10—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, September 16, 1972
In a commentary on the banning of
virtually all use of DDT after 1972 by the
federal Environmental Protection Agency,
Business Week observes: It is true that the
dangers of DDT—its buildup in the en
vironment, in the food chain, in human
tissues —have been raised as a public
health issue for a decade. But in the last
half-dozen years, enough evidence has
come in to cast doubt on some of the
earliest indictments . .
Business Week called attention to a six
year-old research effort of the National
Pesticides Monitoring Program which has
failed to detect rising levels of DDT in
human fat tissues. It reports that other
government scientists have found that
The U.S. has the most abundant meat
supply the world has ever known. Per
capita meat consumption in the United
States over the past 20 years has in
creased spectacularly, thanks to the
availability at fair prices of a steadily rising
supply of meat. The meat industry is a
perfect example of the pressures of a free
market working in a constructive way to
encourage an industry to respond most
effectively to the needs and preferences of
consumers.
This year, one of meat’s oldest industry
organizations, the National Live Stock and
Meat Board, is observing its 50th An-
niversary In the course of that observance,
it has endeavored to tell the public of some
of the things that the industry and the
Meat Board have done in behalf of con
sumers, as well as the industry during the
past five decades. The Board has con
sistently followed a program of promotion,
Part of the reason for a nostalgic desire
to return to yesterday is an imaginary
conception of what yesterday was like.
Secretary of Agriculture Earl L. Butz, in
discussing the place of chemicals in food
production, struck a realistic note that
should help bring the dreamers back to
Earth. He said, “It would be absolutely
impossible to feed 207 million Americans,
even on a subsistence level, without a
substantial input of chemicals, of
pesticides, of antibiotics. Food today is
more healthful. We've banished the scab
from the potato, we’ve taken the parasite
out of the pig, we’ve taken the worm from
the apple The basic problem with us in
FULTON, MISS, ITAWAMBA COUNTY
TIMES: “The people who work for a
company have a far larger stake in its
success or failure than the people who own
it U.S Government figures show that most
companies pay out more than ten times as
much in wages, salaries and employee
benefits as they do in dividends to
stockholders. If a company doesn’t do well,
a stockholder may have to go without his
dividends, perhaps lose a part of his
savings; but an employee may lose his job
and his means of earning a living!"
BEACH HAVEN, N.J., TIMES: "The
disillusionment of many of the bitter critics
of every administration is testimony to the
fact that those who take party platforms
too seriously invite disappointment. The
average voter, therefore, should be
prepared to accept the two parties'
platforms in August with at least a grain of
salt.”
RUSKIN, NEBR, LEADER: “ For a long
time this country has been trying to im-
Questionable Decision
Understanding Meat
The God of Nature
Grassroots Opinions
methods used to detect DDT m animal
tissues pick up the presence of other toxic
chemicals that until recently could not be
distinguished from DDT. Antarctic
penguins that were said to show evidence
of DDT residue back m the mid-1960’5, it
has now been determined, contained no
DDT residue at all.
The examiner who conducted the DDT
hearings has concluded that: “Too many of
the environmental witnesses who ap
peared at this hearing (offered) words that
were not those of a free mind. Nor did they
express a proper respect for the discipline
of a free science .. ."It begins to look as if
DDT were condemned by a kangaroo court.
education, information and scientific
research. It has sought to stimulate the
efforts of the meat industry to present a
desirable, palatable, high quality and
nutritionally acceptable product to the
American people, and the industry has
done its job well. It has solved its problems
without government help, built demand for
its products and advanced the cause of
independence in agriculture. Success in all
of these areas has meant one thing to the
consuming public—the availability of a
bounteous meat supply, no matter where
we may live in our three million square mile
nation.
By telling of the achievements of the
meat industry during the observation of its
Golden Anniversary, the National Live
Stock and Meat Board is helping to build
public understanding of a vital industry at
a time when that understanding is most
critically needed.
America, I think-and one of the reasons we
get so much drive for organic agriculture—
is that two thirds of Americans are so
young that they never had the experience
of biting into a wormy apple and looking at
the worm hole and wondering, ‘ls he still in
there, or did I get him 7 ’ Those people think
that the god of nature automatically made
nice, red, juicy, plump, nutritious apples. As
a matter of fact, the god of nature put the
worm m the apple and man took him out."
What is true of the apple is true of many
other phases of life where man has
removed the traps that the god of nature
has placed in his way.
prove the poor man’s lot by raising the
minimum wage. It has only succeeded in
spawning two more categories of
parasites—the lazy reliefers at the bottom
and the lazy overpaid officials at the top."
NAPOLEON, OHIO, NORTHWEST-
SIGNAL: “I reckon it's a good thing that
outer space is infinite. Man has not been
aware of his ability to litter the vast area to
a saturation point, but you gotta give him
credit for trying. Tis said that already man
has a couple thousand discarded devices
floating in the heavens."
GETTYSBURG, S.D., POTTER COUNTY
NEWS: “Just what is the destiny of our
inflated dollar? Three Harvard professors
took the dollar to task in a recent research
problem: Based on the dollar being worth
47 cents in buying power in 1970, they
figure by 1990 it will be worth ap
proximately 6 cents in honest to goodness
buying power. I guess when the dollar
inflates down to a big fat ‘zero’, we’ll all
return to the forest to fight he squirrels for
whatever nuts are left on the trees!"
&
£
NOW IS
THE TIME . . .
Max Smith
County Agr. Agent
Telephone 394-6851
To Fertilize Alfalfa
Stands
The fall application of a
phosphorus-potash fertilizer to
established stands of alfalfa is
strongly recommended. Since
alfalfa is a very heavy feeder of
both phosphorus and potash from
the soil, it is important to replace
these elements at least once each
year; for maximum yields it is
suggested to fertilize both in the
fall and then again after the first
cutting. Well-fertilized stands of
alfalfa will produce more ton
nage of forage and will be less
likely to be damaged by improper
management such as cutting at
the wrong time of maturity.
Alfalfa continues to be the major
forage crop in this part of the
country and every effort should
be made to get maximum ton
nage every year.
To Manage
Horizontal Silos
The use of trench, bunker, or
other types of horizontal silos is
quite common; this means of
storing silage is one of the most
economical methods, providing
good management is used. It
requires more careful attention
to fill and seal a horizontal
structure that it does most tower
silos; this is because-it is more
difficult to get the silage packed
tightly and to seal out most of the
air. Silo fillers are urged to have
smooth sides to the silo so that the
silage will pack without air
pockets; also it is very important
to fill the silo as rapidly as
possible, chop the forage fine,
pack it solid and seal out the air
within 48 hours of completion of
the filling operation. Careful
HIDDEN WISDOM
Lesson for September 17,1972
Background Scripture: Job 31: 42;
proverbs 3 13-20, 1 Corinthians 1
through 2
Devetienal Reading* 1 Corinthians 1:
11-31.
In the early days of the twen
tieth century, a young school
teacher named Scopes was fired
from his job in Dayton, Tennes
see because he had attempted to
teach his class some aspects of
Charles Darwin’s concept of evo
lution. Believing
this new scientific
theory to be con
trary to the Bible
and religious doc
trine, the elders
of that town were
determined that
it would not be
taught to their
Rev. Althouse children.
Among the mature
Though young Scopes was de
fended by the reknowned attor
ney, Clarence Darrow, the elders
of Dayton, Tennessee prevailed
and many other communities fol
lowed suit. The ideological “cold
war” between science and reli
gion soon became a “hot war.”
Much has happened since those
fearful days. To be sure, some
people are still fighting that war,
but many people have come to
realize that science and religion
do not have to be enemies. In
fact, both science and religion»
are enhanced when they have duo
respect for each other’s contribu-
attention to these practices is
most important.
To Use Herbicide
On New Alfalfa
Alfalfa growers who were able
to get their August seeding made,
and with the recent showers, it
will soon be time to give some
attention to the control of weeds
in this new stand. Unless Eptam
was used on the field jifst prior to
seeding, the small weeds will be
coming along with the alfalfa and
need to eliminated. This
requires a spray with a herbicide
such as 2, 4-D, B (butryic acid)
when the weeds are 1 to 2 inches
high. If the weeds are allowed to
get larger, then it will be very
difficult to kill them without
harming the small alfalfa plants.
We suggest that the field be
sprayed even though very few
weeds are noticeable; in many
cases the spraying is not done
and then in a few weeks the
weeds are noticed and are too
large to control. Weed control is
needed in order to keep the weeds
from smothering out the alfalfa
plants.
To Plan Carefully
for Remodeling
Many producers of all kinds of
food and feed products are
thinking of expanding or
remodeling their buildings in
order to stay in the farming
business. This decision has
confronted many producers in
the past decade and will reach
many others in the future. Before
any definite building plans or
decisions are made, it might be a
good idea to visit a number of
operations in order to observe
what others have done and
benefit from their experiences.
tion to life. A mature mind today
has room for both.
One of the things we have come
to learn is that science and reli
gion are often different perspec
tives on the same reality. They
cannot be paired against each
other, but rather are compli
mentary to each other. In very
generalized terms, science tells us
“how” and religion tells us “why.”
The book of Genesis, for example,
does not give us a scientific or
technical description of Creation,
but it does tell us the “why” of
Creation and, even more impor
tant, the “Who.”
Beyond eye and ear
The wisdom of religion and the
wisdom of science are different
kinds of religion. Paul says: “Yet
among the mature we do impart
wisdom, although it is not a wis
dom of this age . ..” (I Cor. 2:6).
Science takes the material things
and processes of life and analyzes
them. “But,” says Paul, “we im
part a secret and hidden wisdom
of God ...” (2:7).
Our problem is that we forget
that there are many levels of re
ality. If the scientist is to answer
the psalmist’s question, “what is
man ...?”, he will speak of man’s
physical components. If the edu
cator answers the question, he
will do so in terms of his intelli
gence. So, also, the sociologist will
speak of his social behaviour and
the psychologist his emotional
state. There is also the view of
the economist, the political scien
tist, and the anthropologist. And
yet there is more to man.
“What no eye has seen, nor ear
heard, nor the heart of man con
ceived ...” (2*9).
The “secret and hidden wisdom
of God” speaks to us of a reality
that exists beyond the eye and
ear of man.
■fJR-J'g