10—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, August 28,1971
Engagement - a Time to Learn
The length of time a couple spends to
gether before marriage affects the stability
or permanence of their marriage, says
James E. Van Horn, Penn State Extension
family life specialist.
The length of an engagement has al
ways been a personal matter for the couple
in our society to decide. Yet engagement
serves important purposes for couples.
It’s a time for partners to talk seriously
about the kind of marriage they want. It’s
Debris, Blight
Farmers are now being told that they
should have plowed down all debris in their
corn fields this year.
This advice comes from the wisdom, of
hindsight. This recommendation was not
being made strongly earlier in the year
when farmers could have heeded it.
The concern now stems from a general
ly acknowledged higher -incidence of corn
blight in no-till fields.
Penn State Extension officials had pre
dicted that corn blight would not overwinter
in Southeastern Pennsylvania. They now
acknowledge that it did overwinter, in corn
cribs and in many corn fields. Overwinter
ing in fields was particularly severe in no
till fields, it is believed.
It is also reported that the blight attack
ed volunteer corn earlier than the newly
planted corn. The incidence of blight on
volunteer corn is reported particularly
severe in no-till fields.
While N corn is still believed to be re
sistant to Southern Blight, there have been
rumors that some individual fields have
been severely damaged. Penn State Exten
sion officials say that all reports of this
may be wise not to subject the 1972 crop to
any more stress than is absolutely essential.
This means plowing down all corn debris,
preferably this fall, to allow organisms in
the soil to break down any diseases and
fungi which might attack next year’s crop.
Farmers still interested in no-till could
plow down their stubble this fall and plant a
cover crop, using the cover crop next year
as their no-till sod.
Caution Needed
As we have noted many times already,
the battle by medical authorities in regard
to food-health recommendations, particular
ly recommendations on what to eat, could
have great significance for the farm com
munity.
In particular, there is a definite trend
by health authorities toward encouraging
the use of the so-called polyunsaturated fats
instead of the saturated fats. The polyun
saturated fats are found in foods such as
vegetables, while the saturated fats are
found in foods including basic meat, egg
and poultry products.
While some scientists and medical au
thorities are urging a switch to the foods
with polyunsaturated fats, many,reports,
including the famous Framingham study,
contradict this recommendation, or show
that there is not enough kHown about either
polyunsaturated or saturated fats to make a
reliable recommendation.
In the past, health authorities have al
ways recommended that people have a well
balanced diet including some of each of the
basic food categories with every, or nearly
every, meal.
The reason that authorities have always
recommended a well-balanced diet, we sus-
LANCASTEB FARMING
Lancaster County’s Own Farm Weekly
P. O. 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 Directoi
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
a time to consider what they do or do not
expect of their future and of each other.
It’s a time to share feelings about some of
the mutual responsibilities they are taking
on, and a time for testing how well they can
cooperate together under stress.
Van Horn advises engaged couples not
to avoid conflict, but use it to learn more
about how the other handles a stressful
situation. Taken this way, engagement is
the most important step toward a realistic
marriage.
and No-Till
officials express faith that the N crop will
be resistant next year.
However, the feeling is growing that it
type which have been checked out so far
have proven to be false; usually it is esta
blished that the corn was not N corn. These
While experience with the blight indi
cates farmers should continue to proceed
with no-till farming cautiously, we think
that it should not necessarily spell the end
of no-tiil farming.
The earliest reports urging no-till farm-
ing emphasized the importance of proper
- weed and insect control with no-till. It ap-~
pears that the disease problem must also
be considered.
With N corn next year, it may again be
found that the natural advantages of no-till
can still offset these advantages.
Some of the advantages include: pro
tection of the land against serious erosion
which can occur with conventional corn;
lower production costs in some operations;
reduced labor costs and fewer times over
the field in preparing the ground, and much
greater retention of moisture, a factor
which could prove extremely beneficial
during a drought year.
Overall, there’s no doubt that the no
till concept and no-till corn farmers are
taking a beating this year, but we believe
that the final verdict on no-till is not and
should not be in.
As farmers learn more about no-till and
how to use it better, we think it still may
prove to be a profitable crop technique.
Diet Change
pect, is that they simply recognized that
they didn’t know enough about the content
of the various foods, or the effect-of various
elements in the foods in relation to peoples’
needs.
While knowledge about nutrition has
greatly expanded, we think, along with
man> reliable scientists and doctors, that
not nearly enough still is known about hu
man nutrition to allow anyone to tamper
in a major way with the diet of Americans.
We note, for instance, a report by the
American Dairy Association pointing out
that the trend to substitute polyunsaturated
fats for saturated fats in the diet in an at
tempt to lower the cholestrol level may
destroy the vitamin E in the human body.
The reason cited is that polyunsaturated
fats burn faster, reacting more easily with
oxygen, than saturated fats; therefore, the
body needs a greater amount of vitamin E
in a polyunsaturated diet in order to main
tain proper control of matabolism.
While vitamin E was only discovered
to be necessary to good nutrition as recent
ly as 1959, some scientists now believe vita
min E may play an important role in a
wide range of ways very important to the
health including retarding aging, protect
ing fertility, subduing cancer cells, speed
ing the healing of burns and preventing
ulcers.
The point, we think, is that efforts to
change the diet substantially before enough
is known about it could result in far greater
harm than benefit.
If we allow the trend away from the
concept of the well-rounded diet involving a
wide choice of foods, health problems which
stem basically from malnutrition will in
crease. This is why we should continue to
be very skeptical toward those who urge
major changes in the diet.
We think that the time is still far away
when we can recommend prolonged drastic
changes in the diet without creating more
problems than are solved.
NOW IS
THE TIME..
By Max Smith
Lancaster County Agent
To Be Prepared To Ensile Corn
The spread of the Southern
Leaf Blight on some fields of
corn has been very fast; growers
are urged to inspect the corn
plants daily to determine the de
velopment of the ear and the
moisture content of the plant.
Some samples may have to be
tested for moisture. We are told
to. ensile the corn when the sil
age is from 55 to 70 per cent
moisture; this may be difficult to
know without running a moisture
test. Many stalks are still high
in moisture even though many of
the leaves are dead. We are also
advised not to add a non-protein
nitrogen such as urea or anhy
drous ammonia to corn silage if
moisture level is below 65 per
cent. As long as any of the
leaves on the com plant remain
green, the ear should be develop
ing and. gaining in feed value.
The early dent stage of maturity
is still desired for silage of the
highest feeding value.
To Be Careful With Antibiotics
All livestock producers and
especially dairymen are urged to
follow the recommendation on
keeping the milk, or selling the
animal for beef, after it has been
treated with antibiotics or other
drugs. Inspections are being
made constantly and producers'
must be aware of the regulations
that have been set by the Food
and Drug Administration. Local'
veterinarians and sanitarians are
in a position to advise producers
of these regulations. Most of
all kinds of psychiatric treatment,
been to group therapy. Alcoholics
Anonymous, a private rehabilita
tion center, yet she was still an
alcoholic. She still went on long
binges and got, as she said, “roar
ing drunk.”
Before the conversation ended.
I invited her to attend our Thurs
day morning prayer and healin!
service at my church. I found i|
hard to conceive that we coulr
help her when everyone
seemed to fail with her. Wh.
failed to take into consideraf
however, was that the Lord .
self could heal her and recli
her life. And that’s what he’s
lacksrwitMi Scriptw. Ramons U-13-23; ing today. Though lam DOt Tt
aSSSTM 10823 +hroU9h 11:1; t 0 make any long range claims
Oavotmisoi feoain*; Mm t-.i-ii. predictions, it is obvious to :
It was-about six months ago P«*>™ing
that my telephone rang at about miracle m her ltfe
three o’clock in the morning.
Dazed, I groped for the phone
asking myself the inevitable ques- A '-"nsnon response
tion. “Who could that be ... at Today lam sobered by '
this time?” The voice at the other thought that I had wanted
end was strange Quickly terminate that convt
to me and I had a tion. 1 was annoyed and angt
hard time follow- to have to disturb my sleep ft
B ing what she was babbling drunk. Yet, if I
saying. In a little hung-up, as I had wanted, Imi
Lm - while I realized never have had the opportr
why I was having to see this remarkable
so much difficulty healed and made whole.
in understanding Too often churches and
■. her; yhe was groups have despised both
Rev. Althonse dr unk! sin and the sinner. They haw
.... jected the alcoholic seeking
Someone to talk to They would be scandalized
Upon realizing this, I felt a problem drinker were to fret
wave of irritation and anger. (I their services and programs
am not one who wakes up cheer- The churches must never
fully at that time of night.) She to pass judgement upon this j
had picked me and my number evil, while at the same tim>
because my name leads the listing must heed Paul. “Let us no i
of clergymen in the telephone pass judgement on one am
book: lucky me! “I don’t know . . .” (Romans 14:13). We
who you are,” she mumbled, “but fight alcoholism, yet at the
I just needed someone to talk to time love and minister to thi
5 ?... at * d °n’t decide to end it coholic. That is the Christian
a ~, sponse to the evil of alcohol
We talked (or rather, I listen
ed) for the better part of an
T? an in i telligent WO - t»osed on outl.n.s copyrighted by
Ulan wnose life was being wasted Division of Christian Education, Naf
away by alcoholism haH hart Coy™* of the Churches of Christ in the'
J one naa naa Released by Community Press Servif
NO PASS
JUDGEMENT
Lesson for August 29,1971
these materials can be of g re
help to the health and produ
tion of our livestock producer
but they must be used correct]
aqd carefully.
To Store New Grain Properl;
Most farmers are looking fo
ward to harvesting their coi
crop even though some of it m;
be damaged by the leaf bh«h
The acres of resistant varxetn
of corn look real good and tl
national forecast on the corn crc
is a big one. When corn fs harves
ed for grain, either ear corn <
shelled it should not be put o
top of old corn for any length <
storage time. Grain insects ma
be in the old corn and will q Ulc i
ly get into the new crop. The ol
crop should be fed out first, o
sold, and not mixed with the nei
com crop. We are told of a ma
terial called propionic acid tha
may be sprayed on shelled con
that is too high in moisture (3(
per cent for normal storage tha
will keep the corn from moldin'
during the storage period. Addi
tional research work is beim
done but this method appears to
have some merit.
Can Us Now
To serve the Lancaster
County farm community bet
ter, we maintain two phone
srs and advertisers can also
•each us through 626-2191
(ask for Lancaster Fanning)
md avoid a toll call from the
Akron, Epfarata and Ifan
helm exchanges.