Alo—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, October 24,1981
What’s
Farmers don’t need a calendar to know
when small game season opens in Penn
sylvania.
Just as sure as the sun rises in the eastern
sky, woodlots and cornfields light up with
bright, pumpkin-orange jackets and vests as
once again hunters take to the field.
It's a season of both good and bad ex
periences for farmers. Most take at least the
first morning off to enjoy walking the fields
with their old hunting buddies who’ve come
out to the farm for the day (actually, it’s a lot
safer walking with them than riding the tractor
as the corn picker flushes out game for them
to aim at).
Unfortunately, the rest of the afternoon is
spent picking up sandwich bags and beer cans
as the game stalkers leave their trail behind.
Is it too much to ask a little cooperation and
respect for the farmer who opens his property
to hunters? A field devoid of ‘No Trespassing’
signs should be valued by the visitors and
everything should be done to repay the farmer
for this privilege, right?
Unfortunately, there are some hunters who
seem to think they have a ‘right’ to wander a
farmer’s fields regardless of how they behave.
Of course, these 'black sheep' hunters are
generally the exception, but they’re the ones
you remember.
For example, each hunting season conjures
up this memory recounted by my father
every October without fail.
Since Dad never posted his farm, anyone
was allowed to hunt on his land that is, until
they made him angry.
One pair of hunters from town stopped by
for a stroll through the fields duringa first-day
hunting escapade a few seasons ago. They
happened to run into my father who was trying
to finish picking his corn on one of the driest
days that wet fall had seen.
Since they couldn’t avoid his observing
glance, the two ‘considerately' asked Dad’s
permission to hunt on the farm. He consented,
but with one condition that they keep away
from the corn picker.
The tractor hadn’t picked -up more than a
dozen stalks of corn when' Dad heard a
shotgun go off and saw a pheasant sailing out
in front of the tractor. Needless to say, Dad
wasn’t a very happy man at that point. What
he told the fellows was probably mo/e colorful
than what he recounted to us, but in essence.
NOW IS THE TIME
To Reduce Egg Breakage
Egg breakage is costing poultry
producers a great deal. You would
be surprised bow much. Some
poultrymen do not realize how
many eggs they are losing because
they do not keep track of them. In
studies where this has been
checked carefully, we find the
percentages of eggs broken
ranging from 2% to 5% up to 20%.
With a flock of 30,000 layers
averaging 70% production, a loss
of 4% is 84,000 eggs or 7,000 dozen a
year. This loss comes to $3,500
when eggs sell for 50 cents per
dozen.
Check the nests or cages for
needed repair. Often we find eggs
being broken right in the cages.
Check the egg trays. If these are
bent, they can br&ak many eggs.
Careful handling will reduce
Off the
Sounding
By Sheila Miller, Editor
it worth to hunt?
By Jay Irwin
Lancaster County Agriculture Agent
- Phone 717-394-6851
breakage if eggs are gathered by
hand. Trying for too much speed in
gathering may cause more loss
than a little extra time.
With mechanical gathering,
check the escalators to be sure
they are timed properly and are
not breaking eggs. Check the
orientors to be sure eggs are not
piling up. This is an egg cracker on
many farms.
To Pasture With Care
We have received a number of
calls inquiring as to the dangers of
pasturing forage crops after being
frosted. All of the permanent
grasses such as bluegrass, orchard
grass, or brome grass can safely
be grazed at any time of the year;
this is also true of any of the small
grain cover crops such as rye,
wheat or barley. All of these are
not toxic when frozen and usually
these two jokers were ‘requested’ to take their
guns and “git.”
This wasn’t the only incident that made
hunting season a challenge for this farmer's
patience. There was the trash thrown in the
back- of the corn wagons,- the pushed-down
wire fences; and the plain ignorant behavior of
‘guests' who shot too close to buildings and
livestock. The trash is still a problem, but the
the fencing problem was solved some time ago
when hunters learned what a cow feels like
when she sticks her nose up to an electric
fence.
There are countless other farmers who have
shared the frustration of dealing with' rude,
hunters. Some try to solve their problems by
posting their land, others paint signs that jab
at the hunter’s conscience, with not-so-subtle
reminders to pick up their trash or else.
One orchard man in Adams County probably
has the right idea. Since he has his land
posted, hunting is by permission only. This
way he knows who is-coming - on his property
each season.
Well, knowing which hunters came out for
the ‘fun’ of it each fall, this farmer decided to
see just how much their right to hunt was
worth.
That summer., each of the hunters received
a note saying that since .they enjoyed the
farmer’s hospitality almost every weekend in
the fall, a favor would need to be exchanged if
they wished, to continue to hunt on his
property. Each hunter was asked to come out
one day, any day that was convenient, and put
m eight hours of work in the orchard or on the
farm.
Guess how many of those regular visitors
showed up 'at the farm for their work ex
change? You were absolutely right if you
guessed ‘zip’ that’s right, not one solitary
volunteer.
That fall, guess how many of those hunters
returned to the farm to hunt? If you guessed
all of them, you’re right again.
But, the laugh was on the ‘too-busy’ hunters
because the hardworking farmer spent the
entire season making sure not one of those
fellows put one foot on his property.
How many of the hunters that walk your
fields would come out to lend a hand with the
farm work in return for the privilege of
hunting?
It might be interesting to find out
do not present any bloating
problems.
However, the legumes such as
clover and alfalfa should be grazed
very carefully; they are not toxic
after being frosted, but will cause
severe bloating if consumed while
the frost is on the leaves. Allow the
frost to thaw, and the plants to dry
before turning out the herd.
Also, any of the sudan grasses or
sorghum hybrids should not be
grazed for at least' a week after
being frozen.
Both internal and external
parasites reduce animal health
and efficiency. During these times
when livestock feeding profits
have been slim, feed efficiency
becomes very important. All
(Turn to Page Al 2)
Board
- To Eradicate
Livestock Parasites
ON LOVING DARKNESS
October 25,1981
Background Scripture:
John 3.
Devotional Reading:
1 John 5:6-12.
Next to the 23rd Psalm, probably
the best known Bible verse
throughout the world is John 3:16.
“For God so loved the world that
he gave his only begotten Son, that
whoever believes in him should not
perish, bnt have everlasting life.”
If you have memorized and
remember just one verse of
scripture, chances are that it will
be that one.
I wish, however, that all those of
us who took the effort to memorize'
those words would have gone on fo
memorize with it the next verse as
well: “For God sent the Son into
the world, not to condemn the
world, bnt that the world might be
saved through him” (John 3; 17).
NOT TO CONDEMN
It is true that v. 17 only makes
stronger and more explicit what is
being said in v. 16. John is saying,
first of all, that God’s intention
was, not that we should perish, but
that we should experience “eternal
life.” But in' v. 17 he puts it in a
language even more direct, in
dicating that God’s purpose was
“not to condemn, the world,” but
to insure that the world would be
“saved.”
So the central thrust of the
Gospel of Jesus Christ is not one of
condemnation, but salvation. John
3 speaks of both judgement and
HAV haws
r
i <s?
V
n
“Yup I’m ready for hunting season. And those hunters who
keep taking a short cut through my pasture will get a two-way
charge - first from old ‘Barney’ the bull and then from the
fence.
love, but by far love gets the
spotlight, not judgement. In fact,
the Gospel According to John—as
well as his epistles—is mainly
the love of God for us and the
love he expects us to extend to one
another.
Why is it, then, that the message
so many people hear from
Christians is one of condemnation?
Oh, to be sure, we cohdemn one
another for “the best of reasons”—
to preserve the truth of the Gospel,
to keep others from continuing in
sin or error, to preserve the purity
of the Church, etc. But regardless
of how we may rationalize it, John
3; 17 makes it clear for all who will
see it that condemnation is not
what the Gospel is about and not
what God expects of us.
DSEDS WROUGHT IN GOD
John 3:16 doe¬ proclaim that
the world’s sins so angered God
that he sent Jesus to condemn us,
but that “God so loved the world
that he gave his only Son.” God
could have brought upon humanity
a terrible wrath to get our at
tention and frighten us into
repentance. What he did, however,
'was to permit Jesus to go to a
cross. Jesus came, therefore, not
to ‘ ‘smitethe sinners” of the world,
but to love them and to be “lifted
up” so that we might believe in
God’s love for us and for all people
everywhere. So John speaks, not of
“right beliefs”, but of loving
deeds; “But he who does what is
true comes to the light, that it may
be clearly seen that his deeds have
been wrought in God” (3:21).
John’s observation was that,
although “the light has come into
the world...men loved, darkness
rather than light” (3:19). And part
of the darkness which we often love
so much more than light is the
desire to condemn each other in
the name of the Lord of Love. If
your gospel is one of con
demnation,- it is a gospel of
darkness, not light.
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