—Lancaster Farming. Saturday. October 20. 1973
10
Lancaster County agriculture is the
cornerstone of the local economy. If far
mers were to lock up their checkbooks and
wallets for a month or two, many local
businesses would have to lock up their
doors. This is a fact of life evident to im
plement, fertilizer, seed and other farm
supply businesses. It may not be as evident
to the multitude of retail and service
businesses that don't sell directly to far
mers.
Why, for example, should the appliance
store care about the fate of farming? How
many TV sets does the average farmer
buy? Why should the clothing store care?
Farmers don't buy many suits. Why should
the bookseller care, or the theater owner,
or the dry cleaner or the department store
manager? Losing farmers' business might
sting a little, they might reason, but it
would be a temporary inconvenience.
The inconvenience would be more than
temporary. Throughout the country, from
one-fourth to one-third of the labor force is
tied directly or indirectly to the production,
processing or marketing of food. Consider
the trucking and canning companies, the
implement manufacturers, the oil com
panies, the banks who do business with
farmers. Many of them have employees
who’ve never spent a day on a farm. Take
away their incomes, and you cripple the
economy. This is true in the nation. It's true
in Lancaster County.
Farmland is more than an economic
asset to the community, it’s an esthetic one
as well. Everyone benefits from the
nearness of open spaces and pleasant
vistas which abound in the county. Urban
dwellers have lately become aware of the
value of an uncluttered landscape, and
farmers are getting lots of encouragement
from all quarters to keep their land in
crops and pastures.
Encouragement from all quarters is nice,
but not quite as nice or necessary as
healthy farm bank accounts.
To stay in agriculture, farmers need the
right kind of business climate Keeping
conditions right for farming means making
more non-farmers aware of the importance
of agriculture to the county as a whole.
One way to get the farmer’s story across
is with community fairs. There are five of
these fairs every year in the county, and
they do an admirable job of getting farmers
together and recognizing the
achievements of farm youths and adults.
A tremendous amount of work goes into
all of these fairs, and we’re sure we express
the feelings of the entire Lancaster County
farming community when we say a hearty
“Thanks l " to all the dedicated volunteers
responsible for staging the Solanco,
Ephrata, West Lampeter, New Holland and
Manheim Community Fairs
We feel these fairs do an admirable job of
exposing non-farm people to the im-
The National Association of Manufac
turers offers some advice worth listening
to “Many high school graduates are
uncertain as to how and where to seek a
career. The junior college may have the
It offers many career-oriented
courses Flexible time schedules provide
the opportunity to work and go to school at
answer
Should We Have
A County Fair?
Grassroots Opinion
portance of farming. But we can't help
feeling that one big fair, a county fair,
would do a better job than five smaller
ones.
We have heard objections to a county
fair. It would cost a lot of money - maybe a
million dollars to buy land and facilities.
The county had an annual fair before World
War 11, and it sank in the mire of carnival
corruption. Nobody would want to do the
work involved in a county fair. The Ephrata,
Quarryville and West Lampeter fairs are
flourishing. These groups don’t want to
subordinate themselves to a county-wide
effort.
There’s no way of getting around the
need for a lot of money to start a fair. Land
here is not cheap. Permanent buildings are
not cheap, and letting them stand idle for
51 weeks a year does not sound like a good
investment. Well, land and buildings are
never going to be any cheaper, so there’s
no better time than right now to go ahead.
And the right kind of facility wouldn’t have
to stand idle. The Farm Show complex in
Harrisburg sees a lot of action during the
year. A similar, possibly smaller, complex in
the heart of thriving Lancaster County
should have no trouble doing some
business throughout the year.
A farm show is not necessarily a carnival,
should not be a carnival. Ferris wheels and
clicking wheels in no way enhance the
exhibition of agricultural products. Keep
the carnival out of the farm show, and
there won’t be any carnival problems. The
Solanco and West Lampeter Fairs are
strictly farm shows. Throngs of people
attend, though, and there are never any
problems. Ephrata’s problems with gyp
artists this year made the kind of headlines
that shouldn’t be associated with the
county’s farm community.
Lancaster County is today, more than
ever, not just a collection of boroughs and
townships. It is also a vast jumble of special
and sometimes conflicting, interests. One
of those special interest groups is com
posed of farmers In a county of 300,000
people, there are 6000 farmers and
294,000 of everybody else. A county fair
would give these 6000 one week a year to
show a united face to the rest of the county.
This alone couldn’t perpetuate a favorable
climate for farmers, but it would go a long
way towards impressing on others the
importance of agriculture to the county’s
economy and everybody's way of life.
In some quarters, the idea of a county
fair is a little hard to swallow. And it’s true
there are many arguments against it. We
feel, though, that the objections are out
weighed by the arguments for a county fair.
It is an issue which is being discussed and
which bears further discussion. We
welcome reader comments.
the same time It is estimated that in the
next ten years the rate of demand for
technically-trained workers will be twice
that of all other careers If you feel that you
would like to become technically-trained
for a worthwhile career, consult the staff of
your nearest community college. It just
might provide the answer you have been
searching for.”
NOW IS
THE TIME . . .
To Order Fertilizer Needs
Some producers have ex
perienced trouble in getting all,
fertilizer needs this fall. It is
predicted that the situation will
get worse for the 1974 spring
planting season. Local farmers
and gardeners are urged to do
their soil testing now so they will
be able to place their fertilizer
orders soon. Also, in many cases
the fertilizer dealer may give a
discount when the order is placed
by a certain date. Both nitrogen
and phosphorus supplies may not
meet the demand next year.
Don’t delay establishing your
fertilizer needs until it is too late.
To Control Run-Off Water
Drainage water from bar
nyards and homesteads should
not be permitted to run into a
highway or into a public stream.
The average citizen is more
aware of this problem now and
farmers are more likely to get
reported to the Pennsylvania
Department of Environmental
Resources if the offense occurs.
Roof spouting, diversion ditches,
and settling tanks are suggested
as methods of preventing this
situation. Producers building
new barns or feedlots are
especially urged to include plans
for preventing water pollution.
To Request Conservation Plan
A series of educational
meetings now being held
throughout the county stresses
the importance for all land
owners and tenants to develop an
Erosion and Sedimentation
Control Plan by July 1, 1977. This
requirement is in connection with
ON FREEDOM
Lesson for October 21,1973
Raekgreund Scripture Romans 6 1
through 7 25
Devetienal Reading Romans 6 5 14
Nothing is more confusing than
the word “freedom ”
In the months that followed the
granting of India’s independence
from Great Britain, thousands of
Indians attempted to ride the var
ious railways without paying
fares. They had
heard so much
about the wonder
ful “freedom”
that was coming
to them that they
assumed it meant
they would be
able to do what
ever they wanted
le to do
REW
A different kind of bondage
Freedom, of course, is always
a relative term. No one is ever
completely “free,” because all of
us are bounded by certain bmi
tations I am be “free” to choose
to leap over a tall building, yet I
am not really “free” to do so be
cause of my physical limitations
Young people often assume
that when at last they have man
aged to move beyond the man
agements of their parents, they
will be “free” and never more in
bondage Yet nothing is more de
ceptive than our freedom “to do
as we please” A young man at
college, away from home for the
first time, may feel that he is
“free at last.” There will be no
one to tell Kim what to do, when
to do it, or how to do it
In time he begins to drop from
Max Smith
County Agr. Agent
Telephone 394-6851
the Pennsylvania Clean Streams
Law. The local Soil Conservation
Service staff has been authorized
to assist in developing these
plans. The Pennsylvania
Department of Environmental
Resources will have the authority
to enforce the regulations. A
request form must be filed with
the local Soil Conservation Of
fice. Farmers are urged to give
this program prompt attention in
order to comply with the existing
regulations.
To Check Vision - Hunters
A hunter’s decision to squeeze
the trigger depends upon what he
sees, or by what he thinks he
sees. The quality of his vision is a
key factor. If vision is
inadequate, the accident
potential increases and the
hunter becomes a hazard to
himself and to others. Some
hunters are unaware of defective
vision, while others realize it but
hesitate to be checked for fear
they must give up the sport.
Fortunately, most vision defects
can be corrected with little need
to give up hunting. At this time of
the fall we urge all hunters to
check their vision with a
professional examination,
correct any defects, and enjoy a
more successful and safer
hunting season.
Editor’s Quote Book
"Leisure is the mother of
philosophy
Thomas Hobbes
ins lifestyle all those things he
felt his parents forced upon him
In a short time, however, his life
may be hedged-m by various
habits and practices which hold
him in an even greater bondage
His rebellion against a now-ab
sent authority may become a new
kind of bondage He begins to do
certain things, not because he
finds them all that pleasurable,
but so that he can assert his in
dependence. His lifestyle becomes
determined by new compulsions
more captivating than any of the
restrictions ever placed upon him
by his parents He may become
enslaved to his own appetites and
temptations Soon, he may find
that he is no more ”in charge”
of his life than he was at home.
Are we free to sin?
Paul tackled another perspec
tive of freedom when he said:
“What then 7 Are we to sin be
cause we are not under law but
under grace 7” (Romans 6 15). It
is a reasonable question If we
are saved, not by our good works,
but by God’s grace, then are we
not to conclude that we may do
whatever we like without losing
God’s grace 7 If God is going to
save us anyway, what’s the point
m trying to please him'
Paul answers “By no means 1 "
When we choose to put ourselves
m bondage to sinful practices
and habits, when we let base emo
tions run our lives, we have, in
fact, lost our freedom The Chris
tian can do anything, but, because
of the gift God gives him, he will
not choose to do those things
which he knows violate his free
dom As Paul puts it so well in
another of his letters “If we live
by the Spirit, let us also walk by
the Spmt” (Galatians 5-25) The .
highest freedom any man can
know is to willingly submit him
self to God’s will
vßosed 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 )