AlO—Undrtir Fifing, Sntnriiy, April 18,1983
One , big garbage can
BY DICKANGLESTEIN
For the past two years, I've taken a hundred
or more Farmland Preservation photos in a
number of counties. The photos are designed
to emphasize the intrinsic scenic beauty of
what can and should be saved for future
generations
For a good many of these photos, I have
been forced to do some preliminary
housecleaning before I could click the shutter.
I’ve cleaned up just about every brand of soft
drink bottle and can imaginable, as well as
those from other beverages. I've carted away
entire bags of garbage and other items that
have been tossed along rural roadsides by
passing motorists.
The accompanying cartoon may stretch my
dismay at these garbage tossers a bit, but it
helps to get across the point.
These drinkers' discards and other garbage
are not limited to one area. They can be found
everywhere across the rural countryside.
During the height of the Bicentennial in
1976, I worked for a week or so in the Con
cord, Mass. area. In some free time, I made a
hobby out of photographing the area’s
historical sites which are closely associated
with the founding of our country.
I photographed them in two different ways.
One way was to show them as beautifully as I
could. And the other way was to include the
bottles, cans and garbage that were carelessly
Farm Calendar
Saturday, April 16
All-ag banquet, 7:30 p.m.,
American Legion, Eldred, Md.
Sunday, April 17
Southeast Grape Industry Assn.,
1:30 p.m., Lancaster Farm and
Home Center
Monday, April 18
McKean County Sheep Producers
meet, 8 p.m., Extension Center,
Smithport
Adams Co. Beekeepers, 7:30 p.m.,
Penn State Fruit Research Lab,
Biglerville
Tuesday, April 19
Poultry Sales and Service con
ference, University Park
OTIS
campus, continues tomorrow,
registration in J.O. Keller
Bldg., begins 9 a.m.
McKean Co. Beekeepers, 7:30
p.m., courthouse, Coudersport
Bradford Co. 4-H Advisory
Committee, 8 p.m., Extension
office
Wednesday, April 20
Hunterdon Co., N.J. Agricultural
Development Board, 8 p.m.,
Extension Center
Bradford Co. 4-H leader’s clothing
training, 10 a.m. till 2:30 p.m.,
Extension office
Bradford DHIA board, 8 p.m.
you MEAN
IT NEVER
EVEN &ETS
WASHED ?
I S 3
'(S3
MOPE
"I'm all for this farmland preservation stuff.
After all, without farms, where would I throw
my cans and other trash?"
tossed around at the sites. None of the sites
were spared the garbage -- Concord Square,
Longfellow’s home, the bridge where the
‘‘embattled farmers fired the shot heard
around the world," Wayside Inn and Walden’s
Pond.
And, I guess, quite appropriately a lot of the
cans and bottles were decorated with flags
and slogans in commemoration of the coun
try’s 200th birthday.
Another time, I crossed the country tracking
down farmers who were using the first forage
harvesters equipped with a metal detector.
Everywhere, the choppers were stopping
because of the discards of modern society.
One instance close to home happened at the
Hershey Estates, along Rt. 322, where har
vesting was being halted every couple of feet
by the metal detector. Finally, it was
discovered that a paperboy was opening his
bundles nearby and tossing the wires over the
fence into the alfalfa field.
There's a proposed beverage deposit bill
currently in Harrisburg. I don’t know if it's the
complete answer. During my travels, I too,
watched the groups of youngsters cleaning up
the Oregon roadsides where such a law was in
©ffect.
But, in any event, it’s high time that
something is done. The time is long past for
some kind of action to stop rural roadsides
from being the garbage can for the rest of the
world.
Extension office
Thursday, April 21
Bradford Co. Home Ec. Advisory
Committee, 1:30 to 3 p.m..
Extension office
Pa. Jersey bred heifer sale,
Mercer County fairgrounds,
Mercer
Empire Polled Hereford Assn. sth
Annual Classic Sale, Ithaca,
n.y.
International trotting pony sale,
Farm Show Complex
Maple Festival, Troy Fairgrounds,
continues tomorrow
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Saturday, April 23
3URE IT DOES.., '
EVERY /WORMNCr
W HEN I TAKE
A SHOWER J
I b> LAWRENCE W-AIIHOUM
“saißai.
THESE
VAIN THINGS
April 17,1983
Background Scriptures:
Acts 12:25 through 14:28.
Devotional Reading:
I Peter 1:19-25.
The opposition which Paul and
Barnabas encountered—as well as
other apostles, too—as they went
forth to preach the Good News,
came from two different sources:
the Jews, who believed the Gospel
was threatening to their depen
dence upon the law, and the
Gentiles who worshipped the
pantheon of Roman/Greek gods
and goddesses.
When Paul and Barnabas en
countered some of the latter at
Lystra (modem Turkey), they
spoke out against the idolatry of
their religion and called them to
“turn from these vain things to a
living God who made the heaven
and the earth and the earth and the
sea and all that is in them." The
“vain things,” of course, were the
pagan idols.
TWO KINDS
OF IDOLATRY
Actually, there is a sense in
which idolatry is at the heart of
both the groups that are opposing
the apostles. Idolatry means to
worship, revere or look for
salvation to an object, usually
made by human hands. For the
Gentiles the idols were their pagan
gods who at best were capricious
and amoral. The apostles tried to
help the Gentiles to realize how
fruitless it is to worship or put our
trust in anything made by human
NOW IS THE TIME
Lancaster County Afnculture Afent
Phone 717-394^5851
To Check Water Supplies
Your water supply should be
checked at least once a year for
nitrates and bacteria. Nitrates can
get into ground water from several
sources from a septic field, a
barnyard or feed lot, silage
seepage or from nitrogen fertilizer
on surrounding cropland. Nitrogen
can travel further through the soil
than bacteria, with the likelihood
that more wells may be polluted
with nitrates than with bacteria.
And, nitrates can be dangerous.
Nitrogen in drinking water reduces
the ability of the blood to carry
oxygen and causes symptoms of
oxygen deficiency in people and
animals. If your drinking water
hasn’t been checked within the last
year, then do it now. Also, if you
notice any changes in your water,
such as an off-color, an unusual
flavor or even an odor than be sure
to have it tested immediately.
Remember, these samples should
be taken to the lab in either a
container provided by the lab or a
sterilized bottle.
To Incorporate Manure
Many bams, poultry houses and
feed lots will be cleaned out in the
next few weeks. We repeat the
suggestion that this material be
either injected into the soil or
worked into the topsoil within a few
days after application. This will
not only preserve more fertilizer
elements but will reduce odors and
preserve good public relations with
your neighbors. Discing, chiseling
or plowing after the waste ap
fen
hands. These “vain things” were
utterly powerless to help anyone.,
Not only could these idols not
help them, but they were even
more dangerous in that they
tended to become inferior
sustitutes for the experience of the
true God, “a living God who made
the heaven and the earth...’’lt is
the exchange of lifeless objects for
the source of life. Whereas men
designed and made their idols, it is
God who designs and creates his
children. Thou source of life is not
to be found in out creativity, but in
that of the Creator.
In many ways, the heavy
dependence upon the Jewish
religious law was a kind of
idolatry, for it tended to substitute
human religious traditions and
interpretations for the experience
of the living God. As we saw in last
week’s passage from Acts 11,
Peter turned to the law as his
defense against the command of
the living God. It does not mean
that the law was all wrong, but that
people made of the law something
that was not intended.
RAINS AND
FRUITFUL SEASONS
Is that not still one of the great
dangers that confronts the Gospel?
Are we too not prone to finding
idolatrous substitutes for the ex
perience of the living God? Isn’t it
possible that our religious systems
and structures, which came into
being to preserve the experience of
the living God, often end up as
substitutes. Instead of relying upon
the living God, we tend to rely on
doctrines, creeds, ecclesiastical
systems, clergy, rituals, etc. Even
the Bible itself can be used—and
often has been—as a substitute for
the living God. When that happens,
we have made of it an idol just as
surely as if we had fashioned it
with our own hands.
There are lots of “vain things”
that can lead us away from an
encounter with the living God.
Idolatry is not dead—just
disguised.
By Jay Irwin
plication is strongly recom
mended. Livestock and poultry
manure have considerable fer
tilizer value when applied into the
soil before exposed to weathering.
We urge our farmers to recognize
this organic fertilizer and utilize it
fully.
To Manage Alfalfa Stands
With nearly every species of
livestock, the feeding of top quality
alfalfa hay or silage is highly
recommended. At dairy meetings
we hear how good alfalfa is in the
rations, and at sheep meetings-we
learn that good alfalfa hay is the
backbone of the ewe feeding
program. Alfalfa meal is often
used as a source of protein in other
rations. It all adds up to the fact
that alfalfa is one of our most
important forage crops. Every
farmer should make a special
effort to produce maximum
amounts per acre. This takes
management along with proper
lime, fertilizer, insect and disease
control. Since we are now at the
beginning of another cropping
season, more attention to alfalfa
might benefit many farmers. Don’t
be satisfied with a poor stand. The
crop is worthy of our best at
tention.
Many farms have alarm
systems, and unless they are
tested regularly to determine that
they will function immediately in
an emergency, they may create a
false sense of- security. It is im-
To Check Alarm Systems
(Turn to RageAl2)