—Lancaster Farming. Saturday. Juna 1
10
First
Last
In the space of two short years, the
total of all agricultural products
produced m Lancaster County soared
$lOO million, from $2ll million in
1971 to $3ll million last year. Some
of this increase, it must be said, is due
to inflation. And certainly a large
portion of farmers' increased in
comes has gone to pay for ever higher
costs of production.
But inflation alone doesn’t account
for the increase, and not all the in
crease has been soaked up by higher
input costs. The plain truth is that
agriculture in Lancaster County is
bigger than ever. In 1973, there were
more cows, more broilers, more
steers, more hogs and more sheep
than in 1971. The only two declines in
animal numbers were in layers and
other poultry, turkeys, ducks, geese,
etc.
Agriculture is Lancaster County’s
number one industry. Lancaster
County is the leading farm county in
the state, and in the Northeast, and
12th in the nation in terms of the
value of farm products. It is first in
the value of farm products among
non-irngated counties. If you’d expect
any place in the country to have a
county fair, you’d expect Lancaster
County to have one of the best. And
yet we don’t have one at all. Why?
Well, we do have five community
.fairs-They’re well run, they attract a
lot of people, and they each have their
supporters. But let’s face it. Only two
of those fairs are strictly agricultural -
the Solanco and the West Lampeter
fairs. New Holland’s agricultural
exhibits are crammed into one tiny
tent The New Holland fair is a car
nival. A nice carnival, but a carnival.
Ephrata and Manheim do have very
good farm exhibits and contests, and
The Editor's Almanac
The Lancaster Farming editorial
staff got a boost this week with the
addition of Melissa Piper. Melissa
graduated June 1 from Penn State
with a degree in agriculture and a
minor in journalism. She's going to be
getting around to lots of 4-H, FFAand
other youth events, taking care of the
women’s section and doing more
chores to help make the paper bigger -
and better. Melissa was a 4-H'er
herself for 11 years, so she’s got a lot
of solid background and insight into
the workings of youth groups.
This column is another new ad
dition this week. Here we plan to air
gripes, lavish praise, share thoughts
and make pertinent comments that
just don't seem to fit into the rest of
the paper.
We heard this story so long ago, we
forget where we got it. But it's
supposed to be true. A pair of local
dairymen were driving somewhere in
the Midwest when they pulled up at a
traffic light behind a van with a
bumper sticker on the back that said,
“Honk twice if you love Jesus”. So,
our friends and neighbors honked
twice, eager to communicate their
shared feeling with the man in the
vehicle ahead The van’s driver
responded with an angry look and an
upraised, clenched fist, obviously
forgetting the message on his
in Agriculture -
in County Fairs
the Ephrata folks have strengthened
their ag program tremendously in the
past few years. But the Manheim fair
leaders are questioning the wisdom
of continuing their annual event, and
in both' Ephrata and Manheim, ferris
wheels and teddy bears seem more
important than the farm exhibits.
Community fairs are nice, whether
or not they have agricultural exhibits.
As a child, for example, this writer
eagerly anticipated every Ephrata
Fair. The sight of the stands going up
on Tuesday of Fair week, the parade,
the clam patties at the Farm
Women's stands, the crowds, the
cotton candy, the octopus -- all were
events to be anticipated, savored,
and remembered until next year. It
was like Christmas every September.
And we would be the last to say that
fairs like Ephrata’s or the others in
the county should be sacrificed for a
county fair. We think the community
fairs could coexist with and even
cooperate with a county fair, and we’d
like to see it happen.
Reading has a fair, York has one
and Bloomsburg as well as others. If
they can do it, why can’t we? Why
can’t the county with the state’s
largest farm population have the best
county fair?
This is not to say that our fair
should be modeled after the Reading
or York fairs, with their sideshows
and speedways. We think a county
agricultural fair, especially in Lan
caster County, can get by without
sideshows, big name entertainment,
rides and thrill shows. Lancaster
County agriculture is itself a good
enough drawing card to support the
most successful county fair in the
state and the Northeastern U.S.
bumper, no doubt fed up with the
fools who kept blowing their horns -
honk! honk 1 -- twice. Maybe he should
add a sign below the first one saying,
"I dare you 1”
For many years, Lancaster
County’s monthly DHIA figures have
appeared in these pages. It’s been an
informative anci very popular feature
since it first started. So much so, in
fact, that we felt it might be in
teresting to also carry the DHIA
figures from the four neighboring
counties, since we have many readers
there. We've been carrying Lebanon
County results for a few months, just
started with Chester and will be
adding Berks and York in the weeks
ahead. Hope youl” enjoy keeping tabs
on the top dairymen in this five
county area.
There are so many pros and cons
on the idea of a Lancaster County
Fair, and emotions in some quarters
are running so high on the subject,
that the June 24 meeting at the Farm
and Home Center should be more
than a little interesting. We plan to be
there, and hope you’ll be too, to
contribute your opinion or just to
listen If you’d like to share your
thoughts with Lancaster Farming
readers before the meeting, we’ll be
glad to print any letters on the
subject- in next week’s paper.
COME BACK
HOME!
Leifon for June 18,1974
Background Scripture: 1
Thessalonians 4 through 5.
A number of years ago
while our family was
vacationing in Maine and
Nova Scotia, a popular song
played repeatedly on the car
radio caught our attention. It
was called “Come Back
Home” and was sung by
popular vocalist Bobby
Goldsboro.
It was only after I heard it
a few times that realized it’s
religious significance and
recognized that the
anonymous person to whom
the plea was addressed was
Jesus Christ. The song was a
compelling plea for Jesus to
“come back home” because
the world is in bad shape and
only Christ can save it.
When and how?
The return of Jesus Christ
has always been one of the
teachings of the Christian
churches. Although they
may vary in their sense of
urgency, most Christian
groups agree that Christ will
“come again.” Where they
are not in agreement,
however, and seriously at
that, is on the questions of
“When?" and “How?”
Most standard brand
denominations regard the
return of Christ as a cardinal
focus of the Christian hope,
yet say little about it and
seem to regard it as so far in
the future that it is not a very
timely question or con
sideration. Other Christian
groups speak of the Second
Coming as immanent and
there are many who believe
that our world is in its “last
days.”
Why all of this confusion?
For one thing, the Bbile
itself gives us no clear-cut
answer. For some Biblical
writers, like Paul, the
Second Coining is Christ’s
coming, both living and
dead, will be caught up with
Christ into the heavens. In
the Gospel of John, however,
the Second Coming seems to
be equated with the coming
of the Spirit of the Risen
Christ in the believer’s heart
(John 14:18-20.) In the
Gospel of Luke, fur
thermore, life after death
seems to be the immediate
entrance into Paradise
(23:43).
“You have no need...”
The Bible seems not to
want to give us precise data
about the time and manner
of Christ’s Second Coming.
In fact, this confusion may
be purposive for Paul
himself says; “But as to the
times and the seasons,
brethren, you have no need
to have anything written to
you” (1 Thessalonians 5:1)
and Jesus himself had
counseled this: “But of tftat
day or that hour no one
knows, not even the angels in
heaveii, nor the Son, but only
the Father” (Mark 13:32).
Note; not even “the Son”!
Then what?
Paul’s advice is similar to
that of Jesus. The Lord had
said: ‘‘Watch
therefore ... lest he come
suddenly and find you
asleep” (Mark 13:35, 36),
And Paul: “So then let us not
sleep ... but let us keep
awake and be sober” (I
8
I
NOW IS
THE TIME.,.
Max Smith
County Agr. Agent
Telephone 304-6^51
To Recognize June As
Dairy Month
The most important
agricultural enterprise in
this county and in the state of
Pennsylvania is the dairy
business. Nature’s most
nearly perfect food is
produced by the dairy cow;
very few people live without
consuming son>e type of
dairy product at one time or
another. The dairy cow
grazes the hillsides and
meadows, eats com and hay
plus all kinds of grains and
converts them into milk and
beef for human con
sumption. Dairy farming is
vital to the over-all economy
of our country and con
tributes greatly to the in
come of thousands of farm
families. The dairy farmer is
to be commended for
providing a quality food
essential to the well-being of
everyone.
To Alternate Insecticides
The use of one insecticide
to control a special insect
over a number of years can
lead to a resistance to the
chemical. This is known to
be true in the case of the
house fly in barn and
buildings. Now we are told of
this same danger of
resistance to the Japanese
Beetle Grub in lawns to
Chlordane. During the past
several decades one ap
plication of Chlordane ap
plied and watered into a
lawn has given protection for
4 to 5 years; there is
evidence of poor control now
for more than one or two
years. We suggest the use of
Diazinon or Dursban on
lawns for grub control where
Chlordane has not killed the
grubs. These grubs are
Farm
Calendar
Sunday, June 16
12:30 p.m. - Manheim Young
Farmers Family Picnic
at Marium Hess’ Pavilion
June 16-19 American In
ternational Junior
Charolais Foundation
Conference, Oklahoma
State University,
Stillwater, Oklahoma
Tuesday, June 18
June 18-20 FFA Activities
Week at Penn State
Thursday, June 20
Annual Meeting of Penn
sylvania Poultry
Federation at the
Sheraton Motor Inn,'
Harrisburg.
Chester County Dairy
Princess Contest, 8:00
o.m. Russellville Grange.
Thessalonians 5:6).
Our ignorance of the time
and the manner of his
coming does not release us
from the responsibiliity of
vigilant, fathful disciplen
ship.
(Based on outlines
copyrighted by the Division
of Christian Education,
National Council of the
Churches of Christ in the
U.S.A. Released by Com
munity Press Service.)
responsible for cutting off
the grass roots and in some
cases, bring about a heavy
infestation of ground moles.
To Prepare Combines
The winter grain crop is
maturing and soon the
barley harvest will be
starting; at this time the
crop looks good and the
barley is needed as a feed
grain. Every producer
should plan to get all of the
grain from the straw this
year; this required good
equipment, put in good
condition, and operated
properly. Too many times
improper adjustments and
too great speed leaves too
much of the grain in the
field. Also, due to the price of
straw and other bedding
materials, I’d suggest that
all straw be stored for
livestock bedding. Good
barley and wheat straw are
in strong demand and bring
good market prices.
To Select Good Sires
This is the season for many
sheep and hog producers to
be buying new rams or
boars; the selection of the
proper sire is always a
major decision and one that
required considerable time
and evaluation. We urge
local producers to try and
buy performance - tested,
purebred animals in order to
improve their offspring. The
difference in first cost
between a superior sire and
a poor one might seem great
at the start but many times
is very profitable later in the
production efforts. A good
sire can add dollars to each
of his offspring. Don’t pinch
pennies when buying a
replacement herd or flock
sire.
Friday, June 21
June 21-27 - Delmarva
Chicken Festival and
Cooking Contest,
Seaford, Delaware.
June 21-22 - Pennsylvania
Spring National Tractor
Pull,' Buck Tractor Pull
Track.
Viewpoints
Burn Boston and make
John Hancock a beggar if
the public good requires it
—John Hancock