—Lancaster Farming. Saturday. May 18.1968
4
From Where We Stand ...
Soil Stewardship Week
The idea behind Soil Stewardship Week
has ancient.routs. The concept of man's
stewardship lur the land appears m many
religions, man.v cultures.
The custom of netting aside special days
to give thanks for the precious gifts of soil
and water, air and sunshine, began more
than 1,500 j cars ago, in Vienne. France.
In 452. Vienne experienced a year of bad
weather and earthquakes, which resulted in
.enous crop failures and widespread hun
ger
The Bishop of Vienne called for prayers
and penance tor the 3 days preceeding As
cension Day. Other communities took up the
observance, and the custom of Rogation
Days spread throughout Europe and even
tually came to Colonial America.
Rogation days became a time of giving
thanks to God and of asking his help and
mercy. The custom recognized that food
was provided by neither the earth alone
nor the industrious hand of man. It came
also from the bounty of God, and so it was
fitting to thank Him for His grace.
In America, the observance of the fifth
Sunday alter Easter. Rogation Sunday, as
“Rural Life Sunday" was launched at a
meeting of the International Association of
Agricultural Missions m 1929. At that meet
ing, a resolution was adopted urging the
Home Mission Council, the Foreign Mission
Conference, and the Federal Council of the
Churches of Christ in America to further
its observance. During the 1930'5, various
church services, in their own way, recogniz
ed the importance of soil stewardship.
“Soil Stewardship’’
The first “soil stewardship” observance
was held on Sunday, July 21. 1946. It was
prompted by A. B Kennedy, editor of Farm
and Ranch magazine. This observance was
xeferred to as "Soils and Souls Sunday ”
Since tne inception of Soil Stewardship
Week, the National Association of Soil and
Water Conservation Districts (NACD) had
been especially interested in the advance
ment of this week as a national event and
undertook its national sponsorship in 1955.
An advisory committee of churchmen
irom several denominations played a signi
ficant role in the observance, especially in
helping the NACD Soil Stewardship Com
mittee produce informational materials and
distribute them to local conservation dis
tricts and to church groups. These materials
included booklets, church programs, in
serts, and posters. From 1958 to 1962, a film
,ias distributed.
In Lancaster County many churches
will observe tomorrow as a day set apart
lor emphasizing the meaning of Christianity
:n the life of the rural community. Special
Sural Life Services are to be held m the
Farm News This Week
Milk Promotion Discussed By
Group Of Interested Persons Page I
Rain Holds County Farmer Team
From Getting The First Tobacco
Plants In The Ground This Week Page 1
Urner-Barry Listing Revised Page 1
Farm And Home Open House
Set For June 9 Page 1
Pequea Valley Boys Top
State Dairy Judging Page 1
LANCASTER FARMING
Lancaster County’s Own Farm Weekly
P. 0 Box 266 - Lititz, Pa 17543
Office 22 E Mam St, Lititz, Pa 17543
Phone Lancaster 394-3047 or Luitz 626-2191
Everett R Newswangei, Editor
Robert G Campbell, Advertising Dneetor
Subscuption puce S 2 per year in Lancaster
County, $3 elsewhere
Established Novembei 4, 1955
Published every Satuiday by Lancaster
Farming, Lititz, Pa
Second Class Postage paid at Lititz, Pa
17543
Member of Newspaper Farm Editois Assn.
Rergstrasse Lutheran Church, ‘with mem
bers of the Lancaster County 4-H County
Council assisting.
In most cases Lancaster County people
are aware ol the rich heritage of fertile soil
and religious precepts that have been hand
ed down to us from the past. But we wonder
sometimes if we are just as aware of our
responsibility to preserve our heritage and
pass it on to our children. As the Master
Teacher says, "For unto whomsoever much
is given, of him shall be much required."
The phrasing is Old English, but the
thought is quite appropriate for this the
beginning of the 1968 Soil Stewardship
Week starting tomorrow with Rural Life
Sunday.
At least that's the way it looks from
where w e stand.
Farm Labor Unions?
Farm workers may be next on the list
lor attention from the organizational efforts
of major labor unions. Legislation now in
Congress authorizing the extension of juris
diction of the National Labor Relations
Board to include farms that employ 12
hands at any time during the year and
spend a minimum of $lO,OOO in annual labor
costs, opens the way for large-scale union
ization of farm workers.
The potentialities of an all-powerful
farm labor union are nothing less than
staggering Such a union, unless it exercis
ed a high degree of statesmanship in labor
matters, could bring disaster to large seg
ments of agriculture. Crops that rot in the
lields. while “negotiations” dragged on at
me bargaining table, would be irretrievably
lost.
In agriculture, more often than not,
there is no such thing as making up for lost
productive time. The cycles of the season
cannot be halted by stopping the clock at
midnight. Agriculture in the United States
has been the most productive on earth. The
agri-business techniques of the modern
farmer, coupled with mechanization, and
scientific utilization of the land, have
Drought an abundance of food and fiber.
In many respects, the farm has taken
on the appearance of an industrial opera
tion, but appearances are deceptive. No
matter how advanced he becomes, the
farmer must be ever-mindful of the harsh
lequirements of the elements and the sea
sons upon which his livelihood depends. The
b’g question is whether farm labor unions
unll prove equally mindful of these require
ments. The record has not been encourag-
mg
At least that’s the way it looks from
where vve stand.
Across The Fence Row
Campers roughing it at an lowa state
paik recently plugged in so many coffee
makers, TV sets, lights and refrigerators
that the park transformers cut out from the
o\erload. What would the pioneers say?
Hereford (Tex.) Brand
“I remember when college students
vvould go to the administration building to
be kicked out of school. Now students go
there to kick out the president!”
Steve Balogh Cartoon
To the man who can’t use it, opportunity
is just another problem.
Weather Forecast
The five-day forecast for the period
Saturday through next Wednesday, calls for
temperatures to average i sar normal with
daytime highs in the ut 60’s to mid 70's
and over-night lows hi i ' upper 40" s to low
50's. Little day to day n>ange expected.
Normal high-low is 76-52.
Rain may total treater i one-half
inch as showers at the begind.v and again
at the end ot the period.
THE CROOKED SUCK
Lesion for May 19,1968
Btcfcfrwrul Scripture* Ecclfftoifts 5,12.
D*v«h«n*l
a j-_ vain life I have seen every*
to in S •••” We might quarrel with
with his conclusions about life,
vnur but we could hardly dismiss him
JSSfatSL® *&' •» armchair philosopher.
Furthermore, though the
w?« >.° v.™ £ Preacher has an overly pessimls
boy, Granddads veiy sick. A out i ook on yfc by Christian
standards, God has use for such
mist, the woman pessimistic man and his views,
cu the boy short He earnuse suchVmantodial.
lenge those who are too optimistic
K?” about life, who refuse to see the
£° rd » , Jl™ world in realistic terms. He can
?>,.* use such a man to call people
fSMfiSS to awaken to situations that
thtota he's ffi seriously need correction, reform,
Si.™,. !,««■>» and renewal.
Bev. Althouse J[ few w l eks . . .
ha » '* ia a»**Go4
SSS SSSttE&SSZSt
be ®,9 b such a "crooked stick.” With
this man, God strikes out at
5®5_ dead and we buried bim * ast those who make their religion a
we * meaningless jumble of words,
pie-in-the-sky antidote ptous phrases, and emptydouble-
BesSet&SrSS SG'
SomSlS's if l » ilh «• “«■>'* » f ““ ir
on the darker side of life, to take w G * od alsQ uses this « crooked
«prinf,tf^f e^hn^ n nPon)p e whn stick ” to hammer away at those
seriously. Those people who w^o aggmne responsibilities to
God without fulfilling them, who
J hp prntfni want the benefits of religion with
all right,” ought to be around t . & k g e stri kes
when sometimes everything ”V i
doesn’t "work oat all rieht ” awa y nt corruption m govern
&srrs&?ssi£
optimism of those who refuse to S dier „ e X ds
wfS’this a »“ Whe" Ihe Ptefcber says ot
aaf 4= 2T “ippCSfal SV "Vi*
Preacher of Ecclesiastes. His * s vamty, who can dispute
to Ve uff times of &e
context of the whole Bible. Some- ca “® d j U ®!” s ? uch a ' <crooked
one has suggested that if all the stick - And today?
pages of your, Bible were ac- (*•,«) «n ouiim., c.pyrijhi^kyth.Dw:,!.™
cidentally torn out and lost, ex- chmh.n Ed UM t..n Nob.n.i c DU rv:,i .(ft.
i’ *lt, it. Church#* of Christ m fh# U. S. A. K«(«ost4 by
ceptmg those of Ecclesiastes, it community pr«* scrv<c« j
would be better to tear out these *
pages and throw them away too.
By itself, this gloomy bookwould
be of no value to us. As one of
many perspectives in the Bible,
For Full Market Reports
Read Lancaster Farming
To Adjust Insurance Coverage
All farmers are urged to eval
uate their insurance coverage on
buildings and other farm equip
ment. In the case of fire insur
ance the coverage should 'be in
terms of replacement value ra
ther than first cost In many
cases the insurance may not re
place the building and the con
tents Insurance agents will be
glad to discuss this situation if
given a chance
To Practice Safety
Again we come bacit to the
suggestion that all farm machin
ery operators be careful‘in the
running of their equipment, in
struct employees to take time to
be safe and follow manufactur
er's instructions. Another* thing,
however, It la a valuable call to
cee life and its meaning from a
different angle.
The Preacher's outlook on life
Is best expressed in Ecclesiastes
1:2, "Vanity of vanities ... All
is vanity.” Everything in Ilfs is
in vain, he cries. Life is futile and
the world has no meaning. There
is no purpose in man’s brief
sojourn upon the earth.
I have seen, I have seen
Where did this "wise man" get
such a pessimistic view of life?
Like all the wisdom writers he
formed his views through his own
experiences and observations of
life: "I have seen . , . Moreover I
saw . . . Again I saw ... In my
NOW IS
THE TIME...
By Max Smith
Lancaster County Agent
children and farm machinery do
not mix, for the sake of safety
they should not be permitted to
ride on farm machinery or play
near where the machinery is be
ing operated.
To Prepare Tobacco Ground
Tobacco planting will soon be
underway throughout the coun
ty. growers are urged to spray
the area ahead of planting for
the control of cutworms, use
chlordane or diazmon 5 to 10
days ahead of planting and work
into the top one or two inches;
do not use dieldnn or heptachlor.
Sprayers being used should not
contain any atrazine; it will
stunt plants and kill them grad
ually.