10—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, June 10, 1972
Milk, Eggs and
Normally we think of propagandists as
liers. But that's not so. Propagandists do
tell the truth. Only they're selective about
the truths they tell. I heard a good example
of selective truth the other day on a local
radio station. It came from the American
Heart Association.
The content of the broadcast I heard
concerned the avoidance of sauturated
fats (the kind which, everybody knows, are
in butter and milk), and listeners were
invited to call the Association for more
information. Diet, the broadcast implied, is,
the most critical element in staying free of
heart disease.
There is an element of truth in this. A big
element of truth, but still selective. Obese
people with clogged arteries, writhing
hearts and labored lungs probably should
avoid eggs and whole milk. They should
also avoid crescent buns, lobster, coffee,
salt, cigarettes, arguments (and other
things) with their wives, and horror
movies.
But was the Heart Association message
beamed at the fat, stocky, balding middle
aged man, the most likely candidate for
heart attack? Not over radio station WLAN
it wasn’t. Kids listen to that station. Skinny
kids. With lots of hair. (And an occasional
not-so-skinny farm editor.)
Those kids needed that propaganda like
Half the topsoil in Lancaster County
seems to be washing into the Conestoga
Creek. Tillage operations on farmlands are
a problem, of course. Especially on those
farms without conservation planning.
Amos Funk, at Wednesday’s meeting of
the Lancaster County Conservation
District, said that we're not even ap
proaching the half-way mark in most of the
conservation work that needs to be done
on farms. Only 27 per cent of the farmers
have signed on as cooperators. Only 24 per
cent of the conservation plans have been
implemented. A mere 23 per cent of the
proposed waterways have been started.
Funk told a similar tale about the lack of
terraces, drainage facilities and con
servation measures for cropland, pasture
and woodlands.
But farms aren't the only source of
sedimentation. Construction sites, bare
housing development lots, poorly
engineered roads and highways all
contribute their tons of sediment to this
County’s waterways.
Clearly, something has to be done. The
Conestoga Creek is carrying sediment at
the rate of 530 tons per square mile per
year. It drams an area of 500 square miles
CARUTHERS, CALIF, GAZETTE: “The
simplest thing to do is legislate majority. It
is impossible to legislate maturity. We will
be watching the coming years to see how
well our newly enfranchised young people
handle their role as voting citizens.”
The Public Service Company of Colorado
observes that it costs less than one cent to
move a gallon of oil from Texas to New
York—one fifth the charge for sending a
postcard the same distance.
NORWICH, CONN, BULLETIN; “Ob
servers of the passing scene call attention
now and then to the contribution of one
Herkimer Baffelpack, who pioneered in the
technology of making consumer goods hard
to get at....At this writing, it appears the
honor may fall to a manufacturer of small
household items which come encased in
A Dirty
Grassroots
Propaganda
they need more acne. Take those kids off
milk and eggs and they’ll subsist on Coke
and hot dogs. Kids need to be told to eat
well. They don't need to be told to avoid the
best and the cheapest sources of protein
available.
The Heart Association does a tremen
dous amount of good work, both in
research and in spreading information
about heart disease. But in the selective
truths they spread about diet, we feel the
Association is doing a genuine public
disservice. The irony of the situation is that
Association funds are donated mostly by
the public.
We feel the Heart Association should
redirect its educational efforts. They
should focus on exercise and good living
habits, not just- diet. Lack of regular
exercise is a bigger factor in heart disease
than saturated fats. So is stress. Even the
country’s leading heart specialists
disagree on the role of cholesterol in heart
disease. Everyone agrees about exercise,
so why not put the big push where the real
need exists?
We urge the Heart Association to try and
get the American public off its snacking,
TV-watchmg collective rump. Sell the
people on the merits of bicylcles, sweat
suits, tennis courts and swimming pools.
But don’t sell them short on good nutrition.
Shame
per year, which means 265,000 tons of soil
lost irretrievably every year.
The District directors are fully aware of
the problem. And it's the opinion of this
writer that they truly want to work toward
more clearly defining the problem, more
precisely identifying the sources of
sedimentation, and finally taking measures
to end the waste.
A lot of labor will have to be expended
before even small steps can be made. The
Directors are busy people, already bur
dened with their public and private duties.
Where is the labor to come from? The labor
to take samples? The labor to keep
records? The labor to report findings?
We feel that the long-range clean-up of
the Conestoga is a perfect project for
concerned youth groups. It would take
longer and eventually accomplish more
than a one or two-day session of picking old
tires and milk cartons out of stream beds
(although that kind of project is important,
too). It would also give young people an
insight into the practical aspects of en
vironmental issues.
Classroom theories are good to learn.
But for conservation, the environment
itself is the ultimate classroom.
Opinions
impregnable translucent plastic welded to
a card that only a strong man can tear. This
is not yet certain, however; a firm that
supplies its product m heavy cardboard
boxes sealed with a substance which glues
two spaceships together at launch time is
in the running."
NILES, ILLINOIS, SCRAP AGE: “The
woman who placed her dog on Medicaid
will be prosecuted for fraud, according to
HEW Secretary Elliot Richardson. Jn an
attempt to reform New York City’s welfare
procedures, Mrs. Evelyn H. Lustig suc
cessfully applied for a Medicaid card for
her Great Dane. Publicity led to a major
change-effective November 1971 the
state required face-to-face interviews.
However, Mason Lustig (the dog) has since
received a second card extending his
benefits.”
I NOW IS
I THE TIME . .
Max Smith
County Agr. Agent
Telephone 394-6851
•S
Livestock that are out on
pasture or woodland are always
subject to a number of poisonous
plants and from solid waste
thrown into the pastures. Owners
that have livestock grazing
where there are wild cherry trees
should keep in mind that wilting
or wilted wild cherry leaves are
poisonous to all animals; green
or fresh leaves are not toxic.
Also, along stream banks it is
common to find nightshade
plants, or water hemlock. To kill
these plants with a herbicide or
dig out the roots is recom
mended; merely to cut them off
is not the answer because the re
growth will also be toxic. In spite
of good forage from the pasture
being sufficient over the area,
some animals will relish the
poisonous plants in favor of the
normal pasture growth.
This time of the year we find
numerous applications of many
types of sprays and chemicals;
all of them have been developed
and approved to do a certain job;
whether they do that job depends
largely upon the man making the
application. It is very important
that the proper amount be ap
plied, at the right time, and ac
cording to the proper method of
application. It’s the mis-use of
spray materials that causes
problems, not the use of them.
Empty containers should be
buried, burned, or sent away to a
land-fill; do not allow them to
collect about the barn or
premises; they can be dangerous
to children, pets, or livestock.
lackgruund Scripture Psalms 119 9-19,
97-104; Timothy 3:14-17
Davatianal Reading- Psalms 119.97-104.
Soren Kierkegaard, the Danish
theologian, once commented:
“The Bible is a letter from God
with our personal address on it.”
Kierkegaard was right: when
ever men discover or rediscover
the Bible, it is because they have
found it speaking
very personally to
them and their
situation.
Several years
ago former televi
sion and screen
actress Ann Soth-
» i°i» s illness which
Rev. Althouse j e ft her emotion
ally broken. Small matters, dis
turbances, fears, and concerns
were all magnified out of propor
tion. Insecure, she felt hemmed
in on all sides. She found it al
most impossible to make deci
sions, much less face the cameras.
Her personal address
The actress concluded that she
needed some spiritual resources.
She began to pray, asking simply
for faith and strength. She also
turned to the Bible and some of
its great devotional passages One
day when her daughter was get
ting ready for school for her first
serious examination, the actress
found herself saying: "What
ft ■ s
$
$
•%
J.J
I
I
I
s
I
To Beware of
Poisonoua Plants
To be Careful
with All Pesticides
PERSONAL
LETTER
Lesson for June 11,1972
ern suffered a ser-
Left-Over Seed*
The image of agricultural
chemicals was blemished several
years ago when the children of a
Texas family were injured after
eating pork from hogs fed seed
grains. In the first place the seed
grain was not intended to be fed
to livestock and should never
have been permitted to leave the
premises. This is still true that
left-over grains are not to be fed
to any livestock; we’re thinking
of commercial seeds that in most
cases have been treated with a
pesticide. Even though the
mercury fungicides have been
restricted, it is risky to use the
grdins for feeding purposes. In
many cases the seeds may be
kept until next year if they are
stored in a dry place away from
weed sprays, children, and all
livestock.
To Give Livestock
Hot Weather Care
The handling and care of
livestock during extremely hot
weather warrants special at
tention; when both the tem
perature and the humidity get
above 70 degrees livestock suffer
the same as humans. When
hauling livestock under these
conditions it is important to move
them during the cooler part of the
day or at night, use sand or
sawdust wetted down in the truck
(not straw) and keep the truck
moving at all times. In the bam it
is important to open windows and
doors to get maximum cross
ventilation, use fans to move the
air over the animals, and provide
free access to fresh water at all
times. Out on pasture or in the
feedlot the animals should have
access to shade and fresh water.
Swine producers may want to
establish a fogging or mist spray
of water into the pens to help keep
the hogs more comfortable. Hot
weather attention to animals is
very important for efficient gains
and to eliminate heat exhaustion
losses.
makes you think He’s deserted
you when you need him?"
Suddenly, she realized that the
question was applicable to her
self and her own situation. As if -
in answer, she found Paul’s testi
mony to the church at Philippi:
“I can do all things in him who
strengthens me” (Philippians 4:
13). From this day forward she
began to search dilligently
through the Bible for the power
to meet the demands of her daily
life The words were those of
Paul, but the message was from
God and it had upon it her per
sonal address. Through a letter
written almost two thousand
years ago, God was able to speak
to her and heal her life.-
From childhood
In 2 Timothy 3:15, the writer
says, . . how from childhood
you have been acquainted with
the sacred writings . . The
Bible can be discovered by a man
at any time in his life, yet it is
best if he makes that discovery
early The best relationship with
the Bible is the relationship that
has had time to grow and ripen.
To Timothy is given the advice,
. . continue in what you have
learned ..(3:14). Thus, our ex
perience with the Bible is to
become a growing relationship.
What we have already learned
becomes the basis for continued
new learning. And these human
words, written and spoken thou
sands of years ago, are the means
whereby God can speak to us
today, thus making the Bible “a
letter from God with our per
sonal address on it.”
* m w • w wm -w-w *««««■« w-atem