivating
times This is ertremely im- In spite of numerous hei ~J
portant during the hot, sum- eides to control weeds most
mer months. Livestock out farmers will do some coiti
on pasture should have ac- vatmg of one or more 1 °‘ A
cess to fresh water at all crops during the season 1”
times with a minimum amount this operation it is very lD j‘
of effort Watering devices portant to keep far enous*
should be under roof or shade from the row to prevent tl’ £
in order to keep the water shearing off of the roots
as cool as possible Expert- the plants This is injiu'loll
- have revealed inci eased to all plants and will. redu c(
consumption of water and their vigor and yields. Hon 11
greater output per , animal (Continued on Page 6)
' ■ TIME SAVER
. Learn the layout of the mar.
kct or store where" you shop
for food. When you under
stand the methods used to dis
play foods,- you can develop
a /personal traffic pattern
which reduces the total shop,
ping time, say Penn State ex
tension consumer economics
specialists. Keep your shop
ping list; it can help you man.
age the food dollar wisely. Ai
range items on the shopping
list in the order you'll fol-
■, *, *
t *■
Uuah’s inuider. But this raises
another point about sin. E\ciy
single sin is an insult to Go-1, as
Nathan pointed out. But is thcie
something deeper than sins? Yes,
beneath them all is Sin; the root
and reason of cvciy paiticular
sm is always the same. It is
given diflcicnt names: call ifc
self-indulgence, selfishness, piide,
auogancc, self-idolatry, or (Na
than’s words) “utter scorn” of
God; sin arises when a man de
cides to set his own desiics, what
ever they may he, above the
known will of God. “God sajs
don’t, but I don’t care, I say do.”
It’s as simple and as wicked
as that.
Destruction of the innocent
The consequences of David’s
sin did not stop with his or, a
collapse of character. They
spread throughout his kingdom
and his family. His example of
course led to imitators. The ugly
story of the rape of innocent
Tamar shows that David no long*
er had the moral courage to
condemn, much less punish,
others for the same kind of sins
as he had himself committed.
Then there was the murder ol
Amnon, ,and the two rebellions
of Absalom and of Ahijah fail*
ing to be sure, but showing that
David no longer held the loyalty
of all his people.
. And yet we remember David as
a. great man, a hero, a religious
man besides. How isjhis? Tha
answer to that is in Psalm 51.
which from early times has been
taken as an expression of David’s
mind after this saddest chapter
of his life. He was honest with
himself, at last, honest befma
God. He did not try to cover up
his sins' He could not call back
what he had done; but he re
pented. And God accepted him
. . . yet the consequences re
mained.
(Based on outlines copyrighted by t'-.e
•Division of Christian Education, Nahorsl
Council of the Churches of Christ in the
U. S. A. Released by Community
Service.)
MAX SMITH