—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, February 13,1971
4
Controls Can Backfire
The November 1970 issue of Top Op
magazine carries an article entitled, “Pes
ticide Bans .. . Backfire Coming?” .
The article outlines numerous examples
of how bans on the use of chemicals have
caused major problems in countries
throughout the world.
Top Op reports that in 1950 Ceylon “had
over two million cases ot malaria. Follow
ing a mosquito-eradication program with
DDT, cases dropped to only 17 m 1963.
The following year Ceylon stopped using
DDT . . and malaria cases began building:
150 in 1964, 308 in 1965, 499 in 1986. Then, in
1968, it exploded again: over one million
eases. Ceylon is back to DDT use.”
Moth in New Jersey
In a case much closer to home, Top Op
reports that New Jersey “rarely had trouble
with the gypsy moth while DDT was used.
Now the moth population has exploded.
Thousands of acres of New Jersey forests
have been devastated by the gypsy motn
caterpillar. Once magnificent oaks now 7
stand stark and dead against the sky.
“Two years ago, New Jersey oaks had
already sutfeied 6 5 per cent rnnH-ahty m
caterpillar-infested areas, and 116,693 trees
had been killed Last year mortafity jump
ed to 14 3 per cent, with 257,112 dead oaks.
Currently mortality is an alarming 38 per
cent, and 686,881 trees have been destroyed.
State officials expect over a million cater
pillar-killed trees in 1971, and the moth is
now a serious problem m 250,000 acres.
“ ‘We’re trying to control the moth with
Sevm,’ says one state official. ‘But it’s just
not as effective as tlie DDT we used be
fore.’
Moth in Pa,
The article goes on to note that the moth
is on the increase in Pennsylvania an 4 that
10,000 acres'Of forest came under attack in
one area in this state in the past year.
' Federal officials recently added Lan
caster, Chester, Lebanon and Dauphin
Counties to the list of “regulated” gypsy
moth counties, indicating the gypsy moth is
.becoming a senouk problem in these areas.
The federal action to place local coun
ties in “regulation,” however, does mean
an effort to control the moth. It merely
means that the federal government wall use
quarantine procedures “to prevent the arti
ficial spread of gypsy moths from infested
areas to unmfested areas.
Moth Well Established
But the moth is already established
in all of Connecticut, Massachusetts and
Rhode Island and most ot New Hampshire.
Vermont, Maine and New Jersey, and the
eastern portions of New York and Penn
sylvania. Surveys show it is spreading into
Maryland. Delaware and Virginia
It would certainly appear that the U S.
is closing the barn door too late on the gypsy
moth. The moth is already well established
in the nation’s biggest metropolitan areas,
and we see no reason to expect that it will
not soon be carried through normal tra\el
and commerce to all parts of the country.
How serious is the gypsy moth’ There
apparently is no precise way of saying at
the moment.
But itrwould appear that the destruction
already of many tens of thousands of acres
of'oak trees should be cause for alarm.
LANCASTER FARMING
Lancaster County’s Own Farm Weekly
P. 0. Bok 266 - ,Lititz, Pa. 17543
Office E Main St., Lititz, Pa. 175,43 -
Phone: Lancastei 394-3047 or Lititz 626-2191
Robert G Campbell, Advertising Director
Zane Wilson, Managing Edifoi
Subscription pi ice $2 per year in Lancaster
County; S 3 elsewhere
Established November 4,1955
Published »vr 'v Saturday by Lancaster
Farming, Lititz, Pa.
Second Class rosiage paid at Lititz Pa
17543
Member of Newspaper Farm Editors Assn
Pa. Newspaper Publishes s Association and
National Newspaper Aesufialmn
0 The question of values should begin to
arise.
If we lose even a few acres of forest to
fires, we hear public outcrys about the
damage to the ecology and the possible
damage from erosion, etc., that can occur
because of the defoliated land.
Trees killed by gypsy moth also leave
the ground barren and subject to the
ravages of nature. Particularly in populated
areas such as New Jersey and Southeastern
Pennsylvania, loss of these important trees
can greatly increase not only erosion but
also the threat of flooding.
Has the battle with forest fires been
waged and largely won only to give up
forests to the moth?
What has happened' 1 ’ Doesn’t anyone
remember what happened to the Chestnut
tree and the economic loss that occurred
when that tree was wiped out by th§ blight?
Does ecology mean giung up beautiful
forests to rapacious moths?
Time for Concern
We suggest that many more persons
should begin to get concerned about the
gypsy moth in 1971 If the moth’s destruc
tion continues to accelerate, as it has in re
cent years, we should certainly begin to see
some signs of action long before 1972 if
trees are to be a part of the beautiful en
vironment that is talked about so much
these days.
Like the malaria outbreak in Ceylon in
1968, the present gypsy moth outbreak in
the Northeast stems from the ban of DDT,
a so-called persistent pesticide, which has
been replaced by Sevin, which has a shorter
life. But, unlike DDT, which was used in
selective areas wherever the gypsy moth
began to build up large numbers, Sevin has
not been effective in stopping the spread of
the moth.
No Easy Solution
What is the solution? Go back to DDT?:
Launch a massive attack with Sevin? Let
the moth work its will? Breed natural moth
enemies? We don’t know. Maybe the best
that can be hoped is that valuable lessons
are learned from the case of the gypsy
moth.
We like the conclusion of the Top Op
article; “In short, many of the restrictions
on persistent pesticides have backfired on
the world. You see it first in forests, or ur
ban areas, or countries like Sweden, be
cause restrictions were first applied here.
But you can expect more problems in agri
culture Even with all the pesticides of the
1960’5, the U.S. still loses some $l5 billion
a year m agricultural production to in
sects, weeds, fungi and rodents . . . equal
to 33 per cent of our total agricultural out
put. That loss is almost certain to jump,
now that many of these pesticides are be
ing restricted. The great need is to get tins
side of the story into the open ’’
Restrained Control
Actually, our ow n position on pesticides
restrictions has been milder.
' We believe many changes toward con
trolled pesticides usage have been favor
able and that there is still room for im
provement in pesticides and their usage.
But there should be restraint in the move
toward controls. Misguided controls can be
as harmful as no controls.
While unrestrained use of DDT- un
doubtedly caused some harm to the en
vironment, the other extreme,, an imme
diate and total ban of DDT, jinay proVe
equally’ harmful to the environment.
Reason would dictate, we believe, that
particular pesticides should be completely
banned only after better alternatives have
been found or after it is certain the particu
lar pesticide is no longer needed. This was
not the .procedure with the gypsy moth
and DDT.
Hasty and.unsound actioqpn pesticides
can take us backward"— with crop losses
tor farmers and higher posts for consumers.
And a poorer environment for everyone.
To Prune Fruit Trees
The pruning of fruit trees need
not wait until spring and it is
suggested that fruit producers
and home orehardist's spread the
labor load by pruning during the
late winter Our fruit specialist
lecommends that we prune the
apple and pear trees first be
cause they are more hardy;
plums and sour cherries are
next in 01 der, with the peach and
sweet cherry trees being left un
til warmer weather arrives in
Maich Careful pruning controls
the size and shape of the tree
and permits improved color to
the fiuit
To Order Lime And Fertilizer
The start of the 1971 growing
season is about a month away
and all faimers and gardeners
should be giving some attention
to their lime and fei tilizer
needs No doubt some farmers
have aheady accepted or applied
WttAT IS HUMILITY?
Lesson for February 14,1971
tackgriunri Scripture: luk* 14 7-11;
It 9 14.
Jesus’s parable about the
places of honor at a banquet re
mind me of an experience I had
a number of years ago. We were
living in the suburbs of New
York City at the time. A semi
-v da r -te and his wife came
M to visit us and had
■ but one request;
S they wanted to be
1 in the audience for
I one of Jack Paar’s
| Tonight shows.
! In order to get
there early enough
to get good seats,
I proposed taking
_ a “short-cut” into
Rt\. Althousc the city to beat
the traffic. Like so many best-laid
plans of mice and men, this one
v.ent astray and we got to the
studio just as the doors were clos
ing. When we got inside it was
obvious that there were no more
seats available except for a front
row reserved for V.LP.’s.
The lost were first
My heart sank, but just then,
the usher beckoned to us, leading
us down to the front row of seats.
I couldn’t believe it: these -were
the best possible seats, just a few
yards away from the performers.
As w e sat down, the crowd, know
ing as we did that these seats
are reserved for dignitaries, be
gan to buzz excitedly with “I
wonder who they arc?!’’ ’
Apparently the performers
were just as confused for they
too smiled and nodded at us. Mr.
Hugh Downs came by our seats
and chatted with us for a few'
minutes. Mr. Paar’s guests on the
show would from time to time di
rect their attention to us as if
we were the sole audience and
laier, when Elsa Maxwell brought
§ome food on stage, she brought
some over to us, setting the stu
« {*• |. , »i,, , i ~ ~ EU> ~ , ~ , hJ*
NOW IS
THE TIME...
By Max Smith
Lancaster Count; Age_*
these materials to their fields.
According to the local press,
some of these elements are
blamed for getting into our focal
streams. If fertilizer is €o be
stored in bags, it should be kept
dry and away from dirt or con
crete floors.
To Plan 'Kour Estate
This is one obligation that
every person should perform as
soon as they have any posses
sions or holdings I’m afraid that
far too many of us put estate
planning, including the making
-of a will, off until it may be too
late With more complicated
regulations and larger holdings,
this task may become more dif
ficult and present the need for
assistance. We suggest attend
ing our forthcoming Estate
Planning Meeting on March 4
in the Farm and Home Center,
Lancaster.
dio audience to buzzing ones
again.
Often I have wondered why
that usher did what he did with
us that night. Perhaps he was one
of God’s angels sent to demon
strate anew that God often makes
“the last” to be “first.” My own
best efforts to be “first” had end
ed in near disaster and it was
only an act of grace that literally
propelled us forward.
'Humility and truth }
- From time to time we must bp
thus humbled before we leam n»
he truly humble. We must learn
J that we cannot make it through
life on our own wit and right
eousness. In fact, in addition to
the fact that we cannot achieve
moral perfection, God does not
require it of us as a prerequisite
to answering our prayers. CRE
ATIVE PRAYER, The only de
mand God does make of us iji
humility, not perfection. '
Often, then, the channel of
grace is closed to us, not because
we are sinners, hut because we
are not humble and, worst of
we may not even’know that we
are not humble. ,
Inverted pride
So what is humility? St. Vin
cent de Paul says, “The reason
why God is so great a lover of
humility, is because he is the
great Lover of Truth.” St. There
sa puts it even more simplyt
“ • • it has always seemed to me
that humility is simply truth.”
What God wants of us, then, is
not modest lies or self-mutilatioh,
but the truth. He wants us to hi
honest about ourselves. E. Her
man says- “At least one-half of
what we call humility, especially
the habit of self-accusatioa and
self-abasement which passes for
a deep sense of sin, is the fruit
of self-obsession.” I
Self-abasement may often bi
no more than an inverted pride,
What God wants of us is simply
the truth. It is both bad enough
dnd good enough without dis
tortion.
(Used on putlm« copyrighlsd W A*
Division of Christian Education, tfetfom f
Cound of (K« Chc-chts of Chris* -In 4h >
Ssrvico) ** Community tt« I
A I
* t
AtTEND THE
CHURCH OF YOUR
CHOICE SUNDAY
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