4- Lancaster, Fm mmp. Saturday. April 18.1070
Bust Threat Grows
On Mai eh 7. I;a master F.iiminp edi
tonally raised the question (if "Mow Many
Epps?" Our <|ii» 'lion followed a LM)\
recommendation to farmeis not to mciease
epp production m l‘*To We earned the ad
\ice ol Poultic and Epp Pioduclion
paper to tamuis to po slow But wo left the
choice to the individual farmer on how to
proceed m tin lace of the caution Haps
Since Match 7. the epp maike'inp situa
non for most fanners has changed diasti
cally The bippest blow came immediately
after Easter when epp prices dropped
oer cent, to a lew el a national epp market -
.ng official mloimcd us was iiM ctboet
oreak even.
Stability Efforts
In the pa«a two weeks, eag pr have
stabilized at the new le\el Meanwhile, vari
ous poultry organizations are in the process
of encouraging farmers to sell off old flocks,
cut down on flock size increases, promote
eggs, and sell breakers. The effort is to cut
oack on egg production so as to stabilize
supply and keep demand high In short, the
effort is stop prices from going lower.
But the egg men are not optimistic
about keeping present egg prices pri
marily for one reason. That reason is the
mushrooming egg hatch which threatens to
flood the country with new laying flocks and
more eggs in the next several months.
Egg hatch w'as up 21 per cent in Janu
ary compared to a year ago, and it was up
17 per cent in February, according to tne
USDA. We haven't seen any figures for
March, yet, but recent statements by poul
try officials indicate the March figures
won't be an improvement .
Some officials already ha\ e said that in
order to avoid “a bust” in egg prices, the
natch from March through June would have
to be held at not higher than the 1969 le\ el.
Warning!
Just how serious the situation has be
come is indicated by the large advertise
ment by United Egg Producers in the April
11 edition of Poultry and Egg Production
Headed “WARNING!” in large red letters,
the ad asks if the egg industry is headed for
a massne bust. It continues.
“The urgency of the problem is real and
upon us. Recent increases in pullet place
ments are alarming. The trend started in
December when egg type placements rose
19 per cent
The Lancaster Mennomte Conference
Historical Society has purchased the Hans
Herr house, the oldest dwelling house in
Lancaster County and the oldest Mennomte
meeting place in America Built in 1719, the
house is truly historic and the Historical
Society desenes commendation and assis
tance in the restoration effort
Elsewhere m this issue aie pictures of
LANCASTER FARMING
Lancaster County’s Own Farm Weekly
P 0 Box 266 - Lititz, Pa 17543
Office 22 E Main St, Lititz, Pa 17543
Phone Lancastei 394 3047 oi Lititz 626 2191
Robert G Campbell. Advertising Director
Zane Wilson, Managing Editoi
Subscription pi ice S2peryeai in Lancaster
County S3elsewheie
Established November 4, 1955
Published every Satuiday by Lancaster
Fanning, Lititz, Pa
Second Class Postage paid at Lititz, Pa
17543
Member of Newspaper Faim Editors Assn
Pa Newspapei Pubhsheis Association, and
National Newspaper Association
Hans Herr House
"In Jamiarv. aJI per ct*nl inn-v.'. was
recorded Pebruaiv lav er tv pc eggs in m
cubators vvei i' up I!) per cent ov ci Kebi mu >
<i vear aeo lc>\i>l•,
”lf tins alaimmg trend continues
through June, ilie spectre of a recnnence
ol the 191i7-early 1968 nightmare (egg prices
remained below cost of production for 18
months) is a definite reality . . and it will
happen e\en if July-Dccembcr placements
arc held to the 1969 le\els. If the mdustr.v is
blessed with unproved pullet survivals the
nightmare will be intensified.
18 - 24 Months
"The warning signs are dear. A mas
sne ■bust’ is building up rapidly and can
hit as early as August or September tins
vear . . and according to past history, it
will take 18-24 months for recovery.
“There is only one way to prevent dis
aster and that is through enlightened re
sponsibility ‘Producer Responsibility.’
‘Grower Responsibility' and ‘Hatcher Re
sponsibility.’ All must act immediately to
make responsible placement decisions.
“It’s already later much later than
you think It’s almost too late!" UEP said.
We can’t say it any better
The question remaining for each poul
trvman is. “What am I going to do about
it?”
A Real Dilemma
For the businessman who has the bulk
of his know-how. equipment and capital tied
up in layers, it’s a real dilemma. Does he
hold off starting the next flock of layers?
Does he move ahead and hope that enough
of the other guys take correctu e actions to
stave off the bust?
Does he go ahead and pray the bust
won't be \ery long or lery se\ere?
Only the mdu idual farmer can answer
these questions, but we suggest he do some
very serious thinking in the next few days
The decisions made could be \ery impor
tant for his future.
Those farmers who have the flexibility
and aren’t committed and who are about
ready to get a new flock of birds, might con
sider holding off until the rate of hatch be
comes more reasonable While idle equip
ment and buildings are costly, losses could
be multiplied by large outputs of eggs which
might ha\e to be sold for much less than
the cost of production
the exterior of the Hans Herr house and
the hand-hewn wooden steps in the house
Many prominent persons, including
painter Andrew Wyeth. ha\e already lent
their moral and tinancial support to the
restoration effort
The fact that many Lancaster Count
lans are descendents of the Hans Herr
heightens the local interest m the project
We feel sure the proiect will continue
to gain the support of citizens in Lancastei
County and elsewhere.
A Bit More . . .
There have been a lot of accidents in
Lancaster County this year, far too many,
both on the highways and elsewhere.
We think these comments by a harden
ed news reporter in Missouri sum it up:
“It’s not a pretty scene to come upon
shattered glass, twisted metal, oozing oil
and gasoline, moans of pain and the flow
ing of a man’s life-blood don’t gne >ou a
comfortable feeling. How can drivers be
made to realize that a bit more caution, a
bit more kindness, a bit more courtesy and
a lot more decency w-ould put an end to
many of these scenes.”
To ''H Strawhcnj Plants
I'aily spnng is the best time
lo set stiavvbcirv plants in this
p,n t of the (onnliy Rally
plants will usually lesnlt in
eicaU'i vielcls next spimg be
cause the fust few- i miner
plants will beai the most stiaw
benies the cailici the nm
nei plants aie set, the bettor
will be the yield Planting dis
lances should be foui feet be
tween lows and 24 inches on
the iow Feitilue in June and
again in early August to devel
op the maximum numbei and
slicngth of plants
To Observe Alfalfa For Weevil
Waim spnng weathei is slow
in coming this yeai but it may
amve all of a sudden With the
cunent favorable moisture con
ditions the giowmg season will
get off to a fast stait Alfalfa
For Full Market Reports
Read Lancaster Farming
ALL ONE?
lesson for April 19,1970
lacbsmmrf Scripture* Galatians 3.
Ocvttfcnal Reatfrng Psofms 67.
I’d like to tell you a story
about a man named Ivan.
Ivan was a citizen of the Sov
iet Union. He was much like
any other citizen of the U.S S.R.,
with one notable exception: he
was also a Christian, a practic
ing member of
the Christian
Church. This was
a commitment
that made his
life a hardship.
Because he was
a Christian, Ivan
had a very limited
future in the lit
tle Ukranian
Rev. Althouse town in which he
lived. He wasn’t abused physi
cally in any way for his Christ
ianity, but his opportunities in
the Soviet society were strictly
limited. One opportunity that
was not closed to him, however,
was the armed forces and so he
enlisted. So fine was his record
in the army, so great was the in
itiative and talent he demon
strated, that he eventually be
came an officer.
Stacked against him
When he had been mustered
out of the army, he set his heart
and mind on going to the uni
versity to study for the profes
sion of law. Christians were not
forbidden to enter the univer
sity, but, as the saying goes, “the
deck was stacked against him.”
On the day of his registration,
the school authorities caused
him to be arrested on a minor,
trumped-up charge and he was
put in prison.
After months of prison in his
home town, he was transferred
to what we would call a state
penitentiary, one of the most
brutal prisons m the country.
There, Ivan, a brilliant young
student, the kind of self enter
prising youth any nation should
be anxious to claim, was brut
ually beaten and died.
This tragic story, as I have
told it to you, is true in every
detail but these: his name was
not Ivan, but Clyde Kinard; the
scene of the story was not the
NOW IS
THE TIME...
By Max Smith
Lancaster County Agent
gioweis .tic tilled to ob
sme tho alfalfa .stands closely
for feeding weevil later this
month and eaily May It is
likely that many ciops may be
cut without any spiay until
aflei the fiist cutting is made.
A leaflet is .nailable on the
subject
To Buy Feeder Pigs Carefully
If you plan to buy feeder
pigs fi om out of state, demand
ollicial Intel state Health Ceiti
ficates beloie the animals aie
moved Failuie to buy and
move pigs legally is too big a
usk; if they come down with
the disease, hog cholera, all
hogs on the faim and in the
aiea may be infected and the
dieaded disease spread Don’t
be taken by offeis of bargain
pigs, they may put you out of
business
Soviet Union, but the United
States; the prison was not in the
Ukraine, but in Mississippi; and
his offence was not that he was
a Christian in a Communist land,
but a black man in a white man’s
society.
I tell this story to you, not be
cause it is an unusual story, for
it is not; there are many other
true stories equally tragic. I tell
it simply because I know that I
need to be reminded, lest in
my comfortable complacency I
find it difficult to understand
why some people in this nation
are so angry, so bitter. And if
I need to be reminded, so, I’m
sure, do you.
Coming apart
There is probably no time in
the history of this nation when
we have been so deeply divided
as a people, when the fabric of
our society was so deeply in
danger of coming apart at the
seams. Never have so many
people been so frightened or
spoken so lashly or asked with
more urgency: “What is going
on in our nation’” The Report
of the United States Riot Com
mission has given one answer:
“This is our basic conclusion:
Our nation is moving toward two
societies, one black, one white
separate and unequal.”
Theie are also other divisions.
Theie are the divisions between
the poor and the affluent, the
have’s and the have not’s. There
is the division that exists be
tween generations, the young
and the old These divisions are
so deep, so complex, so bitter, so
dangeious. The times demand a
ministry of reconciliation so
that men may recognize, as Paul
puts it in Galatians 3, that we
aie “all one in Christ Jesus."
Theie axe passages in Paul’s
letters where he speaks of the
different ministries in the church;
some men are called to be
preacheis, other teachers, etc.
But he says nothing about some
being given the ministry of re
conciliation The reason: all are
to be reconcilers He gives all
of us this “ministry of recon
ciliation ”
The job of bringing us to
gether, of healing the wounds of
this society, is something that
lests upon all of us. We are “all
one in Cluist Jesus,’’ and we
must both recognize that one
ness and make it evident to our
divided world.
(Bastd an ouHinas copyrighted by thaOivtsian
of Christian Education, National Council of lh#
Churchas of Christ m tha U. S, A, ftoloasad b/
Community Prass Sarvica)