—Lancaster Farming. Saturday. September 19.1970
4
USDA Projects
The USDA last week issued an estimate
of a m\ per cent national loss as a result of
the torn blight. It wasn't exactly good news,
unless it’s considered in the light of some
earlv estimates of 25 to 50 per cent loss.
Our sources 10ca11.% had projected a fne
to 10 per cent loss, with the stipulation that
.t's difficult or impossible to tell for sure.
It was noted that additional losses arc still
oossiblc. e\en after the gram is stored.
Altogether, it has been and. to a large
Corn —Plug ALL the Losses
Fifteen per cent of Delaware's 15 mil
lion-plus bushel corn crop will be left in the
•ield “due to poor machine adjustment or
operator carelessness," accoidmg to Thom
as H Williams, extension agricultural en
gineer at the Unnersity of Delaware.
By following a few simple steps farm
ers can keep field losses to less than five
oer cent and add as much as S 6 per acre to
;heir profits. Williams says
Think of it'
All this panic about a si\ per cent loss
ot the corn crop to blight, while farmers
regularly dribble 15 per cent o\er the fields
during harvest.
Doesn’t make sense does it 9
It doesn’t make sense, but farmers
ought to do some serious thinking about it
during harvest.
For instance, the individual farmer
.vho loses 15 per cent during harvest could
more than make up his six per cent corn
blight loss by reducing his harvesting loss
to the five per cent level.
Stopping Machine Loss
The majority of corn lost to improperly
adjusted machines, Williams points out. oc
curs in the gathering and snapping areas
He says the rearvvaid movement of the
gathering chains and snapping roll spirals
mould be about the same as the forward
speed of the picker
Snapping roll cleaiance =hould be -mall
r-nough to grip the stalk firmk, but the
-talk should not be bioken when the eai
.5 remo\od Too much cleaiance will in
-iease the shattering, and dining too ta s t
or dm mg otf the iow will also increase
osses
Williams =a\s studies ind’caW that the
maximum \ield is obtained when coin is
haitested at 25 pei cent moistuie content
Snapping and gathering 10-ses inciea-e
rapidlj when t h e moistuie content fall's be
on 20 pei cent
A combine opeiatoi can tell hnw his
machine is opeiating b\ watching the tail
.ngs and giain augem If damaged corn
and pieces of cob appeal the cjlmder speed
-s too fast and the clearance too small The
machine is properlj adjusted when whole
cobs with no kernels attached are coming
off the straw walkers
Once the machine has been adjusted,
check it in the field for hanesting effi
ciency. Williams sa>s 17 kernels per
square foot left m the field represents a
one bushel per acre loss' And with the
LANCASTER FARMING
Lancaster Countv’s Own Faim Weeklv
P 0 Box 266 Lititz Pa 17543
Office 22 E Main St Lititz Pa 17543
Phone LancaMei 394 3047 o' Lititz 626 2191
RobeitG Campbell AdveiUsing Director
Zane Wilson Managing Editoi
Subscnption pi’ce S 2 pei \eai in Lane, ster
County S3eLewheie
Established \o' embei 4,1955
Published evei v Satui daj by Lancarcr
Fai . .
Second Postage pa-d -it Lititz ?<■
175^3
Membei of \e\\=p>pei F Eciitois A=;r
Pa Newspctpei Publphn - A "-Delation
TfatlOWa! TCewspaper A RWI ?ttw mmm
6% Blight Toll
extent still is. a highly uncertain situation.
But our observation and local sources ha\e
confirmed from the start that while some
individual farmers have been hit rather
hard by the blight, the overall loss has
not been great m this part of Pennsylvania.
With a little luck and some cooperation
from Mother Nature, farmers in the next
few weeks will harvest the golden crop
and the farmer will have survived another
bout with the elements.
corn price outlook very favorable this year,
a small loss may soon become very costly
The point for the farmer, of course. :s
much broader than simply cutting harvest
ing losses.
Many Other Losses
The point is that farmers are constant
ly making little mistakes with their corn
crop mistakes which result in losses far
exceeding the six per cent currentlj esti
mated as the Southern Corn Blight toll.
Drought. e\en a small drought, takes
more than six per cent of the crop.
Planting the row s too close or too thick
within the row can cost much more than six
per cent Similar losses or worse can alto
be had from not planting enough seed.
Improper or inadequate fertilization
can be i ery costh.
Poor germination from inferior seed
can cost much more than six per cent
The production difference between
laneties far exceeds six per cent.
Poor weed control can easily cause
\ leld losses of two or three times the six per
cent.
Since Lancaster Farming ran an article
on August 22 on the corn rootworm, the
word has came back from se\cral sources
that the corn rootworm probably will cause
considerably more corn yield losses in Lan
caster County this year than the blight Ye;,
until recently, mam local farmeis ap
parently were not even aware of the 100:-
woim in their field? or of the extensive crop
losses it can cause
The Farmer's Control
The farmer must lemember that e
can e\eit considerable control o\er most
ol these factors which cut into his yields
Pie can control his plant population
the quahtv of hi? seed, his weed contiol anc.
corn lootwoim Some farmers have e\en
made considerable pi ogress m lot mine a
paitnership with natuie tlnough the use
irrigation and other techniques which en
dow n the seventy of ad\erse weather cunc
tions
Corn blight ’ That too will be conti oiler''
It ? a matter of time The only question .5
whether enough progress can be made 'n
the next few months to achieve control n
1971 or whether it will be 1972 or 1973.
Based on reports we've seen so far. those
who are selling out the 1971 corn crop for
fear of the blight are probably premature
We think chances are good that losses from
the blight next year will be less than this
y ear It’s something to watch closely in the
future
More Good Years
Last year, it was the Yellow Leaf Bligrx
and many farmers got plagued with it aga.n
this year But the yellow variety was o\er
shadowed by the new southern strain.
What will it be next year?
We predict next year will be like tns?
year tor the corn producers who contro...
rather than are controlled by, the factors
that go into making a high yielding cor-i
crop For most of these conscientious fa:”"
crs next sear should follow this \cai
being another good year,! F i
For the few make it th.-
year lean yeais are an occupational ha
zard, but the good faimeis, the succes'fux
farmeis cion t keep repeating their mslakes.
NOW IS
THE TIME...
By Max Smith
Lancaster County Agent
To Apply Lime
Snr'.l grain seedings that will
.0 into gra?s-iegume mixtuies
next season should have the
Lme worked into the topsoil
tn.s fall In many cases the soil
needs lime and to bioadcast it
on top of the winter g’am this
a nter or next spimg is not
the oest way ro apply it Lime
-eeds time to sweeten the soil
.f me .egumes are to stait as
intended Corn-stalk giound
tr.a: is to be plowed this fall
or a inter and then seeded to
■eganies ea-ly next spnng
snojid have the lime mixed in
to tne topsoil either before
cio amg or a. me time of plovv
\g Don: expect lime on top
o: the grouna to do the most
good
It appeals tna: we may be
To Beware Of Frosted Crops facing some problems by grow-
K’Hing f-osie maj be expected mg continuous corn; both the
-■ me next :e a weeks and some (Continued from Page 4)
li m GOOD”
Lesson for September 20,1970
ther’s last blessing. Now he was
Background Sct’etur*' Genesis 28 through a fugitive: aIOUC, broke, hungry,
Pcvofo-ii Reodmg jch-i i 43 si. tired and possibly deeply trou
bled Last night he had slept in
“That boy’s just no good!” the comfort of his father’s house.
That seerrs to be a favoute tonight he had only a stone for 2
line for some adults, docsnt it? pillow.
It has probably been said mil- yet,’ perhaps that is what he
lions of times since history be- needed—a stone pillow for his
gan. It has been said of some of head. Without that there might
the world s most infamous ty- have been no dream, and without
~,nts and villians the dream Jacob might never
id otheis whose have become Israel, the father of
imes are found the Twelve Tr<bes. That tells us
t History’s "dis- something about life, doesn’t it?
■onor roll”. Sometimes v e reed a ‘ stone pil-
People also low,” an experience of hardship,
•obably said this suffering or pain in order to be
- ioung Jacob, able to see the truth.
hey had plenty his dieain, Jacob encounter
- reason for say- ec j God—not „ust any god (for
_ ... :r 8 it too Jacob the Canaan, tes believed there
Eev. A thouse was the kind of were mam), but the God of his
boy who craft ey turned cvciy sit- grandfather Aoraham and his
Uat'on to 3ns advantage, icgard- father Isaac S'range as it may
less of <kj at he -nght nave to do seem, he vas now to be Jacob's
or to whom i e might have to do God and Jacob was to father
it For examine, using his bioth- God’s chosen people. ,
ei’s neai stan a* >on, he “conned”
him m to snirfdenng the birth- The strange choice 1
right that belonged to Esau as Why did God pick Jacob?
the first-born. Didn’t he know that the supplant-
Ihe supplanter
What kind of brother would ham, a man of faith, and Isaad,
do that? The kind of brother who was an ooechent man. But
Jacob was' He was well-named, why Jacob’
lor Jacob meant “he supplants,” We can ne\er completely an
he takes the place of another, svver such a question Yet wfe
That was Jacob all right. know that when God chooses «
Nor was ibis the last time he man it is not because the man ij*
supplanted his brother Esau. In worthy as he is, but because he
Genesis 27 we see him once has the potentiality to become
again, stopping at nothing to get someone useful to God. God hajß
wnat he wants. The “blessing” he often made strange choices iti
•wants from his father was more people Jesus did the same thing
than just some “nice words” when he chose iwelve to be his
from a dying man. The ancients disciples Vet, oy the grace of
believed that a man’s dying God these cnoices have often
words were capable of exercising changed the voild. .
real power over the events he . j.
would foretell. These WOldS 'were Division of"Cft>.t'!an Education! NaTiorS*
thought SO powerful in them- Council of the Caches of Christ in »«•
solves that they would hold iYu^ ? Con,nlJn " y fr T
even if mistakenly bestow ed on I
the wrong son. No wonder we are ATTPKin TUS f
told: “No/Esau hated 'Jacob.,” ‘ 1., *1 1 _ [
•»Fearing for his life and en J CHURCH OF YOUR !
couraged by his mother, Jacob CHOICE SUNDAYS I
began a 350-mile journey back to vnvivs t
1 1 Hw—intte -toad Jcom. wtuchh-God-,^
ci ops need special attention in
Older to prevent the poisoning
of livestock Sorghum or the
sorghum-sudan hybrids should
not be used after a killing frost
unless the ciop stands for a
week, or unless the crop is
made into silage and allowed to
feiment fo. 30 days. New
growth from these plants after a
killing frost may be too high in
piussic acid for using in the
fiesh condition Careful man
agement is reeded. Clover or
alfalfa plants should not be
grazed by Lvestotk when cover
ed with frost permit the frost
to melt and the plants to dry
before ginzmg
To Grow Winter Barley
had called his grandfather Abra
ham. The tnp -would be long and
treacherous and he was carrying
an extra load: a burdened con
science. The neighbors probably
said: “Good riddance; that boy’s
just no good.’’
A stone for a piEFow
We can imagine how weary
and foot sore Jacob must have
been as he sank to the ground
that night. Quite a turn of events
had just taken place. A few days
earlier he had been “on top of
the world/’ having gained his
brother’s birthright'and his fa-
cr was “ju't ro good ”? We cart
undeistand n s choice of Abra-