F«irMii& SatohUy, Mirchl9/1983 :i
BYDICKANGLESTEIN
It’s altogether fitting that the beginning of
Spring is observed as Ag Day and launches a
week of agriculturally related activities on the
local, state and national levels. The article that
begins on Page One and another on Page Dll
lists some of the many activities planned in
various areas.
Spring has long been recognized as a time of
renewal, particularly in agriculture. After
several months of dormancy, the land is
reawakened as field activities resume again.
This year, more than ever, Spring is being
welcomed as a time of renewal. A new
beginning is particularly appropriate this year
because the recent past has not only been a
winter of customary dormancy, but also a
winter of economic difficulties and problems in
agriculture.
But just like the signs of Spring that are
beginning to appear around us, there are
signs that agriculture may be starting up that
long road out of its winter of economic
problems. That road back is expected to be
rather long and there undoubtedly will be
some hidden curves ahead.
NOW IS THE TIME
To Control Wild Garlic
We may like onions In our
hamburgers and in other foods, but
very few of us like onion-flavored
milk. This can easily happen on
dairy farms where wild garlic
plants are allowed to grow. Many
pastures are infested with wild
garlic. One of the best times to
start control measures on this
weed is early in the spring when
the young plants are 4 to 8 inches
high. An application of 2,4-D will
knock them down. Follow the label
for directions. When this is applied
around the middle to latter part of
March, little damage is done to any
legumes in the area. If garlic
plants are allowed to mature each
year, the pasture area will become
so contaminated that dairy cows
can not utilize the grass.
To Prevent Water Pollution
The quality of our water supplies
is very important; in most cases it
should receive more attention.
Many people are bothered with
high bacteria count and/or with
high nitrates. Both of these are
undesirable for both domestic and
livestock consumption. When
feedlots and barns are cleaned out
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UpAg
By Jay Irwin
Lancaster County Agriculture Agent
Phone 717-394-6851
this spring, every effort should be
made to incorporate this manure
into the topsoil just as quickly as
possible. With liquid manure, the
soil injection type of spreader does
an excellent job. With other types
of surface spreaders, the manure
should be disced or plowed into the
topsoil soon after application; this
is especially true on slopes above
water supplies. The application of
fertilizers warrants the same
attention; mix it with the topsoil
very soon after application. Also
surface water should be directed
away from wells or any other
water supply.
To Check Ventilation Systems
We are into the season of the
year that ventilation is very im
portant. The fans in our poultry
houses and dairy barns have been
working hard through the winter
months. They have accumulated
dust on the louvers and screens
and developed loose belts, so they
are less efficient - in other words
they are not moving as much air as
they are rated.
This is a good time to go through
you building and dean the fan
blades, the louvers and screens.
A
In this new beginning earmarked for
Monday, Ag Day, everyone in agriculture
should make a resolution of personal renewal.
Let each of us renew our personal conviction
to boost agriculture every chance we get. Let’s
talk up agriculture every chance we get.
As a symbol of this personal renewal.
Lancaster Farming’s Sue Thomas designed
the accompanying logo. It simply states: UP
AG.
Boosting agriculture every chance we get
won’t make this road back any shorter. But it
might smooth it out a bit.
When you're boosting something -- and
particularly something as important as
agriculture, you got to be optimistic. When you
promote something, there's just no room for
pessimism. And that's what' is needed right
now - a return in full scale to the good old
optimistic traditions of agriculture and
everyone in it.
From time to time, you'll see our UP AG
symbol in Lancaster Farming. We’ll use it with
stories that exemplify optimistic agriculture.
So as Spring and Ag Day get ready to dawn,
let’s UP AG
UP with AG.
Tighten the fan belts, and be sure
to check the inlet screens. Many
times, in our poultry houses in
particular, we’re not getting air
circulation because the air cannot
get into the building. Clean these
inlet screens so they are not
restricting air.
Also, be sure to check the
thermostats to make certain they
are working properly.
Poor ventilation can cause
health problems in poultry houses
and “off” flavored milk in dairy
bams. This is a good time to take
care of some of these inside jobs.
Many horses and ponies are
neglected this time of the year.
When they’re kept in a stable for
long periods of time...such as
during the winter...they can get out
of condition. And they may develop
some bad habits. But you can avoid
this by following good
management practices.
Your horses are natural athletes
and need a daily work-out to keep
their muscles, feet and legs in good
condition. Twenty or twenty five
To Care For Horses
(Turn to Page Al 2)
A PICK UP
ON SERVING
TABLES
March 20,1983
Background Scripture:
Acts 2:43 through 6:7.
Devotional Reading:
lsaiah44:6-8.
Sometimes it is assumed that the
lifestyle and organization of the
earliest church {as recorded in
Acts 2-6) is a model which we need
to recapture in the life of the
church today. Closer examination,
however, indicates that their early
life together was based upon two
elements: one was the spiritual
devotion which they shared and the
other was the plans and means
whereby, they attempted to live out
that devotion. The former was a
gift from God; the latter the
product of their human creativity.
Therefore, it is only their devotion
to God that we need to emulate, not
the structure of their life together.
ALL THINGS
IN COMMON
For example, Luke tell us that in
the days following the first Pen
tecost “all who believed were
together and had all things in
common.” Some have seized upon
these words from Luke to suggest a
primitive Christian communism;
“And they sold their possessions
and goods and distributed them to
all as any had need” (Acts 2:44,
45). And: “.. .no one said that any
of the things which he possessed
was his own, but they had
everything in common" (Acts
3:32). But this was not intended as
a model for society, and not even
Farm Calendar
Saturday, March 19
Pa. Ayrshire Breeders Assn,
annual dinner mtg., Embers
Convention Center, Rt. 11,
Carlisle 10 a.m.
Bradford Co. Holstein tour
Mercer Co. Small Farms
Livestock Conference, 9 a.m. - 4
p.m., Extension Center
Bucks Co. Dairy tour to Lancaster
County, begins 7 a.m.
Sunday, March 20
Lancaster Co. Grape Growers,
Farm and Home Center, 1:30
p.m.
Eastern National Benefit Bar
becue, noon to 5 p.m., Frederick
Nat’l Guard Armory,
Frederick, Md.
Monday, March 21
Adams Co. Beekeepers mtg. 7:30
p.m., Vo-ag Room, Biglerville
High School
Sullivan Co. Milking School, 10
a.m. - 3 p.m., through Tuesday
Bradford Co. Milking School, 10
a.m., Gardners Inn, Sullivan
Co. continues tomorrow
Tuesday, March 22
Chester/Delaware Farmers Assn.,
spring banquet, 7 p.m.,
GuthriesviUe Fire Hall
Schuylkill Co. Fruit Growers mtg.,
9:30 a.m. - 3 p.m., New
Ringgold Fire Hall
United - Dairy Industry Assn.,
annual mtg., Hyatt Regency
Dearborn, Michigan, continues
through Thursday.
Wednesday, March 23'
DHIA directors and supervisors
mtg., 11 a.m., North Towanda
Church
Hazardous Waste Seminar, 9 a.m. -
4 p.m., Sheraton Inn, Altoona
Md. Holkein Assn, annual con
vention, Grantsville Holiday
the church as a whole. This was a
style of Christian sharing together
that was a temporary response to
the gospel of Christ. There is no
suggestion in Luke that it was ever
intended that forever after
Christians were to be “together
and have all things in common.” In
fact, what Luke is lifting up for us
in these passages is not the form of
their life together, but the
motivating power behind it.
Actually, the form of Christians'
life together was soon to change
and would continue to change
throughout the history of the
church. Only the motivating power
behind those forms was intended to
last forever, not the forms
themselves.
IT“S NOT RIGHT!
God himself demonstrated that
Christians must never take their
won organizational and ec
clesiastical inventions too
seriously. In Acts 6 we have a
record of the first church dispute:
an argument on whether the food
supplies were being evenly
distributed between the two major
groups. It is obvious that the
apostles were annoyed by this
dispute.“lt is not right that we
should give up preaching the word
of God to serve tables!" So they
devised a plan to pick seven men to
attend to the food distribution
while the apostles “devote our
selves to prayer and to the
ministry of the word.”
Unfortunately at least for
their organizational plan God
did not co-operate. At least two of
these table waiters, Stephen and
Philip, are known to us primarily
for the wonderful things they
accomplished in preaching and
teaching the gospel. The apostles’
plan was for them to stick to
waiting on tables, but the plan of
God apparently took them beyond
that. And that’s why the Church is
constantly being re-formed by
God.
Inn, Garrett Co., continues
tomorrow
Hunterdon Co., N.J. Plant Clinic,
9:30 - 11:30 a.m.. Extension
Center
Thursday, March 24
Progressive Pork Conference,
Lancaster Farm and Home
Center, 9:30-3 p.m.
Lancaster Co. Conservation
District Annual Banquet, Blue
Ball Fire Hall
Bradford Co. Extension Assn.
Executive Committee mtg., 8
p.m.. Extension Office
Lebanon Holstein Club tour to
Susquehanna and Lackawanna
counties
Bradford Co. Agronomy Day, 10:30
a.m. - 3 p.m., Wysox
Presbyterian Church
Lebanon Co. Conservation District
dinner, 7 p.m., Heisey’s Diner
Friday, March 25
York Co. Extension annual mtg.
and banquet, 6:45 p.m.,
Avalong’s Restaurant
Penn State Performance Bull Sale,
- State College, noon
Bradford Holstein bus tour to
western Pa., continues
tomorrow
Saturday, March 26
Equine Discovery ‘B3 Horse
Symposium, Hobday Inn, King
of Prussia
Equine Health Management
Workshop, University of
Delaware, John M. Clayton
Hall, 9 a.m., $5O fee,
registration required
Home gardening expo, Delaware
Valley College, 9 a.xn. - 4:30
p.m.,Doylestown
Performance symposium and
private treaty sale, 10 a.m.,
Devereux Soleil Farms,
Downingtown