lO—Lancaster Farming, Saturday. July 26, 1975
Farm Commentary
Life on the farm
By: Dieter Krieg
Boy, it was hot 1 It was the kind of
day that was good for making corn
grow or for dipping into the pond.
Wearing no shirt, the sun sizzled on
my tanned, perspired back as I
walked up the long slope towards
where the cows were loafing. The tall
grasses of the pasture made walking
a chore whenever I decided to get off
the narrow cowpath which tended to
follow the base line of the hiss rather
than go straight up. Bugs hopped
from stem to stem as I disturbed their
feeding and frequently protested by
buzzing within inches of my face
While it was exceptionally hot in
open areas, especially on this slope
which faced south, the summit, with
its many trees, offered abundant
shade, a gentle breeze, and a
splendid panoramic view of our
southern York County farm Pausing
for a few minutes to admire the
beauty of the day, I sat down on an old
tree stump beneath the trees, not far
from where the pasture, woods and a
big corn field met. A few cows lazily
got up and joined me, possibly ap
preciative that I was sparing them
the long walk to the barn for a while.
This was a truly peaceful setting,
with trees whispering in the breeze,
cows loafing contentedly while
chewing their cuds, and the bright
afternoon sun giving a special
warmth and brilliance to the entire
day. Below us, the silver-colored roofs
of the farm buildings reflected the
sunlight as would so many mirrors.
What caught my attention as much
as anything, however, was the field of
corn on the other side of the rusty
fence and briars. The gracefully
curved, broad leaves of corn,
“knitted" together to make a lush,
deep green carpet for as far as the
eye could see, was an inspiring sight.
Fertilizer industry
The multi-billion dollar U.S fer
tilizer industry which for decades had
led the world in production will soon
give up its No. 1 position to the USSR
and the Eastern Bloc according to
Gordon L Berg, editor of Farm
Chemicals, published by Meister
Publishing Company, Willoughby,
Ohio, in his July editorial.
American and other western
capita! has been used to build Russia
into the No 1 fertilizer - producing
nation in the world - “in the spirit of
detente.” USSR is being granted
long-term loans on terms that make
US businessmen drool Rates on
these loans vary, but are lower than
the prime rate One deal involving the
US Export - Import Bank and a
consortium headed by the Bank of
America extended $lBO million of
credit to the USSR to help finance a
giant fertilizer complex The Soviets
will put up only $4O million in cash
The editorial pointed to a possible
oversupply of fertilizer in the years
ahead as "a mass transfer to
technology, investment capital and
production equipment to the Eastern
Bloc takes place ”
“This is being done on promises to
pay at some future date,” the editor
stressed One of the most publicized
By: Dieter Krieg
Not only does such a field of corn
stand as a symbol of the height of
summer, it offers a magnificent
tribute to the miracles and wonders
of nature. And it gives the farmer a
special feeling of satisfaction, joy,
appreciation and pride
Since shortly after the kernels of
corn were placed into the soil, I, like
most farmers, used to pace up and
down the rows each day to check on
the progress of the crop. Often I'd
come back amazed by the rate of
growth I was observing.
While I admire good crops no
matter where they are, the fields at
home were always my favorite.
Nature's beauty is evident
everywhere, but the crops I planted,
cared for, and eventually harvested
were special. They represented goals,
hopes, an investment, and lots of
work. The swallowed dust, long hours,
breakdowns of equipment, stone
picking, and aching muscles were not
forgotten. It was a pleasure to
overlook the farm and see the crops
grow where only a few months earlier
there were bare fields.
This year’s crop looks better than
any I have ever seen before. In the 10
weeks since it was planted, corn has
in some fields raced towards the sky
at the rate of one foot per week. What
was a nursery of tender* shoots in
mid-May, has turned into a thick
forest of 10-foot tall stalks by the
beginning of the third week in July.
But all of this dosen’t come cheap,
and could quickly be destroyed by
drought, flooding, insects or frost. The
cost of planting 100 acres of corn is
roughly equivalent to the price of two
brand-new full-sized Cadillacs. And
there aren’t even any buttons on corn
the farmer can push to make it go into
the silo automatically.
weakened
American deals is the one expected to
go into effect m 1978 Dr Armand
Hammer of Occidental Chemical
Company made the headlines when
he announced that company's plans
for USSR several years ago.
“Occidental will literally help locate
markets for the Russia giant The
company will also assist in finding
suitable American companies to bid
for supply technology, materials,
equipment and services in con
nection with terminals, ammonia and
urea plants, rail tank cars for
superphosphonc acid (SPA) and an
ammonia pipeline, all for installation
in the USSR,” Berk explained.
“Occidental has the phosphate rock
which Russia needs. The former will
convert this strategic, unrenewable
resource into sale to Russia of 1
million tons of SPA per year for 20
years' In return, for the next 20 years
Occidenjal has agreed to buy yearly
1 5 million metric tons of ammonia, 1
million metric tons of urea, and 1
million metric tons of muriate of
potash ”
To provide funds for the USSR to
repay the Export - Import Bank and
consortium of bank loans, Occidental
Chemical Company will buy 600,000
(Continued on Pafe llj
WHO’S GOT
THE SPIRIT?
Lesson for July 27,1975
Background Scripture:
Acts 10; 1 Corinthians 2: 1-5;
2 Corinthians 4: 7-16.
Devotional Reading: Acts
10: 34-38.
The Holy Spirit is in the
headlines once again. Some
Christian speak of the Holy
Spirit as if he were a rather
recent discovery. For others,
it is not only a recent
discovery, but a parochial
one as well.
Many Christians today are
in the position of the little
boy who charged the kids in
the neighborhood to come in
to his backyard to see the
eclipse! This same
“backyard” mentality is to
be found with many religious
groups today. They speak of
the Holy Spirit as if he were a
personal possession, limited
to followers of one sect or
cult.
“He will guide
you..”
The implication is often
very simple: “I’ve got the
Spirit; you do not.” So, how
do we know if we’ve “got the
Spirit”?
First of all, the above
question is all wrong. It is not
so much a matter of who’s
got the Spirit, but whom does
the Spirit have? We do not
“get the Spirit,” so much as
the Spirit “gets” us. We
cannot control the Spirit of
God, we cannot manipulate
the Spirit’s presence or
preformance. This is what
Jesus told Nicodemus; “The
wind blows where it wills,
and you hear the sound of it,
but you do not know whence
it comes, or wither it goes;
so it is with everyone who is
born of the Spirit” (John 3:
8).
I am always rather
skeptical of those who sound
as if the Spirit were under
their beck and call.
Secondly, the Spirit is not
narrowly confined to the
chosen few. The Bible makes
it clear that God’s Spirit can
be found at work in all men,
even when they do not
recognize or acknowledge
the Spirits presence. The
Holy Spirit is the presence of
God at work within us and
there is no one on the fact of
this earth who is without
God’s Holy Spirit.
“Walk by the spirit”
Much more to the point is,
not whether we all have
God’s Spirit in us, but
whether we respond to that
presence within. As Paul
puts it in Galatians, “walk
by the Spirit” (5: 16). We
may have the Spirit within
us, but totally ignore the
guidance he /would give us.
Or, we may allow the Spirit
to help us in times of need.
Paul assures us that “the
Spirit helps us in our
weakness” (Romans 8 ;26)
and “interceded for the
saints according to the will of
God” (8:27).
Finally, the real proof of
who’s got the Spirit is to be
found, not in doctrines, nor in
demonstrations of prowess,
but in the practical results
found in pur lives. “By their
fruits shall you know them,”
said Jesus and when he
himself was accused of
working miracles by the
power of Satan, he pointed to
the results of his ministry as
the venfivation of the work
,*,V. «' V,v. AVAV.VAVAV.V.V.V.V.VAV.V.V.V ♦ * * *
f
NOW IS
, THE TIME. ..
V
%■*
To Be Careful with
Herbicide Equipment
There are many kinds of
weed killers being used
today by the farmer and the
home owner. Many of these
materials are very hard to
wash out of the equipment
and may injure the next crop
that is sprayed for other
purposes. We urge growers
to recognize the danger of
herbicides such as 2, 4-D
sticking in the spray tank or
lines for years unless it is
removed by special
materials such as household
ammonia and hot water.
Items such as sprinkling
cans and small tank
sprayers will hold the weed
killer and carry some of the
material to the next crop.
The safest method is to have
separate equipment for weed
killer materials.
To Prepare for
Com Crop
The corn crop looks very
promising and additional
storage space may be
needed on many farms. This
is especially true for those
making com silage. The
trench or horizontal silo will
provide good storage for
extra corn with careful
management. Many
producers use the horizontal
silo for temporary storage
and then move the silage to
the tower silo later in the
winter for automatic
feeding. Extra com cribs
may be needed for ear com
storage. The method of
shelling the com in the field
at harvest time and then
drying before storage is
getting more attention on
some larger com growing
farms. Plans for com cribs
are available at our Ex
tension Office.
To Clip Pastures
Weather conditions have
been very favorable for lush
growth of all forage crops
and weeds. If the grass has
gotten ahead of the livestock,
the field can be mowed at
this time and the extra
growth used for grass hay or
for bedding purposes. The
mowing at this time will
encourage new growth and
increase the carrying
capacity of the area. Also, if
sudan grass or one of the
sudan-sorghum hybrids
have been grazed by
livestock, this field also
should be clipped in order to
get more uniform growth of
the new forage. Good
pasture management
suggests frequent clippings
during a good growing
summer.
of the Holy Spirit within him.
If he defeated the powers of
Satan with his works of
healing, let no one call the
power by which he did these
things the “power of Satan.”
That would be' the worst
blasphemy of all.
So, how do you know who’s
got the Spirit? Paul makes it
clear: “ ... the fruit of the
Spirit is love, joy, peace,
patience, kindness, good
ness, faithfullness, gen
tleness, self-control”
(Galatians 5:22). Let no one
claim that he has the Spirit
until he has also those fruits
in his life.
Max Smith
County Agr. Agent
Telephone 39H1K51
To Recognize Safety
Practices
Many producers are not
giving sufficient attention to
farm and home safety
measures; too many hazards
are not corrected. Un
fortunately, we have not had
much of an educational
program on farm safety and
most farmers are not in
terested in giving much
attention to the various
suggestions of caution. The
use of hard hats, ear plugs,
respiratory equipment,
safety glasses and goggles,
gloves, and safety shoes is
not very coimhon on most
farms. As farming becomes
more mechanized with
greater hazards, it might be
proper to give more at
tention to some of these
things that may cause
serious injury or death. More
attention to the prevention of
farm accidents and
correcting the hazards is in
order.
Farm
Calendar
Saturday, July 28
Ephrata Young Farmers
Stream Improvement
project at the Cocalico
Creek V* mile north of
Ephrata behind the St.
Clements Mission.
Project will begin at 8:00
a.m. with lunch at noon.
Monday, July 28
Manheim Young Farmers
field meeting on the
mechanics of corn
breeding.
Tuesday, July 29
Lancaster County 4-H Dairy
Shows at the Guernsey
Bam Pavilion.
FFA Hog Show at the
Lancaster Stockyards
beginning at 8:00 a.m.
Wednesday, July 30
Herbicide Field Day at the
Southeast Research
Center in Landisville at
1:00 p.m.
Thursday, July 31
Lancaster County Holstein
Show at the Guernsey
Bam pavilion.
Black and White Holstein
Show at the Goshen Fair.
Friday, August 1
Entry deadline for the South
Central Pa. Dairy Show.
Viewpoints
The highest compass we
can make with our fellow
is,-“Let there be truth be
tween us two forever
more ”
Ralph Waldo Emerson