10
—Lancaster Farmim
LIFE on the farm
Air is liquified by extremely cold
temperatures, but the hot and
humid conditions of recent weeks
could make a person think that the
heat of the sun melts our at
mosphere.
Unless a breeze was going, the air
enveloping us felt as though it was
thick enough to cut with a knife, and
sticky enough to use as glue. One of
the few cool places on the farm was
the dairy barn, and that held true
only when the cows were outside. As
soon as they came in, the entire barn
would feel like a tropical jungle.
With their ears and heads often
drooping, our cows walked into the
barn to take their stalls, and press
their noses into drinking bowls
Many of them were soaked with
sweat -- which made milking them a
bit unpleasant, but worse yet were
those which had taken a mud bath.
We had a few culprits in our herd
from time to time which had a habit of
rolling in the mud on hot days and
we dreaded to see them coming.
Covered with a filthy, wet paste from
head to tail, these sloppy cows tried
a man's patience and took up his
time. At every afternoon milking on a
hot day it became common practice
to drag the water hose into the barn
and give showers to these dirty
animals.
And the litter alleys were
something else too during hot
wea.ther. it took twice as much
scraping and barn snow to keep
them looking half decent. All these
annoyances and extra work came
about as a result of the heat wave. It
didn’t stop there, either.
We ended up fencing in one muddy
area after another, but as every
Farm
Calendar
Today, July 23
Beef Field Day in New
Jersey at Colonel and
Mrs. James Horn’s farm,
Federal Twist Road,
Stockton.
Tomorrow, July 24
Ephrata Area Young Far
mers annual family
picnic, 12:30 p.m. at the
Ephrata Community
Park.
Monday, July 25
Annual Hunterdon County
(N.J.) Farmers-
Businessmen Picnic,
sponsored by the Hun
terdon County Board of
Agriculture, at Hun
terdon Hills Holstein
July 23. 1977
Saturda:
By DIETER KRIEG
dairyman knows, cows gathering
under shade trees can make their
Qwn new mud hole rather quickly. So
the battle of wits and patience
continued. Usually the surest way of
solving the problem would be to sell
the individuals which made the
biggest pigs of themselves.
Down in the barn, cows’ tails
switched back and forth to stir up a
little breeze and scare flies. Oc
casionally my head would get in the
way. Now, a slap in the face with
either a dry or wet tail is bad enough,
but a direct hit in the eye is much
worse. Aside from being painful, it
can make the victim forget that
bovines are supposed to be treated
like ladies.
Although I personally thrive on hot
weather, the woes of the season
continue on the farm. Cows lose
their appetite and milk production
drops in both volume and butterfat
content. That spells less income for
the month, despite possibly in
creased costs. Even if nothing else -
such as feeds and other supplies
increased in price - the dairyman
can count on using more electricity
to pump water, run fans and cool
milk. A visit or two from the
veterinarian might have been
necessary too.
No matter how hot and sweaty we
got while working in the barn with
our dairy herd, we could always be
sure of one thing: it was even more
uncomfortable for the animals than
it was for us. Hot, humid tem
peratures are hard on farmers who
have to work in it day in and day out,
and even harder on his animals.
What’s more the hot sun on the farm
can melt profits.
Farm, Rosemont. Tour
at 5:30, dinner 7.
Conrad Weiser Adult Far
mers tour Lutz Brothers
farm.
York County 4-H Day camp
at the 4-H Center, Bair.
York County vegetable
growers hold tour at the
Chem-Agro demon
stration farm near High
Rock, 7 p.m.
Tuesday, July 26
Senate Select Committee
will hold hearings RE;
Dietary Goals
(McGovern) Report and
egg industry interests.
York County Holstein
Association annual picnic
and field day, Ellis Crowl
farm, AirviUe, 10:30 a.m.
Ephrata Area Young Far
mers fishing trip, leave
Ephrata Jr. High at 2
a.m.
Lancaster County FFA Hog
Show and Sale. Show at
10 a.m. Sale at 1.
Lancaster 4-H Day camp at
Lancaster County
Central Park, 9:30 a.m.
Wednesday, July 27
Lancaster County FFA Hog
Carcass contest,
Stonebridge Farm,
Mount Joy, 9 a.m.
(Continued on Page 35]
RURAL ROUTE
foK. ST/1PT 1
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WE'RE SOI Mr I
ON A miRA
NO MORE MANNA
OR MOSES
Lesson for July 24,1977
Background Scripture:
Joshua 3 through 6; 14:1-5.
Devotional Reading:
- Joshua 3:9-17
During the forty years in
the wilderness there were
two enduring realities that
sustained the people of
Israel: Moses, their leader,
and manna, the food with
which God fed them daily.
Without either of these gifts
from God they could not
have made it.
We can imagine,
therefore, the feelings of
apprehension they must
have had, them, as they
prepared to leave the
wilderness and enter the
Promised Land. First of all,
they would do so without the
great Moses. Their leader
died before they could cross
over into Canaan. He could
see the Promised Land, but
it was not his lot to enter it.
The long delay occasioned by
the “evil report” of Moses’
spies had robbed him of that
privilege.
What mean these stones?
So, as they prepared to
cross into the Promised
Land they must have won
dered whether their new
leadership, Joshua, could
lead them as Moses had.
A second factor that
certainly troubled them was
the realization that when
they crossed the Jordan into
Canaan, they would no
longer be fed by manna, as
they had been in the desert,
but from henceforth they
would be eating whatever
the Promised Land
provided. In a sense, this
should have been an at
tractive prospect, but we can
imagine that some people
felt very insecure without
the promise of the daily
manna which had been
theirs and their fathers’
sustenance ever since
leaving Egypt.
Without Moses and without
manna, could they do it?
While crossing the Jordan
River, Joshua, their new
leader, had them set up a
pillar of stones, saying,
“when your children ask in
time to come, ‘What do those
stones mean to you?’ Then
you shall tell them that the
waters of Jordan were cut off
before the ark of the
covenant...So these stones
shall be to the people of
Israel a memorial for ever”
(4:6,7) And what these
stones would mean from
henceforth was that the
people of Israel crossed over
from the wilderness into the
Promised Land without
Moses and without manna,
but with the ark of the
Important as had been the
leadership of Moses, vital as
had been the daily nourish
ment of manna, it was
neither of these that brought
the people of Israel through
he wilderness; it was the
presence of the Lord! So they
could enter the Promised
Land with new leadership
and they could give up their
assurance of daily manna,
but so long as the Lord was
with them, it would not
matter.
This ought to be an im
portant lesson to all of us. As
they prepared to claim the
Promised Land, the people
of Israel did not forget the
past - in fact the Book of
Joshua tells us “they kept
the passover” (5:10) - but
they were not afraid of the
changes that lay before
them. So too we have
memorial “stones” to which
we can point as a remem
brance of God’s providence
in the past, but we can also
accept the changes which
time and God demand and
move out of our own
wilderness to whatever
destination God is calling us.
TO PREPARE FOR
AUGUST SEEDINGS...
Alfalfa growers in this part
of the country can establish a
new stand of alfalfa by
making the seeding during
late July or early August; by
seeding at this time of the
year, the'plants get well
started before freezing
weather arrives. The soil
should be tested for lime and
fertilizer needs. A good firm
seedbed is needed that has
been worked several times
over a period of several
weeks in order to kill weeds.
Straight seedings of alfalfa
are quite common although
some growers prefer
timothy or a grass seeded
with the alfalfa. The band’
seeding method is one of the
very best ways to make
this new seeding. Alfalfa is
one of our most important
forage crops; most fields will
need re-seeding after 3 to 5
years. It is best not to grow
alfalfa in the same field for a
long period of years; the
growing of com or a small
grain between each of the 3
to 5 years of alfalfa is
suggested.
TO APPLY
CONSERVATION
METHODS
Some of the heavy rains
covenant...and that meant
with the presence of die
Lord.
The Lord is with you
XENIA, OH/O. TUCRE'S
A CONFERCVCfc. ON
THE CONTROL Of
NECROSACIUoS/S IN
9 WINE THERE NEXT WEEK.
recently reflect the need of
more soil erosion practices
in order to keep the soil and
the water on the farm. The
establishing of contour strips
or diversion terraces is a
part of a good conservation
program; all land owners to
be are making an effort at -
this time to stop both soil and
water losses from their land.
The fall of the year is a good
time to begin these prac
tices, as the winter grain
crops are seeded. Farmers
who have a problem with
ditches and erosion of their
soil, are urged to give some'
attention to correcting the
problem at this time. ;
TO BEWARE OF
LIGHTNING
Extreme high temperatures
often bring severe thunder
and lightning storms; we
have had some in recent
weeks and no doubt there
will be others to come.
Parents are urged to warn
their youngsters of the
danger of getting under a
tree or swimming in a pond
or creek before and during a
storm. Safety in a building or
in a truck or automobile
should be the objective as the
storm approaches, as well as
during the storm. Stay away
from electric fences and
farm equipment that is out in
the open. Buildings with
lightning rods should be
checked to be sure the rods
are grounded in moist soil,
and the system free of ob-/
stacles that would prevent
the cable from taking the
charge into the ground.
Electrical storms are
dangerous and safety
measures should be adopted.
TO ORDER FALL
SEED SUPPLIES...
Its not too early to be placing
your order for winter barley
and winter wheat needs. In
many cases the desired
variety may not be available
if left to the last minute.
Certified seeds are
suggested in order to get
quality seeds with per
formance testing in the
background. The planting of
seeds of unknown purity and
germination is taking a
chance of a crop failure
along with introducing
weeds and disease infection.
The seeding times for these
grains starts about the
middle of September for '
winter oats, late September
to early October for winter
barley, and the month of
October for winter wheat.
Additional information is
available in the 1977
Agronomy Guide available
at any Extension Office in
the state.
By Tom Armstrong
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