Ait—Lancaster Faming, Satartfay, NavaMbar 2S, IM3
S\aav\AecUous
BY DICK ANGLESTEIN
"Thank you" has become one of the popular
phrases of the English language which has
essentially lost its meaning. It is said so often
and so matter-of-factly that the speaker rarely
has any real intention of expressing true
thankfulness. It's a lot tike the traditional
greeting of "How are you?" More often than
not the questioner could care less about your
welfare and more than likely you'll not answer
your true feelings of how you really feel.
But what then is the real meaning of giving
thanks? The true expression of thankfulness
may be giving thanks when there doesn't
appear to be any apparent reason to do so.
Such situations may arise alt too often in
agriculture where farmers daily contend with
variables that are beyond their personal
control.
A number of years ago, I traveled through
Texas on a combine-chasing trip. One stop was
in Waxahachie south of the Dallas-Fort Worth
area. That area - normally very hot and dry -
was in the midst of one of its worst periods of
sustained drought. Down there drought is
measured in months rather than weeks and
sometimes in years. (Some old-timers even
maintained that it was one of the few times
they can remember that even if it did ram the
drops evaporated before they reached the
ground.)
Our visit included a Texas farmer who had
bought a new combine he'd never get to use
that year. His milo crop just wasn't worth
combining; it would be cut and baled to
salvage as forage.
He took us on a tour of his parched fields.
His weathered, sun-darkened face was nearly
as deeply lined as his fields.
NOW IS THE TIME
To Be Careful When
Cleaning Manure Pits
Many manure pits will be emp
tied at this time of year; it’s an
opportunity to clean out the pit
before cold weather arrives. When
this volume of manure is agitated
there is greater danger of toxic and
explosive gases being released.
Every precaution should be taken.
If there are animals above the pit,
then maximum ventilation should
be provided. When the pit is empty
or partially empty, no one should
enter the pit without a respirator
or gas mask. There may be
dangerous gases present. Also, no
smoking or open flames should be
nearby. These pits are the modern
way to store manure, but they do
present a hazard to both man and
animal.
To Appreciate
Harvest Completioß
Once again we have come to the
end of another growing season and
OHs
ITS AUTOMATIC
True meaning of thanks
By Jay Irwin
Lancaster County Agriculture Agent
Phone 717-394-6851
the finalizing of the harvest.
Although 1963 was an un
favorable year hereabouts for
field, orchard and garden crops,
there has been adequate
production of food and feed, ob
serves Arnold G. Lueck,
Agronomy-Horticulture Agent.
The harvest is now 95 percent
plus completed. There now comes
a good feeling of satisfaction when
all is safely gathered in. And it all
brings rewards of a growing
season gone by.
Rewards from crop production
come as a result of a choice
selection of seeds and plants; of
careful preparation of the seed
bed; of fertilizing, tilling and
weeding; of cooperation from
weather’s rain and sunshine; and
of the owner or manager inputs.
Harvest time follows. A time of joy
and thanksgiving should now
prevail.
HECK NO I
ITS THE
Milo that should have been brushing your
chest and shoulders hardly reached your
knees. The leaves were completely curled.
They were as brittle as glass and shattered at
the touch. You had to look hard to find any tiny
kernels in the partially formed heads.
Just walking in the fields was difficult. The
sun-baked grounds had deep ruts and cracks
that resembled a loaf of bread or cake left too
long in the oven. When you stopped, the heat
seeped through the soles of your shoes and
you kept walking like a barefoot boy who
toddles quickly across a hot sidewalk.
"We’ve come to expect heat and dryness
down here," said the weathered man in the
cowboy hat and boots.
“It’s a way of life for us.
"But this year it's been particularly bad. Not
even our milo could take it.
“I’ve been plowing these dusty, dry soils for
more than 25 years. From the time you turn it
in the spring until you combine it in the fall, it
gets in your eyes and grinds like grit between
your teeth.
"But these soils were put here for a pur
pose. Maybe, they don’t produce like they
could every year. But every once in a while, it
all comes together and we have a bumper
crop.
"In those few bumper years, it's easy to be
thankful. In the many lean, dry years, it’s a bit
harder.
“But a lot of me has gone into these soils -
just as much during the bad years as the good
ones. So, I've come to be thankful for both."
This grizzled Texas farmer had found the
true meaning of giving thanks. It’s a way of life
-just like farming is.
THOSE TWO ARE ARGUING
OVER WHAT NEW TECHNOLOGY
ARE /V\OST
' THE FARMS
\PARED TO
I YS
To Check
Standby Generators
Your standby generator may be
needed at any time. Is it ready?
With all the uses of electricity on
the farm today, we need this type
of emergency equipment. We are
in the weather season now when we
can expect both snow and ice
storms that can give us power
outages. This means that activities
on many farms will stop when the
electricity fails. To have a standby
generator is very good
management; however, you need
to run this generator at least once
every two weeks to be sure it is in
good running order when needed.
This kind of emergency equip
ment can be a life saver for both
man and animal or poultry, as well
as eliminate possible financial
losses.
(Turn to Page Al 2)
ENTRUSTED
November 27,1983
Background Scripture:
Matthew 5:13-16; 28-.IS-20; 2
Corinthians 5:1(1-21,2 Timothy 4:1-
Devotlonal Reading:
2 Timothy 4:1-6.
It is a sobering experience to be
entrusted with something im
portant. The more important that
something is, the more sobering it
is likely to be. Correspondingly, it
may be unsettling to be reminded
of something that has been en
trusted to us and which we have
largely forgotten or overlooked.
How terrible to find that someone
depended upon us and we have let
than down.
Sometimes, of course, we have
the opportunity to make good on
our original commitment. There is
still time left to fulfill someone’s
trust in us. Other times, we come
to the realization all too late and all
we have left then is remorse and
shame and a disappointment with
ourselves.
GIVEN A MINISTRY
This column is written to remind
you of something which has been
entrusted to you something
which, perhaps, you may have
forgotten or which needs renewed
dedication and effort. It is an at
tempt to call this entrustment to
your attention while there is still
time to do something about it.
Writing his second letter to the
church at Corinth, Paul uses these
KEEPING AMERICA ON THE GROW
America is number one in agriculture because of a
simple idea. In the past, we invested in our young
people. Today, they lead the world in agriculture.
Programs teaching production, horticulture, processing,
sales and service, natural resources, forestry and agri
mechanics are essential. Through such educational
programs, young people learn to use the modern
technology of agriculture to feed our nation and the
world.
We have to keep America on the grow. We have to
invest in the people and technology that ensures our
world leadership in agriculture.
That’s why your support of vocational and technical
education in agriculture, and the Future Farmers of
America in your community, is so important.
Together, we’re Keeping America
on the Grow.
Future Farmers of America
THE /WST appreciated )
HUH? I'D SHY —-V
wards to remind the Corinthian
Christiana—and us:
All this la from God, who through
Christ reconciled ua to himself and
gave ua the ministry of recon
ciliation; that is, God was in Christ
reconciling the world to him
self...and entrusting to ua the
message of reconciliation. So we
are ambassadors for Christ, God
making his appeal through us.
(5:16-20).
Now, just in case you may think T
seized without justification upon
that word “entrusting,” please
note that, not once, but no less than
three times in that one passage
Paul reminds us that God is
depending upon us to fulfill the
task with which he entrusted us: he
“gave us the ministry of recon
ciliation,” “entrusting to us the
message of reconciliation,” and we
are “ambassadors for Christ, God
making his appeal through us.”
Clearly, our task: reconciliation.
BE RECONCILED
Stop and think a moment: how
well have you carried out that
entrustment? How much recon
ciling have you carried on in the
world about you? Are you involved
in reconciling people to God and
each other, or do your activities
tend to divide people and drive
them further apart? What kind of
appeal is God able to make through
you?
I don’t know how well you did on
those questions above, but I must
confess that I don’t think I’ve done
so well. All too often I’ve been
involved in efforts that divide and
alienate people. Instead of healing
rifts, I have often worked at
widening them. And even when I
have not really been hurting the
reconciling work of God in the
world. I don’t think I’ve been
helping it a whole lot.
To read this passage from 2
Corinthians 5 has been a sobering
experience for me. I hope it will be
for you, too.
Eddie Albert: Actor, Conservationist
Farm Calendar v
Monday, Nov. 28
New England Vegetable Growers
Convention, Sheraton Inn,
Foxborough, Mass., continues
through Wednesday.
Tuesday, Nov. 29
Conservation tillage conference
and trade show, National Guard
Armory, north of Trenton, N. J.
Thursday, Dec. 1
Third International Hog Trade
(Turn to Page Al 2)