Alo—Lanctsttr Famine, Saturday, May 16,1911
“One run has been batted in
during the farmland
preservation world series.
Scoring the first point in the
legislative ball game are the
Farmers.
“Most of the fans are on
their feet and cheering. But,
alas, there is some hesitancy
in the enthusiasm which hints
at a fear of striking out when
the bases are loaded."
With the baseball season
upon us, it's hard to get
anybody’s attention unless
they think you’re highlighting
their favorite team's bout at
the plate.
Well, in this case, the
favorite team is made up by
Pennsylvania farmers. If they
hang in and win the ‘game’,
they won’t be adding another
gold trophy to the shelf
they’ll be safeguarding their
farms for future generations
The first run came in on
Tuesday when the House of
Representatives almost
unanimously voted in favor of
HB 143, providing the
authority for local government
to establish ag areas
Setting-up the big play took
a conserted, long-term effort
by many key individuals and
organizations, who through
lobbying efforts and letter
writing campaigns, got their
message through to legislators
from town, city, and country,
alike. However, much of the
credit must go to the Lan
caster County spokesmen who
have witnessed first hand just
how quickly prime -farmland
can be turned into prime
■■■■■!■ —mmmmmmmmm
NOW IS THE TIME
To Check Weevil
in Alfalfa
We are right into the decision
making period for alfalfa weevil
control. The question comes up,
should I spray or cut it? Thus
depends on the degree of damage
and just how far your alfalfa is
along. If your stand is getting
along in maturity, then it would
pay you to cut it early. If you
decide to spray, then it should be
applied only when 60 to 70 percent
of the plants show slight feeding
damage at the tips. In most cases,
spray application will not be
necessary. The economic
threshold line is based on a loss of
1/10 ton of alfalfa hay per acre. At
$9O per ton of hay, a loss of 1/10 ton
equals $B. If the cost of spraying is
17.50-48.00 per acre, you are at the
break even level.
The two major problems with
spraying is the physical damage
by running the tractor over the
growing plants, and secpndly, the
tolerance time from the time of
Off the
Sounding
By Sheila Miller, Editor
Score one run for farmers
building lots and industrial
parks.
Three of these hard
working, dedicated farmers
come to mind in an instant
Lancaster’s Representative
Noah Wenger, who sponsored
the Bril; Amos Funk, con
servationist and vegetable
farmer who has campaigned
to save the prime land for
years; and Aaron Stauffer,
chairman of the Conservation
District who spearheaded the
deed restriction program in
Ephrata Township where he
farms.
It is encouraging to know
legislators other -than those
from southeastern Penn
sylvania (evidenced by the
.192-1 vote) have heard the
farmland preservation
message and believe it is the
key to our state’s agricultural
future.
After all the leg work that
went before the Bill which
finally led to its passage, it
would be a blow to the
Keystone state’s farm family if
the legislation were to die m
the Senate or on the
Governor’s desk. But that
chance still remains.
Even after the legislation
would become law, what
would happen if local officials
fail to see the importance of
preserving farmland. The
legislation allows each in
dividual county and township
to make its own decision about
whether preserving farmland
is worth it
If the wrong decision is
made, perhaps through
misinformation, the only one
that’s going to lose the ball
By Jay Irwin
Lancaster County Agriculture Agent
Phone 717-394-6851
application until the residue is
"off” the plants. Be sure to read
the label for the tolerance periods
for the different chemicals.
If you would like a copy of the
bulletin "An Insect Management
Program For Alfalfa" just give us
a call or drop us a card at 1383
Arcadia Road, Lancaster, Pa.
17601.
To Be Safe you T B arden a real boost "this
Farm safety specialists tell us spring.. .then use a fertilizer
that once every four years the starter solution when you set out
average farm laborer can expect yol { r P a . nts j. *1 s easy .
to be injured so severely that f na J c e...just dissolve about 3
medical attention is required, °. r 80 °*.f e ® u !* r
Farm workers are much more 1® fertilizer in a gallon of water,
susceptible to accident and injury n< ?’ as y° u set out your plants,
than industrial workers. The su °b 88 ca bbage, tomatoes, or
problem is, that the farm worker, PePP? 1 * some of the starter
unlike the industrial hole,..stir the 50i1...
usually operates with a minimum ‘ n .~* e plant...cover the roots
of supervision and may not be soil. ..and you ve got that plant
adequately trained for the job. off to the best start ever.
The accident rate of total A starter solution makes plant
recordable work injury or illness nu^nen^s Available to the young
cases with days away from work
for agricultural workers is 2*4
Board
game is the farmer, especially
young farmers of tomorrow.
Can today's farmers have the
foresight to insure their sons
and daughters will have a
chance to follow in the farming
profession 7
It’s a hard question, and one
that farm owners will have to
answer for themselves.
No one is denying the fact
that through hard work, sweat
and toil, farmers have earned
the right for some leisure time
after retirement. But will there
be piece of mind as that
farmer who has given a
lifetime to the land watches a
bull dozer carve streets
through fertile fields he
cultivated with TLC?
Perhaps it’s true that
wounds can be healed with
Pitches.
Creating a highly productive
farm is an art a masterpiece
reflecting the “artist’s” talent.
Remember how the world
gasped when a misguided
person wielded a hammer and
smashed Michaelangelo's
priceless Pieta, a masterpiece
carved out of stone, preserved
in a museum. Should there be
any less of an outcry for our
fertile farmlands? •
Losing our farmland, acre by
acre, is an unforgivable waste
of a precious resource. What’s
already lost must be forgotten,
except as a reminder of what
could eventually happen. The
fate of what remains is up to
us
HB 143 has crossed the
the Senate is at bat,
and the Governor waits in the'
dugout. The crowd is waiting
for the pitch.
times greater than that of the all
industry averages.
We urge all farmers to develop
good safety habits and take time to
be safe.
To Use A Starter
Solution for Transplants
Gardening is a way of life for
farmers and most suburban
people. And if you want to give
(Turn to Page Al2>
Farm Calendar
Today, May 16
Grafting Demo., 9:30 a.m., Ellis
Schmidt farm, Flint Hill Rd.,
Landenberg
York County Sheep and Wool
Producers field day, 9:30 a.m.,
4-H Center
Wind Energy seminar, 8:30 a.m.,
Keller Conference Center,
University Park
“Fanner’s Spring celebration of
sheep shearing and textile hand
crafts, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.,
Delaware Ag Museum, Dover
Sunday, May 17
York Co. Dairy Princess Tea, 2
p.m., Albert Neufeld farm
Dairy goat management
workshop, 9 a.m., Wolf’s
Crossroads Picnic Grove,
between Sunbury and
Augusta ville
Tuesday, May 19
Ephrata Area Adult Farmers,
Senior High Ag Department
ARE YOU READY
FOR SOLID FOOD?
May 17,1981
Background Scripture:
Hebrews 4:14 through 7:28.
Devotional Reading:
John 14:15-24.
It is difficult for us to think of the
youthful Jesus in terms short of
perfection. We tend to visualize a
fully mature Jesus in the body of a
twelve-years old. But that isn’t the
way it wjjs, if we are believe Luke,
for he concludes the incident when
Jesus was taken up to the Temple
at age 12 with these words: “And
Jesus increased in wisdom and m
stature, and m favor with God and
man.” (Luke2:s2).
What that brief sentence means
is that Jesus at age 12 was not as
wise as he was to be later. He did
not understand so fully as a
teenager as he did as a man of 33.
It means too that at 15, Jesus still
had some growing to do; he was
not complete, finished or per
fected. There was room for growth
and Jesus grew, spirtually and
personally as well as physically.
Thus, in his own life, Jesus em
bodied the concept that to live is to
grow. He was constantly living and '
growing himself.
Again First Principles
If Jesus himself was not com
plete when he first stepped on the
scene, neither am I. I still have
growing to do. 1 still need to change
and adjust in a world that will not
HAY HAWS
We
tier start looking for a new pesticide.
York Co. Agri-Women, 10 a.m.,
home of Mrs. Harold Gross,
Manchester
Wednesday, May 20
Ag preservation workshop, 7:30
p.m., Sixth' Floor Mtg. Room,
Lancaster Courthouse
Friday, May 22
Md. Angus Assn, spring sale, 7
p.m., Frederick County, Md.
Fairgrounds, Frederick
Saturday, May 23
Lancaster .Forest Fire Crew
Highville Country Fair, starts
10 a.m. at Fort Holbrook Fire
Base
PA Chicken Cooking contest,
Northern Lebanon Area High
' School, Fredericksburg
Md. Pork Cookout Contest and
Sugar Loaf Springs Crafts
Festival, Md. State
Fairgrounds, Timonium, Md.
(cookout 1:30) x
hold still. So do you. I can say that,
not because I know anything
specifically about you, but because
I know that we all share the same
human nature which stagnates
when it is still.
Lots of people assume that
growing is something they can give
up when they reach a certain age
or stage in life. Learning is for
children,’ they reason. Growth is
for adolscents. Maturation is for
the young adult. Apparently, Jesus
didn’t realize that he was exemp
ted, for he continued to grow until
the day they put him on the cross.
Hebrews tells us, “He learned
obedience through what he suf
for*H ”
You Need Milk
So the question is: where am I in
all of this? Am I growing or am 1
remaining the same while the
world around me does nothing but
change? Am I ready for Solid food
in my spiritual life or must Christ
say to me as Hebrews says to his
reachers; “You need milk, not
solid food...solid food is for the
mature...” (5:13).
Take a long look at your own life
as a Christian. Is it a life nourished
on “solid food”, or is is mostly
dependent upon the milk diet of an
infantile Christian behaviour? Are
you ready to make some sub
stantial growth in maturity, or
have you assumed that you have
reached a point where growth is no
longer necessary?^
The writer of Hebrews calls us to
continue to grow throughout life:
“Therefore -let us leave the
elementary doctrines of Christ and
goon to maturity...” (6:1). Many
of us have never gotten beyond the"
elementary level we reached when
wejpined the church. At the same ■(
tinte,ff _li£e has become more
complex than it was then. Life as a
Christian adult requires nothing
less than “solid food.”
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