—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, May 14, 1966 4 From Where We Stand,.. Crisis In The Countryside This is the battlecry of the conser vationist as the nation prepares to ob serve Soil Stewardship Week May 35-22. We are pleased to print the fol lowing statement of Soil Conservation Service administrator D A. Williams as he describes the crisis in the country side. Today, there is indeed a “crisis in the countryside” or rather, two crises. One is the continued wastage of the land through erosion and improper use. The other is the result of man’s partial success This is the crisis of complacen cy about conservation. Why this complacency 9 Perhaps it is because the need for increased con servation measures does not immediate ly strike the eye The supermarkets are full today. The dust may not be blowing today And so we concern ourselves with the big 'headlines wars, space, missiles, murders! These are serious matters indeed. But, we lose more of our land every year to silent erosion than we have ever lost, or shall eve- lose, to a foreign foe. Where is the battle cry for this? What happens to the eroding lands in Missouri and Montana affects us more' directly than our landing on the moon. Where are the pleaders for this 9 And no matter what weapons of the future we develop the most modern army in the world still travels on its stomach, still depends on the bountiful earth we take for granted Do not misunderstand me Our acti vities around the world, and out of it, are very necessary. But I will firmly believe to the end of my life that there is no work more important, now or for the future, than conserving and enrich ing our own land, the basis for our life, our living, our national wealth. Yet, we lose each year, through erosion and other forms of preventable damage, about 500,000 acres of former ly productive land. The bulldozer and the builder take another one and one third million acres of the best land every 365 days for highways, factories, hous ing and so on. Our rivers continue to flood and destroy homes and hopes. Our water supply runs short, becomes pol luted, erodes the land And, as much of our land disappears, our population and that of the world increases. Yes, our supermarkets are still full. Our time has not run out But, quite literally, the sins of our forefathers are being visited upon us We cannot afford to be wasteful in the future, if we de sire our children’s children to inherit an A Lancaster County farmer,— ha\ing seen the format oflo •! c ■ 11* Ur I R/I It? on new car adveiti&en cuts v K^sjjKrT p.- , s> _ fv v 'txy* /pr»- 'v- 1 ' 1 >*■■< ** Coup Lesion for May 15,1966 B«eV«r«u(Ml Scripture* li ingi II thresh 12; It ChronlJfei 22 through 24. Devotional Keeping Isaiah 2it I*9. A little girl who lived with her parents, missionaries in an Ori ental city, came running to her mother’s room early one morn ing. Shots were being fired in the streets. "What’s that?” the little girl asked. Her mother answered a sleepily, "Oh, another coup, I guess.” "Then said her daughter, "it’s all the same no matter who wins”, and off she went happily to bed again. Dr. Foreman Coup is the modern name for what used to be called a palace revolution and also a revolt, a sudden military strike intended to put the reigning administration out of power (by imprisonment or death) and in stall new men in their place. Our Bible assignment this week tells of a successful coup organized by a priest, a coup that really was worthwhile, one that lasted at least a century longer than most coups do. WHY THEY DID IT Athaliah, the queen in resi dence, was definitely a "bad egg”. She began her public career by killing *ll her grandchildren. Ibis was even worse than it sounds. Athaliah was not * He brew, but a foreigner a daugh ter of the unscrupulous and un speakable Jezebel- The throne of the kingdom of Judah belonged by popular will and the provi dence of God to the family of David. By killing off her grand children, Athaliah thought she would have "established” her claim to the throne. And so she would, if she had really killed all the children. But there was one small baby she did not know about (she was not the kind oi grandmother who keeps up with all her family). This baby, named Joash, or Jehoash, was hidden in a bedroom belonging to the high priest. There he stai ed for seven years, unknown to all but a trust Now Is The Time ... By Max Smith, Lancaster County Agent To Delay Alfalfa Harvest After Spraying Alfalfa glowers who spray their first cutting with one of the insecticides to control weevils, aie urged to recognize the proper £ - time between spraying and harvest This I time is necessaiy to permit the insecticide '.■p'Jt to break down sufficiently and eliminate the danger of any residue The waiting period I- - ranges from 7 to 21 days depending upon I the material used To Remove Strawberry Blossoms A New plantings of strawberries will need V/» some attention this spring in addition to f #>■ the control of weeds All flower stalks should be removed, preferably before blossoms ap- " pear If these are allowed to develop, the SMITH vigor of the plant is decreased and runner production is re tarded. to get a maximum yield next spring from" a hew plant ing, the effort should be to get a maximum number of strong mnner plants as eaily this season as possible. To Recognize Stage Of Maturity Mature forage crops might be easier to cure but have lost One of the most important to ° much feed value -' items in the harvest of quality To Clip Pastures foiage crops is to cut the Most pasture grasses and mateual at the proper stage of many weeds will be going to maturity Most grass crops will seed in the next two weeks; decrease in feed value as they to get the maximum amount near maturity All grasses are of grazing from this area we best at heading time, small suggest that it be clipped sev grams at early flowering or era ] t imes during the summer, dough stage (except rye , , . .. XT heading time); legumes m the startm « thls month New g iw ' bud to eai’ly blossom stage. \ (Continued on Page 3) ed wry Mr. The ntcfli «MM| ipted Alhaliah heeauao toy] night they had ho ehole* •* 1 Irrei pontlble tyranny wentoai •even yean, while the goagi sat Jeholada (Incidentally, Ip of royal family oonneoHoMs >) bided hla time, j IW THEY DID IT Tht big coup came off on ft' Sabbath. The high prieet man? aged It down to the laat detail. You can read those details for yourself in the Bible. Essentially the plan called for tripling the number of soldiers on duty at what we would call "church time*, introducing the boy king to the army men, (and what a thrill ft must have been to see a real liva lawful king, even a child, after seven years of Athaliah!) and hailing the young heir to tin. throne as King of Juda. Athaliah was a little late getting to tha temple court, and saw that some thing had happened. Then when she heard the shouting "Long live the King!,” she turned on the high priest. "Treason!” sha screamed. But she was (no doubt) pointing her finger at the high priest and the boy king, whereae she should have been pointing at herself. Anyway, in a few minutes the soldiers carried out their or ders, and "the wicked old witch was dead.” THINKING ABOUT COUPS So the people were as happy over this coup as they had been, unhappy over Athaliah’s. All thia gives us something to think a bout, in our world where coups of one sort or another are being pulled all the time, Santo Do mingo, Cuba, Jakarta, Korea, Congo, Moscow, to name a Jfcw in recent months. The Bible ghps us some hints of how to look fit these things. Some coups, rebel lions, political shake-ups, **» good, some are bad. Few are whooly bad, few wholly good, Athaliah’s own coup was wicked ly selfish. The coup that killed her was unselfish since the high priest ran a good deal of risk and could get nothing personal by the event. Force, even violence is in itself not good nor bad. Whether it is a blessing or a curse depends on who uses the force, and how,- and w'hy. •fted en eutlmes eeeynjhled by the Division ef Christian Education National Council of Hi* Churches ef Chnsl in the U. S A Released by Community Press Service} ATTEND THE CHURCH OF YOUR CHOICE SUNDAY tan ? - T^J