10
—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, July 3,1971
We join Lancaster County farmers in
welcoming the new Extension agent who
began work in the County July 1.
He is N. Alan Bair, a recent Penn
State University graduate with B.S. and
M.S. degrees in dairy science.
Although Bair fills the gap left by the
late Victor Plastow, he will have general
Extension duties and will be joining our
present agents in meeting needs of local
farmers and farm youths through the 4-H
program. While his work load will be gen
eral, we expect many local dairymen will
want to take advantage of his up-to-date
training.
The value of the Extension program
and our county agents and home econo-
Salute to FFA Activities Week
It was FFA Activities Week at Penn
State University this week for 1,500 FFA
members from across the state.
The group included some 105 Lancas
ter County FFA members and many from
neighboring counties, reflecting the local
area’s strong position in the state farm
economy.
Activities Week is the culmination of
the year’s FFA activities. Local and area
winners in numerous contests have a
chance to compete with their counterparts
from other counties and areas around the
state.
Behind the good natured competition
Blight Hits--What to Expect?
The report last week that Southern
Corn Blight is already established on
farms in several Southeastern Pennsyl
vania counties, including Lancaster Coun
ty, was certainly not good news.
Even though the blight hit here last
year only a couple of weeks before most
corn was matured, it still caused much
damage in some fields.
So the real concern now is that the
blight is well established 45 to 50 days
earlier in the growing season. It could
have plenty of time to attack the impor
tant corn crop at the critical stages before
corn is formed. Last year, most corn was
far enough developed that even when the
blight hit it caused relatively little dam
age; this may not be true this year.
But even though the blight is here,
how serious will it be? We don’t think any
body knows for sure.
Several factors are in farmers’ favor
this year in comparison to last year.
Farmers started out this year with a
full awareness of the blight’s potential.
Many of them, we’re sure, used manage
ment practices which were recommended
to minimize blight damage. This includes
such things as keeping plant populations
at a reasonable level, because it was
found last year that blight hits hardest
fields which have high populations.
We’re sure also that some farmers
took extra care to insure protection
against weeds and insects. Anything which
competes with the corn for nutrients saps
the strength of the corn and makes it more
susceptible to blight, farmers have been
told.
Although no precise figures are avail-
LANCASTER FARMING
Lancaster County’s Own Farm Weekly
P. 0. Box 266 - Lititz, Pa. 17543
Office: 22 E Main St., Lititz, Pa. 17543
Phone: Lancaster 394-3047 or Lititz 626-2191
Robert G. Campbell, Advertising Director
Zane Wilson, Managing Editor
Subscription price: $2 per year in Lancaster
County; S 3 elsewhere
Established November 4,1955
Published every Saturday by Lancaster
Farming, Lititz, Pa.
Second Class Postage paid at Lititz, Pa.
17543.
Member of Newspaper Farm Editors Assn.
Pa. Newspaper Publishers Association, and
National Newspaper Association
Welcome the Bairs
mists in helping local farmers solve prob
lems and determine the best courses of
action cannot be overemphasized.
The Extension agents are called on
constantly to give technical assistance and
advice and to help solve problems in such
diverse areas as farm pond management,
pesticide and herbicide recommendations,
disease and nutrition problems and just
about anything else which puzzles or fru
strates local farmers and home owners.
Bair is joining a local organization
with a fine service record and we’re sure
he will carry on the tradition.
Let’s give the Bairs a good Lancaster
County welcome in the coming weeks.
is a real educational experience. The con
tests involve learning important farm
skills such as evaluating the quality of
dairy, livestock and poultry. Farm
mechanics, machinery, land judging, and
many others round out the competition.
In addition, FFA members attend con
ferences and educational demonstrations
and have an opportunity to exchange ideas
with each other.
It’s a major event for FFA and for the
future farmers who participate in it. It’s
the type of event which helps insure that
farmers in the future continually do a'
better job.
able, the state has reported that about 30
per cent of the Pennsylvania corn crop is
of blight resistant varieties. This means
that some 30 per cent of the corn should
not be susceptible to blight. This is a signi
ficant proportion and reports indicate that
all the crop next year should be resistant.
Of this year’s remaining 70 per cent,
part of it, probably about half, is blend
corn, which means a combination of re
sistant and non-resistant corn. No one is
certain how the blend corn will react to
blight. It was sold on the basis that it
would give some degree of protection.
In addition, those varieties which
showed the most blight losses last year
were drastically cut back by local farm
ers, while varieties which were not hit
were increased. Will this mean that even
the non-resistant corn will be much less
susceptible to blight in 1971? This is a key
question which only time will answer.
There are many other key factors
which will help determine how serious the
blight is this year. One key is weather.
Blight thrives on hot, moist weather and
seems to get started best where corn
fields are moist. This is one reason for
reducing plant population. No one can
predict if the weather will favor blight.
There are many other factors. Experi
ence has shown that a plant disease may
be different in its impact from year to
year. Will the blight react in 1971 the
same way it did in 1970? Arnold Lueck,
associate Lancaster County ag agent, was
referring to this factor when he said it’s
not known yet how virulent or aggressive
the disease will be this year.
Altogether, there’s cause for concern,
Simply because the corn crop is so vitally
important to the local farm economy.
But we must not compare the situation
in 1971 with 1970. There are many factors
favoring the farmer which did not exist
last year.
Well just have to keep our fingers
crossed for the next six weeks and hope
that nature gives us a break this year.
Next year, with blight resistant seed,
Southern Corn Blight shouldn’t be an issue
at all.
NOW IS
THE TIME..
By Max Smith
Lancaster County Agent
To Keep Hogs Cool
Fattening hogs nearing mar
ket weight may notice the hot
weather more than other swine
on the farm.
Maximum ventilation should
be provided if the hogs are con
fined; all doors and windows
should be open. Exhaust fans
will move the air out of tight
buildings providing there is suf
ficient fan capacity. With hogs
weighing from 100 to 200
pounds each there should be
6,000 cubic feet of air per min
ute for each 100 head of hogs.
Hogs should be moved or
trucked during the night or
early morning to avoid over
heating.
To Observe Corn Plants
The danger of a severe out
break of southern corn leaf
blight is present on many local
farms. When it will develop, or
if it will develop, is difficult to
say at this time.
Growers are reminded that
considerable effort is being
placed on this problem at this
time by agronomists and corn
breeders.
HOW FREE ARE YOU?
Lesson for July 4,1971
lackartund Scripture Mark 10:43-45;
John (.31-42; I Corinthians 4:12;
„ 9:19-23; Galalions 5:13-26.
Devetienel Reading- Psalm* 106 M 2.
There is a lot of confusion
about this word “freedom.”
Take, for example, the confu*
sion of a college freshman whom
we shall call “Jim,” Upon arriv
ing at college, Jim felt like shout*
ing, .“Free at lastl’L-No more
■MB would his parents
HiHH be there to tell
9 could and couldn’t
do. From now on
I* .7|3 he would be gov*
Ik sJT* erning himself.
Called to free*
r*v Aifhnnr« Jun found him*
Rev. Althouse self do j ng a j ot o£
things he hadn’t been able to do
before and this exercise of his
freedom had a delicious taste to
him. In a month, he was spending
a good deal of time with a group
of five or six other students from
his dormitory at a little bar just
next to the campus. As time went
on, less and less time was spent
in study. By the end of the se
mester, Jim had been placed on
“academic probation.” Sitting in
the Office of the Dean of Student
Affairs, he reflected upon the
price he had paid in order to
exercise his new freedom. Now
the important question was: “Can
I break out of this pattern I’ve
slipped into? He had become a
slave to his own immaturity.
This was precisely the problem
that prompted Paul to write his
epistle to the congregation at Ga
latia, He felt it important to re
mind them of wh.i' they had been
called to: “For you were called to
freedom, brethren” (5:13), They
needed to be reminded that the
gospel of Jesus Christ had set
We will do our best (Exten
sion Service) to keep growers
informed. Growers are urged to
be on the alert for elongated
lesions on the leaves and blight
ed leaves, as remembered from
last fall.
To Utilize New Grains
Barley is being harvested and
the winter wheat crop is matur
ing rapidly.
Livestock feeders may use
either of these grains in most
rations but should go easy until
the new grains have dried; the
use of small amounts (10 to
20%) in the ration is recom
mended for the first month af
ter combining. Wheat may be
substituted for corn, after it is
thoroughly dry, in hog, beef,
and dairy rations; however, it
should be ground or cracked
and introduced slowly into the
ration.
As much as 50 per cent of the
corn in the ration may be sub
stituted with wheat when in
creased gradually. Too much
wheat may cause digestive dis
orders.
them free of exterior control, that
they were not intended to remain
In bondage to anything or anyone
—least of all themselves!
This is the ironic thing about
freedom: when we are made free
to make our own choices, some of
ua choose slavery in* some other
form. So Paul tells the Galatians
that God didn't free them from -
their old pagan lives so that they
could live in bondage to either
passion or the Jewish law. He set
them free so that they would
really be free.
Through love be servants
Look sit the catalogue of sins
he finds among these so-called
“liberated” people: immorality,
impurity, licentiousness, idolatry,
sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy,
anger, selfishness, dissension,
party spirit, envy, drunkenness,
carousing, etc. If any of the Ga*
latians were-subject to any of
these, Paul said, then they had
traded their freedom for slavery.
Paul does not end with con*
demning slavery. He shows, how*
ever, how a man can use his
Christian freedom. Motivated by
the power of love, the Christian
is set free to choose to serve
others. A servant is in bondage
to a master. The servant does not
serve him because he wishes to,
but because he is in bondage.
Not so, however, with the
Christian, Paul says. Because he
doesn’thave to serve anyone, he
may choose to put bis life in the
service of someone who needs it,
and if he freely makes the choice
himself, even though he serves he
retains his freedom. This is what
was unique and compelling about
Jesus’ servanthood; he wasn’t
forced to serve, but willingly
chose to do so. Because the choice
was his, his dignity could not bo
taken away.
Freedom wisely used
Martin Luther has said: “A
Christian man is a perfectly free
lord of all, subject to none. A
Christian is a perfectly dutiful
servant of all, subject to all."
This is the meaning of Christian
freedom: to be able to choose to
follow willingly the best that is
within us.
How free are you?
an outline* caayrtahlMl by ilia
ulvislan af Christian Causation, National
Council of the Churches of Christ in »ha U.sjh.
SalMMd by Community toss Sarvlta,}