C2—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, September 12,1981
Behenge students from Moi
IfYEs share natnre
views of America
BY SALLY BAIR
Staff Correspondent
The two young-men come from
countries with different cultures,
different climates and different
languages, but they are in Lan
caster County for the same reason
- to learn about the United States,
its agriculture and its people.
Edvin Hauge from Norway and
Jhuraigjam Indrahit Singh are
visitmg Pennsylvania as ex
changees in the International 4-H
Youth Exchange program. It is the
second of two states they will visit
during their six months’ stay in
this country.
Both men are from fanning
backgrounds and are
knowledgeable about their far
ming operations at home, and both
are also eager to learn about
farming methods here.
Edvin visited with the George
Rohrer family, Lancaster, and
with the Elvin Brenneman family,
Mount Joy. Indra stayed first with
the John Henkel’s, Strasburg, and
then with the Rodney Denlinger’s,
Gordonville. Both will leave
Lancaster County within the next
Denlinger farm. Milking cows by machine was a new ex
iencefor isIFYE.
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Here is the happy host family with Indra. opportunity,*© learn aboutanother culture.
Cindy and Rodney Deniinger are enjoying the
f, fndb
customs,
week to go to other host families:
Edvin to Union County, and Indra
to York County.
Edvin, 24, comes from the Land
of the Midnight Sun, 120 miles
north of the Arctic Circle in Nor
way. He casually dismisses
questions about the strangeness of
living at a latitude which ex
periences 24 hours of daylight for
several months of the year, and 20-
22 hours of darkness for several
months, lie says simply, "You get
used to it. It’s normal.”
Edvin is quick to answer
questions about temperature
ranges, probably having gone over
them many times with previous
host families. The hottest ever
recorded in Norway was 96
degrees Fahrenheit {he very
nicely translated from Celsius),
with minus 61 being the coldest
ever recorded. However, he noted
that 80 to 85 degrees would be
considered very hot and 10 to 15
degrees below zero would be a
normal winter temperature.
There is a lot of winter where
Edvin lives, with snow falling
seven to eight months of the year.
♦
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Roger Brenneman gets a (esson in
geography as Edvin points out his home town
One need not wonder what the
favorite winter sport is in Norway:
it’s skiing. "Everybody cross
country skns,” Edvin notes. “We
also have Europe’s fastest
downhill slope.’’
Winters in Norway are
somewhat milder than in other
regions so far north because of
winds warmed by the sea. Nearly
all of Norway’s harbors are free of
ice year round.
Norway is the size of New
Mexico, according to Edvin, with a
population of 4.2 million people.
That averages about 31 people per
each square mile of land. Of
course, the most heavily populated
part of Norway is along the
southern end along the coast.
Edvm lives near the town of
Narvik, situated along one of the
many fiords for which Norway is
known. Edvin’s father was not only
a farmer, but also a captain of a
cargo boat which sailed along the
coast. His father was home on
weekends, he said.
The family farm was originally a
dairy farm, but they have gone out
of dairying and into sheep. His twin
brother farms the farm and has
added heifers. The sheep are for
slaughter, Edvm notes, and last
year they raised just 30, down from
the 60 head of the previous year.
They also sell the wool.
Edvin’s brother is a part time
farmer, like his father before him,
and like many other farmers in
Norway. He works for the com-
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Edvin Hauge holds a Norwegian flag and wears the hand
knitted sweater which he brought with him.
munity which pays him to work for
fanners who may be sick or for
some reason need assistance in
their farming.
There is little farmland in
Norway, with-most of it situated m
narrow strips of land in inland
valleys or along the coast.
Agriculture accounts for six
percent of the gross national
product. But Edvm says, “A lot of
people work in farming. We don’t
make enough food for ourselves,-
but we do make enough meat. We
also have a lot of- forestry. We
make more milk than we drink and
a lot of it is used in butter and
cheese.”
Dairying is the main farming
venture in the north, and Edvin
said that most cows are Norwegian
reds, used for both meat and milk.
Yes, there are many reindeer to
be found in Norway, but not hit
ched to sleighs. Edvin stated
matter-of-factly, *‘The reindeer
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near Narvik, in the Land of the Midnight Sun.
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are used mainly for meat.” They
are also cared for by the Lapps
who are a different race of people
who settled in Norway long ago. He
quickly added that the Lapps are
not different from other Nor
wegian .people, although as
recently as 30 years ago there were
great differences.
Edvm said that alfalfa hay is
grown near his home in Norway
and some what, but it is not hot
enough to grow barley, another
common Norwegian agricultural
product. Potatoes are other
vegetables are grown. He said ram
does not affect their hay making.
He explained, “When we harvest
we cut the hay and blow it into the
silos.” Silos are airtight and trench
silos are common. Hay can be cut
twice.
The Hauge family uses the same
barn for sheep that they used for
dairy cows, but Edvin noted, “The
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