DlO—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, April 25,1981
Brief answers
to short questions
Sheila's
Shorts
By Sheila Miller
Whadayacallit?
Words the English language is
full of them. But there are tunes
when our dictionaries seem to be
missing some important com
binations of letters that can say
exactly what we had in mind.
Modem English is sometimes
diluted with slang and jargon from
various sectors of society, and as
tune replaces the writers and
linguists of previous generations,
some of the words are lost they
become obsolete through imsues or
neglect.
As an agricultural writer, it’s
important to know the proper
terminology of the profession.
Knowing a duck from a drake, a
goose from a gander, a ewe from a
ram, and a mare from a stallion
are expected of the on-farm writer.
And, for me, the terminology is
usually second nature.
Even as a child, I’d have to
giggle when someone mistakenly
referred to a bull as a “cow” And
the bovine “facts of life” were
learned at an early age as Dad
explained the difference between a
bull calf and a heifer calf and how
quickly the bull calf could become
a steer. Helping to care for our
herd of commercial Hereford
cattle gave me the lessons in farm
talk and identification that seem
almost innate now.
Pigs are another story, however,
since my parents stopped raising
them when my sister and I were
small. 1 was familiar with the
proper use of the words boar and
sow, but the words gilt and barrow
only cropped up years later in my
ag education. And, what do you
call a bunch of pigs, besides herd?
Is there another word?
Well, folks, that’s the question 1
received from Space Farms Zoo
and Museum, R 6 Box 135,
Beemerville Road, Sussex, N.J.
07461.
Quite frankly, I never heard of a
group of swine being called
anything but a herd. But, I decided
to check with some experts.
I contacted the president of the
Pennsylvania Swine Pm 1 '
Cooperative who unfortunately has
no further enlightenment for me.
Neither did Penn State’s Animal
Science Department.
Not giving up, I gave the
question to the news editor of our
sister publication. The Lititz
Record. Her brother happens to be
a crossword puzzle expert and
creator.
After a quick telephone call to
her sibling, she shared several new
terms with me, gleaned from a
trivia encyclopedia and a
crossword puzzle dictionary.
How do you like the term
“sounder”? This word is used in
describing a herd of wild boars. Or,
how about “drift”? That means a
drove or herd, especially when
talking about hogs. These two are
new ones to me.
The only familiar word is
“brood” used in talking about
baby pigs, offspring still under the
care of the mother.
So, take your pick sounder,
drift, brood, or herd. But
remember, not everybody carries
a pocket tnvia encyclopedia or
crossword dictionary when visiting
a zoo. Language, it must be
remembered, is conveying
thoughts and ideas through words,
hopefully for everyone’s un
derstanding.
Corn Silage Equation
For anyone interested in the
mathematics of calculating the
monetary value for a ton of com
silage, Penn State concocted a
formula.
According to Harold Harpster,
the formula is;
Multiply the price of No. 2 shell
corn by the gram content of the
silage (about 5 Vz to 6 bu/ton in this
area). Add to that the cost of
harvesting the silage, an extra
Machine Work a
Welding &
nHNr Fan.) Supplies
Hardware M
O.S. MACHINE SHOP
3816 E NEWPORT RD
RDI GORDONVIU.E. PA 17529 5
1 Mile East of Intercourse on Rt 772 f
Write or Try and Call 717-768-8569 I
(Outside Phone)
* Victor or Maco Cutting Torches
* Lincoln Welders • Hog A Cettle Gates
* Custom Built High Pressure Washers
* Coal Fired Bucket-A-Oey Stoves
* New & Used Structural Pipe I
-.et SUPER RANGE VICTOR |
TORCH OUTFIT 1
Complete 198
Thenew
"hex"
The Pennsylvania Dutci
the 18th and 19th centun
were known to pla>
amulets or charms {commor
known as "Hex" signs)
their farm buildi
to protect the live!
building, and other possi
from
When Morton ..uing:
a farm building, they also want you
to have the assurance, as well as the
charm that your building
is well protected from
unforeseen forces The
hexagon M is a symbol
/NO. 1 CHOICE OF FARMERS
Call Collect Your Nearest Office
Serving Central PA and Maryland
RD 4, Box 34A. Gettysburg. Pa 17325
Ph 717-334-2168
Serving Eastern PA and New Jersey
Box 126, Phillipsburg, NJ 08865
Ph 201-454-7900
Serving North Central PA Area
P O Box 937, State College. PA 16801
Ph 814-383-4355
Serving Virginia
P 0 Box 529,133 W Davis St
Culpepper, VA 22701
Ph 703-825-3633
$3.50 on the avei age.
To determine the gram content
of the silage, divide the normal
yield of corn gram (bushels per
acre) by the tons of silage har
vested on that acre.
Working through an example,
Harpster suggested the price of
No. 2 shelled com to be $3.50 a
X IT’S MAGIC , PHONE
How quickly C_ )
( You Get Results or 717-626-1164
Classifieds jl
protection,
lehind it stands
ily stable company
Wrongest warranty
>n which
40 years on timber
rears on roof
i on paint and 5
snow load
:g ~ mg doors)
Look to the sign of the M'
when you want your investments
beautifully covered Contact
the nearest Morton
Sales Office {'isted
below) today'
□ Send information on MORTON BUILDINGS
□ Have your salesman phone for an
appointment
□ insulated Shops □ Machine Sheds HlSlpgg
□ Horse Barns □ Gram Storage
□ Garages □ Free Stall Barns
□ Livestock Barns
I Name
J Address
| Phone No
bushel. If the gram equivalent of
the silage was 6 bushels per ton,
then the equation would figure out
to $2l per ton. Added to that would
be the cost of harvesting for a total
of $24.50 per ton of silage.
Any questions? Please call Penn
State or your Extension agent 1
always hated math.
*
J
cts!
Free weather vane
with purchase'