4—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, September 10, 1966
From Where We Stand...
The Great See-Saw
Watchers Society
Wheat’s up, corn’s down no, now
soybeans are up and small grain is
down. Or was that last year? Anyway,
the Department of Agriculture is back
in the play-yard, and the name of the
official game is “It’s Your Turn to
Watch the See-Saw”.
The rules go something like this:
when production of one of our basic
crops isn’t sufficient to meet demands
for that year, the government will stim
ulate production of the deficit crop for
the following year, thus bringing it
into economic balance. If too much of a
certain crop is produced, the govern
ment will reduce “incentives” on that
crop in the following year so farmers
will not raise so much of it.
Sound familiar? The same basic
method was used a long time ago in
this- country, only then it was called
“supply and demand”; it was played
with real money, and was regulated by
real prices in a real marketplace. The
government once decided that the old
supply-demand approach was inade
quate for the modern world; too risky—
suppose we should have a disastrous
crop year? So, many years ago it was
tied up neatly with a billion yards of
red tape and stored away in a time cap
sule to enable earth people 500 years
from now to see what primitive meth
ods once ruled buying and selling of
agricultural products
Following the death and discredit
ing of supply-demand theories, the gov
ernment began a general thirty-year Ag
ricultural Program which gained dis
tinction for little other than its numer
ous progeny And “Papa Program”
turned out to be a terrible parent. He
never seemed to be sure where “the
kids” were or what they were up to
He too often spanked the good ones and
rewarded the worthless ones But what
his growing family lacked in merit it
more than made up in costly bungling.
However, it seemed they had a rich
uncle of sorts named Sam; and, Uncle
Sam used to pat the little wayward pro
grams gently on the head and say, “So,
you flooded the world wheat market,
you little mischief you,” or, “My friends
will manage to eat their way through
those ten-cent pigs, so what’s to cry?
Just send me the bill, I’ll fix it”.
As farmers grew fewer and fewer
and eaters greater and greater, “Sam"’
woke up one day and said, “These pro
gram kids are costing me 100 much mon
ey, who needs ’em Voters I need, not
farmers Where will I find the voters?
In the cities I can see it all now
I’ll make the farmers a public utility
Any farms I don’t need I'll convert to
public recreation areas for the voters
I mean the deprived city dwellers ”
So the boss gathered all the most
brilliant men he could find and gave
them the problem to solve Lower the
storage and handling costs on wheat
and feed grains, he said “And while
you’re at it, develop a no-carryover,
low-cost, food program And they did.
The agriculture secretary proud
ly told the boss recently that costs
on handling gram had been cut $2OO
- from the peak year of 1961, and
that while he was about it he had also
“neated-up” the pantry. He changed
surplus to shortage
“That’s wonderful,” the boss beam
ed And then he threw open the pantry
doors for a better look “Why. it’s neat
all right, there’s nothing for tomorrow'
Suppose we don’t get ram next year 9 ”
“What’s rain 9 ” the secretary asked
Don Timmons, Pfliloi ® VllttflgS
iaucastee pabmihg Roiia t g c.impbeii, Advei tising (Continued from Page 2) To Consider Fall Plowing if gieen Manure crops,
Lancaster county’s own Tarm Uiu-cioi 39 50, Standard 32-37, Utility Some farmer have expen- barnyard manure applications,
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° llKts ft mV, ™ eYe't ral tatn.^ ir b; HOGS 151 _ Banows and t,ons duung ' a drouth year md S M have some application*
Pam aster 'in4-'.047 or Seloml r 'Fostkfee'paia P at glltS steady US X ' 2 185-240 Whell the field WaS P lowed in on local farms. When til®
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10, 1-3. ..lbs, 25;25.50. r .ea-osjcwi, is.,
Phonf-
“Our machine doesn’t deal in rain. Our
buttons say Ca for.carrots, Co for corn,
W for wheat, P for pigs, and so forth.
For rain we’re not yet programmed;
that’s still under the weather bureau’s
jurisdiction, but we’re working on it.”
And that’s the problem. The new
“program” has the same physical limita
tions as the bewhiskered and bemoaned
supply-demand approach. It can’t con
trol the weather, and yet it must rely
somewhat on a constant rainfall factor
if crops are to grow, and if button-push
ers are to get corn when they push the
Co button and wheat when they push
the W.
In the face of spreading, world
wide hunger, and a war of increasing
magnitude, this latest bit of administra
tion tight-rope walking seems an un
necessarily risky measure. If it works,
government agriculture administrative
costs can be reduced by many millions
of dollars. If it fails, it could bring back
“Victory Gardens” and a democratic
form of famine for all regardless of
race, creed or color.
Litter America First
It would seem these days that peo
ple everywhere on the highways, at
the beaches, in the woods have be
come dedicated to the proposition that
a beautiful America must be concealed
from the eyes o'f all travelers. To this
end they are endeavoring to bury the
countryside beneath a veil of litter.
We complain continually about
high-cost federal programs, millions of
dollars of taxpayers’ money will be
spent this year, and in succeeding years,
on the American Beautification pro
gram And yet, just let us out on the
beach or the highway and we seeming
ly try to outdo each other in the amount
of our garbage we can put into circula
tion.
Did you know that every pop bot
tle the highway crews in Michigan pick
up and dispose of costs taxpayers of
that state 34 cents and they don’t
even get the 2-cent refund. Along the
559-mile stretch of the New York State
Thruway last year $200,000 was report
edly the clean-up bill. As more and
more Americans are on the move, the
littering situation is fast approaching
the point of no return.
The anti-littering campaign has
been one of continuing appeal to the
general public, but it has not been
enough, not nearly enough Most states,
and other organized areas have litter
laws, but by sheer weight of numbers
the offenders escape prosecution The
law enforcement agencies are going to
need citizen help not just coopera
tion in obeying the littering laws, but
personal, involved help Any commun
ity that attracts visitors, tourists, etc.,
should be sure it has a law with teeth
to put the bite firmly on litter offenders,
Secondly, it should be sure it has ample
refuse receptacles well-distributed.
Thirdly, citizens of each of these litter
target communities must start applying
pressure on visitors —gently, if that
works; but firmly, if they don’t get the
message
If each one of us could point out to
ten others what a sorry sight they are
making of our respective communities,
perhaps the offenders could be enlisted
in the cause of the American rebeautify
mg campaign After all, it’s got to stop
somewhere Why not in your town, why
not here?
★ ★
When Greed Controls
Lesson for September 11, 1966
(Background Scriptures: Exo
dus 20:17; I Kings 21; Mark
10.17-22, 35-45; Luke 12:13-21,
29-34.)
Devotional Reading: Mark
10.35-45.
Francis Xavier once said
that as a priest he had heard
thousands of confessions, but
never a confession to the sin
of covetousness. It seems to be
an unmentionable sin for most
people.
Occasionally we hear some
one admit to being a bar, a
terer,
ever heard
someone ac-
Rev. Althouse^on e. The
tenth of the ten command
ments receives veiy little, if
any, attention
Perhaps one reason may be
that it is interpieted too nar
rowly The btei al meaning of
the 'tenth commandment seems
to put it within wciyone’s
reach When the tenth com
mandment says, “You shall not
covet,” it means that we shall
not desire for ourselves what
belongs to someone else Few
of us are consciously that
greedy We might desire to
have a new car just like the
one our neighbor has, but that
doesn’t mean we’d like to get
his car away from him
Through Eyes of Jesus
JesUs, however, broadened
the interpretation of this com
mandment He brought it
down to a level where few of
us can avoid stumbling* ever
it. “Take heed,” he said, “and
beware of all covetousness;
for a man’s life does not con
sist in the abundance of his
possessions ” (Luke 12 15 RSV)
Having said this, he went on
to tell a parable of a rich fool
who sought to ‘lay up treas
uies” for himself Covetous
ness, then, is moie than desir
ing something belonging to
Now Is The Time . ..
By Max Smith, Lancaster County Agent
To Ventilate Tobacco Shed
Tobacco harvest is in full swing through
out the county and the quality of the crop
appears very good The curing process will
be improve with free air circulation through
the shed at all times Supplemental heat will
aid in removing the maximum amount of
moisture before cold weather' arrives Dur
ing times of high humidity and little natur
al air movement, large fans may be used to
keep the air moving
With the large number of real good dairy herds in the
county, dairymen are urged to giye special attention to the
glowing of their young calves The demand for milk cows is
strong and has a bught future; this is especially true of good
heids with production recoids Lancaster County has a reputa
tion of including many of the outstanding heids m the state.
Special quarters fiee fiom dampness and drafts are recom
mended with a pen for each young calf.
someone else; it is also being
ruled by a desire for (things.
As the tenth commandment
was interpreted by many, its
purpose seemed to be to pro
tect the property of one’s
neighbor. When we view it
through the eyes of Jesus,
however, we find that, like all
of the ten commandments, it
is designed to protect me too.
In this case: it purposes to
protect me from the destruc
tive power of my own greed.
When greed controls our lives,
it tends to destroy us from
within.
Christians have always ex
perienced conflicting feelings
about material things. On the
one hand, they have viewed
them as part of the good cre
ation that is God’s world On
the other, however, they have
realized that material things
have the power to destroy the
inner, spiritual Me. of man.
The key to this dilemma is
found in this question: are you
in control of your material
goods or are they in control of
you 7 Material things may rich
ly bless our lives according to
God’s will and purpose ... so
long as they do not gain con
trol over us.
Whom Do You Trust?
To covet, ais Jesus saw it,
means to allow one’s self to
be driven by greed for materi
al things and values. There’s
nothing necessarily wrong in
the desire to enjoy the things
of this world, so long as that
does not loom as the chief en
joyment of life. There’s noth
ing wiong in desiring to “get
ahead” financially and profes
sionally, so long as we do not
look to finances for ultimate
security and professional sta
tus as the source of true hap
piness
Jesus put it clearly, “instead,
seek has kingdom, and these
things shall be yours as ivell.”
(Luke 12 31 RSV) Only one
thing should really control nurt
lives- -our commitment to GodT
and his kingdom When greed!
controls us there is no room'
for God in one’s life God ils
replaced by mammon, the re
ligion of materialism You can
not serve both.
Furthermore, greed also im
plies our distrust of God He
has promised (to supply all our
needs Therefore when we
scratch and scrape at material
goods it is like saying that we
don’t really tiust God’s piom
ise or are not sure that he cam
leally take care of our needs.
Is there any greater insult to
him than this’
When gieed conti ols the
cant is pulling the horse.
To Raise Calves Properly