Ifr—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, October 9,1971
A Poem for Farm People
The following poem, printed in Scimitar and Song magazine last year, has
been forwarded for our farm readers:
Deßakey Backs
The Egg Industry magazine in July
carried a report about Dr. Michael De-
Bakey’s strong stand against the medical
profession’s recommendations on cholestrol
and saturated fats.
As farmers know, eggs and meats have
come under attack by many doctors be
cause these key farm products supposedly
contribute to heart disease and other ail
ments. These attacks, which have been
particularly severe and costly to the < gg in
dustry in recent months, have persisted
despite growing evidence, such as the
Framingham report, that the attacks are
completely unfounded.
The stand of Dr. Deßakey represents
a growing awareness that there is little or
no substance to the attack on saturated fats
and cholesterol. And the stand of Dr. De-
Bakey cannot be lightly dismissed by the
medical profession itself; Dr. Deßakey is
one of the world’s most famous heart sur
geons
The complete report of the Egg In
dustry magazine is as follows.
A noted heart surgeon, Dr. Michael De-
Bakey, president and chairman of surgery
of Baylor college of medicine, said at a car
diovascular disease seminar presented by
Danciger Institute of Menorah Medical Cen
ter, Kansas City, Mo., that he and his as
sociates have found very little relationship
between diet, cholesterol levels and coron
ary artery disease progression.
In a story appearing in the April 17,
Another Dust
Remember the days of the great Dust
Bowls which wiped out huge farm sections
for many years in the 1930’5?
Most of us think of the Dust Bowl days
as a thing of the past, something which
modern know-how and modern conservation
practices have completely solved.
But The Furrow magazine recently re
ported that wind erosion of soil is fast be
coming a problem agams in such diverse
LANCASTER FARMING
Lancaster County’s Own Farm Weeklj
P. O. Box 266 - Lititz, Pa. 17543
Office: 22 E. Main St., Lititz, Pa. 17543
Phone: Lancaster 394-3047 or Lititz 626-219)
Robert G. Campbell, Advertising Directoi
Zane Wilson, Managing Editor
Subscription price: $2 per year in Lancastet
County; $3 elsewhere
Established November 4, 1955
' Published every Saturday by Lancastei
' 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
Country View
Pastures, dotted with milk-rich cows,
Barn-free to roam and chew the green,
Beneath huge fleets of God’s best clouds,
Spreading shadows across the scene,
Twice scarred with streams, gently flowing,
Without concern for width or end,
Quenching thirsty fowl and woodland
As they towards the fields descend
Where stalks of corn, stretching taller,
Kern’ling sweetly, in mass array,
Tassled neatly, like proud soldiers,
Waiting husked death with calm display?
Surrounds the worn, faded shingles
That roofs the hands which paints this ground,
With plow and sweat from Spring till Winter,
Tranquil beauty and peace abound.
Framingham
1971, issue of The Kansas City Times, Dr.
Deßakey said, “Much to the chagrin of
many of my colleagues who believe in this
polyunsaturated fat and cholesterol busi
ness, we have put our patients on no dietary
program and no anticholesteral medica
tions.”
He said he had found that 80 per cent
of his patients with severe occlusive coron
ary artery disease had had blood cholester
ol levels comparable to the levels in normal
people.
“When the levels are comparable it just
doesn’t make sense that elevated cholester
ol levels are the cause of coronary artery
disease,” he said.
The surgeon, who claims he eats only
one meal a day late at night sleeps
only four to five hours a day and practices
no exercise regimen except “avoiding ele
vators at all possible times.” He advises his
patients to eat a varied diet of fruits, vege
tables and meats, keep their bodies in good
tone with moderate exercise and avoid any
thing in excess, particularly alcohol and
cigarettes.
“I personally think most people eat too
much and sleep too much,” he said.
Dr. Deßakey thinks hearts damaged by
coronary artery disease will be repaired
surgically in the future, instead of being
replaced.
Surgical techniques which either bypass
the clogged heart artery or mechanically
clean it have been perfected and he be
lieves this approach is the most promising.
Bowl Era?
areas as the Great Plains, Illinois corn
country, Michigan’s sugarbeet area, and
the New Jersey vegetable bowl.
The problem is reported to have de
veloped largely in the past 20 years and
is considered a serious one.
We suspect that the problem stems
from the growing trend toward large farms
with massive expanses of plowed land, leav
ing nothing to break up wind erosion. It’s
the type of problem which small family
farms in Southeastern Pennslyvania can
avoid if management practices of the past
are continued.
After the disasterous experience of the
’3o’s, we should all be surprised that large
portions of our farm economy are subject
ing themselves to a possible repeat of that
disaster. Perhaps it shows that history real
ly doesn’t teach us anything and that every
generation will make its own mistakes.
Also, conservation is one of those in
tangibles in farming which is hard to detect
on the profit sheet. It’s only in the long run,
or when a disaster such as a Dust Bowl
occurs, that conservation pays for itself
many times over.
Michael J. Smajda
NOW IS
THE TIME..
By Max Smith
Lancaster County Agent
TO STORE CORN CAREFULLY
Growers with blight-infected
corn that was not made into
silage should give special at
tention to the drying and storage
of their crop. If the blight lesions
on the ear caused soft or moldy
corn, then it should be used early
this fall, or placed in a well
ventilated crob. If the com is to
be stored until next year and
contains soft parts, it might be
advisable to have it dried with
supplemental heat. To store this
soft com on the barn floor or in a
tight crib, will result in more low
quality com when removed.
TO SEGREGATE CATTLE
Feeder cattle coming on farms
at this time of the year need to be
segregated from acclimated
cattle. In most cases these cattle
come through auctions or other
public yards and are a source of
infection for a number of con
tagious diseases. Calves or light
yearlings are more likely to get
infections rather than the heavy
short-fed cattle. These newly
purchased animals should not
come into contact with local
cattle for at least 3 weeks, nor
should they eat or drink from the
same trough. The quiet handling
of new cattle is very important
and give them plenty of fresh air,
water, and rest. Close ob
servation of the animals is very
important several times each day
and “slow” cattle segregated and
- treated.
A 'PECULIAR
PEOPLE'
Lesson for October 10,1971
Background Scripture Exodus 19,
1 Peter 2 1-10
Devotional Reading Matthew It 10 20
“But ye arc a chosen genera
tion”, says the King James Ver-‘
sion of I Peter 29, “a royal
priesthood, a holy nation, a pecu
liar people ”
Yes, Christians have often been
” but that’s not
.at the writer
I Peter has in
nd It was not
intention to
y that Chris
ms were “odd”
“strange,” but,
the Revised
indard Version
its it, “God’s
„ ..... n people,” or
Rev. Althouse « a p eo p] e claimed
by God for his own” (New Eng
lish Bible). What makes them
“peculiar” or sets them apart
from other people is that they
have been chosen by God for a
special relationship with him
The great privelege
The people of Israel gloried in
the fact that they were God’s
“chosen people ” Often it gave
them a tremendous sense of pride
and, not uncommonly, a sense of
superiority. What a singular pn
vclcge to be elected by God for
this place position of special
status'
Unfortunately, this line of
thinking was not very beneficial
TO BE AWARE OF ACORNS
Oak trees are shedding their
acorns at this time of the year
and milking cows should not be
allowed to graze in the area.
Reports have indicated that cows
relish the acorns and will con
sume them readily. They reduce
or stop the milk flow on most
cows and it will not return to
normal until the next lactation.
Digestive disturbances have also
resulted from the eating of too
many acorns. If a milking cow
has consumed too many acorns
and milk flow has been reduced,
we know of nothing, except time,
that will bring her back to normal
production.
TO SEED WINTER WHEAT
In southeastern counties Oc
tober 10 to 20 is a good time to
seed winter wheat. If the ground
is not cleared by the 20th, the
remaining days of October will
still be suitable to get the crop
into the ground. Late October is
better than too early in October
due to the danger of severe
Hessian Fly infestation. Most all
of the common wheat varieties
(Redcoat, Blueboy, and Arthur)
are not fly resistant and should
not be planted until mid to late
October.
to the Hebrews. They thought of
their election in terms of status.
Yet it was not status, but respon
sibility that God had in mind in
electing them True, being God’s
people was a privelege, but much
more than that it was a responsi
bility, a task to perform, a mis
sion to accomplish. They were
chosen, to be sure, but they were
chosen “that you may declare the
wonderful deeds of him who
called you out of darkness into
his marvelous light’’ (2 9).
The great responsibility
Protestants have often spoken
of “the priesthood of all believ
ers” in that same erroneous man
ner, as if it means that each man
is his own priest. But what this
universal priesthood really means
is that each of us us is a priest,
not just for himself, but' for
others As the late German theo
logian, Paul Althaus, has written:
“ ‘Universal priesthood’ definitely
does not mean an individualistic
dissolution of the church as a
fellowship. It is just the opposite;
it is the binding of every member
to every other member in the in
ner structure of the fellowship.
Priesthood, in the Reformation
sense, means the ‘communion of
saints.’ ”
So it is with Christians today.
V/hat should make us “peculiar”
or identify us as God’s special
people is a reflection upon the
purpose for which we have been
called, not our own worthiness
What makes us unique is that we
know we have tasted the mercy
of God. “Once you were no people
but now you are God’s people;
once you had not received mercy
bu£ now you have received
mercy” (2:10).
(Based on outlines copyrighted by the
Division of Christian Education, National
Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A
Released by Community Press Service.)