10 —Lancaster Farming, Saturday. April 20, 1974 Now, thanks to the bitter blessing jf inflation and fuel shortages, it has become quite apparent that even the United States cannot do violence to basic economic laws and fail to make he most productive use of her ivailable resources -- and expect to set away with it forever. Riding on a 'lood tide of the good life, the U. S. has directed its energies, over the past decade, more and more to essentially nonproductive enterprises. It has used its vast wealth to pursue with massive federal deficits the illusive dream of the American welfare state and government-guaranteed security for all Energy prices have been held .ow by regulation and political and market pressures, even though this made it economically impossible to develop domestic energy supplies. Federal deficits that fired inflation were ignored since most people’s wages were rising faster than the dollar was depreciating. Food, like energy, was cheap and seemed to appear as if by magic in the local supermarkets. No one thought much about the agricultural miracles that American farmers were performing. After all, only about 4.5 percent of the total population lived on farms and oroduced the food and fiber for all the rest of the people in the nation. Something was bound to give and it has. Consider the matter of food supply. Dr No r man Borlaug, Nobel Laureate in the area of food and nutrition and the Director of the Wheat Research and Production Program of the In ternational Maize and Wheat Im provement Center in Mexico, in testimony before a Senate sub committee, has given what could only be classed as an outstanding analysis of the food supply situation. He shows that all of the world, in the matter of food supply, is interdependent. Food shortages anywhere contribute to increased demand which raises food prices The U. S. cannot insulate itself from this. U.S. food prices have been rising, but Americans still pay less of their total income for food than any other people in the world. In developing nations such as India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and others, 70 to 80 percent of the family’s earnings, under or dinary circumstances, goes for food. In bad harvest years, there is not enough at any price Dr. Borlaug observes that Americans are “ beginning to realize that the law of supply and demand defies the economists and political leaders who try to impose price controls unless these controls are backed up by drastic penalties that no one is willing to accept except in times of national emergencies." In 1971, there was an all-time record cereal gram crop of 1106 billion metric tons In 1972, there was a drop in food production of less than four percent - around 42 million tons Bike Safety Week As always, the sunny days of Spring mean that thousands of bicycles will show up on the streets and highways of the nation. With the gas shortage and broadening adult interest, there will be more bikes on the road than ever before This makes Bike Safety Week, to be commemorated in 1974 from April 22-27, of unprecedented importance. Cyclists of all ages Borlaug on Food -- and a world food crisis was the result. This was the background of the U. S. sales of wheat and feed grains. Dr. Borlaug observes this was conclusive evidence that the world was not carrying adequate gram reserves. Now U. S. grain stocks are depleted, and it is estimated that by July 1,1974 world grain reserves will be at the lowest level in 20 years. Adding to the problem is the worldwide fertilizer shortage. This was aggravated by price controls in the U. S., which made it difficult to invest in plants to increase supply. Dr. Borlaug states that required increases in food supply necessitate a worldwide expansion of fertilizer production and an annual investment by developing nations in fertilizer production facilities amounting to some $2B billion annually for 10 years. These same nations say they cannot do this, but spend, in the aggregate, some $26 billion a year on military hardware. U. S. agriculture is the most productive and varied of any on Earth. It alone has the consistent capacity to help meet food deficits in other nations. Dr. Borlaug states that, "Those extremists who advocate the banning of agricultural chemicals and ‘a back to the good old days of a life and agriculture that is in balance with nature’ are idealistic romanticists. Nevertheless, they have a powerful influence in the environmentalist movement. If we are serious about going back to the ‘in balance with nature’ then we must go the whole way beginning with foregoing the use of vaccinations, and all aspects of modern medicine for controlling human diseases. This would un doubtedly result in many disease epidemics and soaring death rates. It would amost certainly greatly reduce the present human population.” Although he deals with the most serious of subjects. Dr. Borlaug approaches the future with optimism. As he points out, it was only 12,000 years ago, more or less, that men stood with a rock in one hand and a club in the other searching for their . This Question as to “What daily meat, while the women were out collecting wild gram which, at some the years of my ministry I point, they thought of planting to have been appalled to find assure a future supply. So began the that there are followers of science of agriculture, and in the time Jesus Christ who feel they smce all of man’s civilization has £££. iTS w"Vto been built. As Dr. Borlaug observes, the “necessary” manner. “ ... it wasn’t built on the pessimism There have been those who and negativism that I hear spouted have felt they could not work forth by many in privileged positions me in a common mpnvHegad nations today/’ Mankind has the knowledge and the tools to church. There have been meet his needs and use the Earth those who could not share the wisely With freedom and innovation Lord’s Supper with me at their fingertips, the people of the because I did not subscribe United States have the greatest u°„,^ e f n , gh V doctrines. 1 . . . *u *u u ij. have found these ex capacity to get on with the job. It is pe riences, not insulting, but time to put away fears and squabbles disheartening because I am and do just that. convinced the Holy Spirit is not a parochial spirit. Saved through grace Fortunately, the “cir cumcision party” did not prevail. The parochial spirit lost out for two reasons. For one thing, Peter reminded the church that neither circumcision or any other ritualistic practice is necessary for salvation, for the Christian is “saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus ...” (15:11). It is the love of God, not the parochial orthodoxy of men that saves the follower of Jesus. Secondly, Paul and Bar nabas told the church of the great works that the Holy should make this an occasion to learn about their responsibilities through programs of bicycle safety in struction, skills contests and in spections Observance of the rules of the road and commonsense safety precautions stressed during Bike Safety Week could keep your next “Bike Ride" from being your LAST. THE PAROCHIAL SPIRIT Leuon for April 21,1974 Background Scripture: Acts 11:1-18; 15:1-35. Devotional Reading: Romans 8:35-39. Last week I attended a meeting of ministers and lay people who had been assigned to a specific task by our bishop. During the meeting, one of the com mittee members expressed the opinion that he did not believe he could work with myself and another member of the group because he suspected that some of our ministry was “the work of the Devil.” I was not offended by this judgement (after all, my Lord was the target of similar charges), but I was profoundly disappointed at the parochial spirit it represented. This gentleman sincerely believed that his ministry was the work of the Holy Spirit. At the same time, his view of the Spirit was very narrow and limited. What is “necessary”? Of course, this is not a new or unique experience. The early church also had to contend with the parochial spirit. In Acts 15 we find that there are some in the church who were outraged by the inclusion of Gentiles. “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses,” they said, “you cannot be saved" (15:1). And later when the Gentile Christians came to Jerusalem, there were some Christians there (who belonged to the party of the Pharisees) that insisted: “It is necessary to circumcise them, and to charge them to keep the law of Moses” (15:5). JV*W»V.V.ViV.%%%V.V.V.V.*.V.V*V | NOW IS I THE TIME... Max Smith County Agr. Agent Telephone 394-6851 TO BEWARE OF TERMITES The humidity of southeastern Pennsylvania favors the infestation of termites in wooden buildings that come into direct contact with the soil. This has been a common problem for years in this part of the country. During the spring months these insects will gather at sunny windows during the afternoons and give the danger signal of building infestation. Some cases turn out to be groups of flying ants and not termites; they also swarm during the spring months and gather at sunny windows. The termite has a one-section body with four larger wings of about equal size; the flying ant has a two-section body with two wings larger than the other two. If termites are ob served, then action should be taken to find their next and destroy them. The securing of commercial ex terminators is suggested. TO MAKE RYE SILAGE The winter rye is growing rapidly at this time of the year and many producers will make it into low moisture silage for their herds. This is probably the best method of preserving the most feed nutrients but takes careful management; the proper cutting time is just before the grain shoots head, which is younger than with most winter grains. After field conditioning and wilting, the forage can be placed in the silo along with some feed preservative for best results. The feed ad ditive improves both the flavor and quality of the rye silage. If rye is to be made into silage, we suggest proper plans be made in order to get the most from it. SLAFF OF THE WEEK * “Why, no, I didn’t fall I JUMPED np here!” Spirit had through them among the Gentiles. As Jesus himself had taught them, it is “by the fruits” that we may judge what is of God s Spirit and what is not. Doctrines and creeds, TO HANDLE MACHINERY PROPERLY The planting season is at hand and weather has delayed many of the normal April iield operations. This could mean considerable haste when the soil becomes dry enough to work. We urge all farmers and machinery operators to take time to properly adjust their machines for safety sake and for proper performance. Too much speed is often the reason for planting in ac curacy; not taking time to keep protective shields in place is too often the reason for accidents. We again stress the importance of taking the time to check the operation of the machine to be sure it will perform as designed. Machinery in most cases is not the cause of poor planting or accidents; its the person who operates it. TO VENTILATE BUILDINGS Warmer weather should arrive at any time and animals that are confined without automatic ven tilation may suffer from the change of temperature. Many steer bams do not have an electric fan system and all doors and windows should be opened for maximum cross ventilation. The manure pack should be removed and spread on the ground before the crops are planted; excess manure will heat and cause higher temperatures in the building. In addition, manure is a good source of fertilizer elements and should be used to reduce the amount of commercial fertilizer bought. Animal comfort is essential to ef ficient gains or production. regardless of how important they may be, are not the determining factor and we must remember that the parochial spirit can never be the Holy Spirit.
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