*lO-Unca«ty Farming, Saturday, Apiti 2, 1983
(In case you're curious about the heading,
“Ramblections,” it’s a combination of the
words - ramble and recollections. I once was
an ag rambler of sorts throughout the United
States and Canada. From time to time, I’ll
reflect on these ramblings and other
recollections from long ago on a hilly farm in
southeastern Northampton County. The
ramblections will be used at those times that I
don’t feel particularly profound. This is one of
those times.)
Spring brings a return of the sights, sounds
and smells of agriculture that eventually result
in the tastes of farming’s bounty. Things like
the smell of freshly turned earth and the
sounds of barnyard offspring romping off into
the pasture for the first time.
Likewise, Spring activates the senses like no
other time of the year. It gets the blood
pumping again and an itch develops that only
work out in an open field will cure.
I recall a few years back When my senses
were especially activated by agriculture in two
separate sections of the country. One in Texas
and the other in Oregon.
Down in the Texas Panhandle in Deaf Smith
County, there’s a town called Hereford. And
believe me, it’s appropriately named. I spent
three weeks in Hereford, which is located on
the fringes of the High Plains. I arrived on a
cool, comfortable Sunday night. Tired from the
day-loing travel, I went straight to the motel
and bed.
NOW IS THE TIME
To Evaluate Winter
Wheat Topdressing
During this season of the year
many farmers ask the question,
does winter wheat need fertilizing?
According to Extension
agronomists, topdressing with
fertilizer may or may not be a good
idea. There are several things that
should be considered before
making the decision.
In the first place, do not topdress
winter wheat with a fertilizer that
contains nitrogen if the wheat is to
be overseeded with clover or
alfalfa. Nitrogen causes heavy
growth of wheat which may
smother out the new seeding. Now,
the winter wheat fields that have
come through the winter looking
thin, should be topdressed. Use
only a straight nitrogen fertilizer,
such as urea. Topdressing winter
wheat with phosphate or potash
fertilizers have not given any in
creased wheat yields.
Apply the nitrogen fertilizer in
early spring at the rate of 3040
pounds of actual nitrogen per acre.
LET ME TELL YX> 0775, TWS IS
REALLY A SOPER FERTILIZER.,
ThUS STUFF IS GUARANTEED TO
MAKE ANYTHING-, AND X MEAN
ANYTHING-! GROYu. .
LV % '/
Av. 't
s\aav,blecUocis
By Jay Irwin
Lancaster County Agriculture Agent
Phone 717-394-6851
To Plan For Oat Planting
1 know some farmers are con
sidering the use of feed oats for
planting this spring, but this may
not be a good idea. Peed oats may
contain quackgrass, bindweed and
other weed seeds. Planting feed
oats will generally result in lower
yields. You also have the problem
that any weed seeds planted will be
a problem for years to come. Keep
in mind that high quality seed is
the smallest part of producing a
crop. So, saving a few cents by
using inferior or weedy seed
doesn’t make much sense.
On the other hand, home grown
seed of varieties proven successful
on the farm can be cleaned,
treated and planted if the ger
mination is 80 percent or better.
You can use the old “Rag Doll”
germination method where you
place the seed between two pieces
of burlap - roll it and keep it moist
and warm. Then count the seeds
that germinate against the total
and determine the percent ger
mination.
i v ~
BYDICKANGLESTEIN
The next morning I awoke to a rather muggy,
hot day and strolled outside. Something in the
steamy air hit me like a slap in the face.
Hereford is ringed by feedlots that are more
heavily populated than the most congested
oity here in the Northeast.
After a couple of days, I finally asked one of
my new Texan acquaintances if the local
residents ever got accustomed to the heavy
aroma in the air. "What aroma?” he asked.
“That’s no aroma; that's the smell of pure
money, son.”
And across the country in the Willamette
Valley of Oregon, my sense of taste was
equally piqued by agriculture. There, acre
after acre of mint is grown and harvested
much like alfalfa. It is blown into a metal,
sealed forage wagon of sorts. The mint is
steam-distilled right in the wagon and out
comes the pure mint extract that goes as
flavoring into toothpaste and many other
things.
A seed farmer in the valley, who also grew
mint, asked me if I had ever tasted the ‘Veal
thing.” Put a little on your finger tip and taste
it, he said. I missed the emphasis he had
placed on the word, little. Well, I dipped my
finger in and got a good taste. That lick really
shook up the taste buds and for days
everything I ate or drank had a mint taste.
Now, when Spring stirs the ag senses these
two ramblections come back to mind -- the
feedlots of Hereford, Tex. and the mint of
Corvallis, Ore.
ukl
fee
h / v -)^
To Increase Pasture Production
One of the best ways to improve
your permanent pasture is to apply
lime and plant food, practice
rotational grazing and clip them
regularly. This is quicker, cheaper
and involves less risk than tearing
up the old sod and reseeding. Most
permanent pastures have suf
ficient seed of desirable grass
species. The only thing they need is
a little tender loving care and the
opportunity to grow, and to
recover from grazing pressures.
Thus, fertility and rotational
grazing are very beneficial. The
more paddocks you have, the
better it is. If your acreage is
limited for your size herd, restrict
the amount of time cattle and
livestock are permitted to graze.
Don’t let them trample the grass
unnecessarily by allowing them to
roam freely over the pasture while
not grazing. After a paddock has
been grazed, it can be clipped to
control weed growth and to keep
the grass young and nutritious.
(Turn to Page Al 2)
BV LAWRENCE W AIIHOUSt
If myi
RECOGNIZING THE
RESURRECTION
Apr 113,1983
Background Scripture; Acts 9:1-
31; 22:1-21; 26:1-23; I Corinthians
15:3-11.
Devotional Reading: I Corin
thians 15:1-11.
At first glance, it seemed the
planners of the Uniform Lesson
Services had made a strange
choice of scriptural passages for
Easter Sunday. Why hadn’t they
chosen a ressurrection passage
from one of the four gospels? But
as soon as I read the selected
background passages from the
Book of Acts, I realized that the
choices were not strange at all, but
highly appropriate.
In his fine book, Jesus Lord and
Christ (Harper), one of my former
seminary teachers. Professor John
Knox, makes the observation that
when we read Paul’s letters in the
New Testament we are likely “to
be struck by what would appear to
be an almost complete lack of
interest in the words and acts of
Jesus.” The reason, suggests
Knox, is not that the Apostle was
totally unfamiliar with Jesus’
words and deeds, but that he at
tached much greater importance
to knowing the Risen Lord.
“WHO ARE YOU,
LORD?”
We can easily understand why
Paul was more concerned with the
Christ he encountered on the
Damascus Road than the Jesus
who was known and remembered
by the disciples who had followed
Jesus in his ministry. It was Paul’s
experience of the Risen Lord on the
Damascus Road that transformed
Farm. Calendar
Saturday, April 2
10th Annual Black Eyed Susan
Sale, Md. Polled Hereford
Assn., Frederick, Md.
Fairgrounds.
Monday, April A
Bradford County Dairy Princess
Committee, 8 p.m., Canton
Bank.
Tuesday, April 5
Adams County Sheep Producers, 8
p.m., Gettysburg National
Bank.
Franklin County ASCS annual
banquet, 7 p.m., Kauffman’s
Community Center.
Direct Marketing Conference, 9:30
a.m., Ramada Inn, Clarks
Summit.
Bradford County Sheep & Wool
Growers annual meeting, 7:30
p.m., Extension Office.
Christmas Tree grower meeting,
7:30 p.m., Berks County Ag
Center.
Pa. Farm Vacation Assn., 10:30
a.m., Best Western, State
College.
Wednesday, April 8
Lancaster Conservation District,
7:30 p.m., Farm and Home
Center.
Livestock Conservation Institute
annual meeting, continues
tomorrow, Sheraton Meridian
Hotel, Indianapolis.
S ultra Crop Management Assn.
Bd. of Directors, 8 p.m.,
Bradford County Extension
Office.
NEDCO dairy meeting, 8 p.m.,
Kisser’s Restaurant, Rt. 422,
Stouchsburg.
Hunterdon County, N.J. Board of
Agriculture, 8 p.m.. Extension
Center.
York pesticide license update
meeting, 7:30 p.m.. Extension
Office meeting room.
his life and Christianity as well.
This doesn’t mean that the words
and deeds of Jesus are not ing
portant - they have spoken to, won
and inspired millions - but
ultimately it is our own experience
of the Christ In our lives that is the
only basis for a life continuously
committed to his service. If the
resurrected Christ had been ex
perienced only on Easter Sunday,
the whole nature and meaning of
the Good News of Jesus Christ
would be drastically changed.
So the essence of Christianity
consists, not in acknowledging that
on Easter Sunday Christ arose
from the tomb, but that the Risen
Lord can be experienced in our
lives today as the source of our
strength and faith. The
resurrection must be a continuing
experience in the world if it is to
really mean anything to us.
This may secretly disturb a lot of
people who believe they have
never really experienced the Risen
Lord themselves. But the problem
is, not that they have not encounted
Christ, but that they have failed to
recognize his presence in their '
lives. Some people have dramatic
Damascus Road experiences:
visions, voices, moments of ec
stacy, etc. But that is not the only
way we encounter the Risen Lord.
Even Paul was unsure and in midst
of his Damascus Road experience,
he asked: “Who are you, Lord?”
THE STILL, SMALL
VOICE
Sometimes we encounter the
Risen Lord in his words and deeds,
sometimes in the words and deeds
of another person. Sometimes, he
speaks to us in the still, small voice
of conscience. Sometimes, as we
gaze at a great work of religious
art, he communicates with us, if
we permit him to do so. Sometimes
it is in a crust of bread we receive
from another or give to another
that we hear him say to us, “This is
my body...”
We need to learn to recognize the
resurrection in our lives.
Warwick FFA Banquet, 6:30 p.m.,
BrickerviUe Fire Hall.
Stray Voltage presentation, Room
418, Main Capitol, Minority
Caucus Room.
Thursday, April 7
Pa. Holstein Assn. Show and Sale,
continues tomorrow. Farm
Show Complex, Harrisburg. -
DVC Lab Animal Science Club
meeting, 8 p.m., Delaware
Valley College.
Bradford County Extension swine
meeting, 7:30 pan., Wyalusing
Fire Ball.
Woodland Owner Clinic, 4-H
Center, McKean County"'
Fairgrounds, Smcthport. -
NEDCO dairy meeting, 8 p.m.,
Vicksburg Community Hall.
Friday, April 8
Purina Lancaster Chow Plant
Grand Opening, Hempfield
Industrial Park, off Rt 30 at
Centreville exit. Ag Sec. John
Block to speak at about 11:30
a.m.
Hunterdon County Soil Con
servation District annual
dinner, 7 p.m., Quakertown
Fire House.
PEMA meeting, Sheraton
Conestoga, Lancaster, 6:30
p.m.
Red & White Dairy Cattle Show
and Sale, Farm Show Complex,
continues tomorrow.
Annual Feeder Pig Show and Sale
for FFA and 4-H projects,
Carlisle' Livestock Market,
show 10 a.m., sale 1:30 p.m.
PFA political action FARMER
annual, dinner, 7:45 p.m.,
Hershey Country Club.
Saturday, April 9 a
Pa. Ayrshire Breeders
Project Calf Sale, 1 p.m., at
detus and Mary Rhodes farm,
(Turn to Page Al 2)