Al2—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, January 28,1984
OUR READERS WRITE,
AND OTHER OPINIONS
New Enemies
Of Farmers
Dear Editor:
It is with great distress and
bereavement that we are writing
this letter.
We are small farmers who live in
a small community called Junius,
N.Y. We are located in Seneca
County.
Recently, events have started to
take place which are very
frightening to the American far
mer. P.C.A. (Production Credit)
and the F.m.H.A. (Farmers Home
Administration) have become an
“Enemy” instead of an “Ally” to
the backbone of America.
Seizures of crops, livestock,
machinery and personal items
have become an everyday event ail
through the United States. Brutal
and inhumane tactics have been
the means of some farmers losing
everything they and their
forefathers have built up.
America started with farmers. If
there had been no farmers, this
country could not have grown to be
one of the strongest in the world.
If we are to be told we cannot
farm any longer because
“someone” wants 30 percent less
farmers next year, “someone” has
taken our rights away. Some
countries tell their people who can
be farmers and who cannot. Are
we to believe we are becoming one
of those countries? We live in a
sx&*
the
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OR
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LANDISVILLE, PENNA.
IWVwI W/ 357 iv. James St.-Phone 394-7277
& Sons, Inc. Jj LANCASTER, PENNA
democracy and yet there are some
heads of government operated
offices who not only seize farmers’
belongings, but also are allowed to
take neighboring farmers’
machinery and belongings just
because it is parked on the seized
farmer’s land. If your car was
parked in your neighbor’s
driveway and he was foreclosed
on, would you expect your car to be
taken along with his belongings?
The following is what we wat
ched:
In 1983, the farmer had another
rough time. A lot and we should
say most neighbors in a farming
community were called to the aid
of the neighboring farmer. We
borrowed machinery and we lent
machinery, as well as labor and an
old idea. This idea has become a
must for the American farmer.
This idea is to survive. We love our
country. We love our land even
more. We don’t complain because
it’s not a 9 to 5 job or because we
have to miss the biggest social
event of the year as we have to get
our crops in the ground or harvest
them before the weather tries to
beat us.
The Government has loaned us
all too much money to grow and
now because it costs us more to
grow our crops than we can sell
them for, they say we’re in over
our heads and they will call in all
our loans.
mamz
8982241
394 7277
We stood helpless on Jan. id, itfB4
as a neighbor farmer lost
everything they owned and were
tormented by P.C.A. and F.m.H.A.
people. The next five days were to
become a nightmare for the whole
community. Neighboring farmers
were afraid to go to the aid of a
friend and neighbor because they
might be next. As they took
machinery to nuts and bolts and
old junk tires, we were totally
horrified. Then, the big jolt came.
We watched our machinery go
down the road, too. It was only
parked on this farmer’s land
because he used it when he was in
need last year. We pleaded with
these people not to take it, as it
belonged to us and still they took it.
We were told to go to the
fairgrounds in a neighboring town
to claim it within 10 days and it
would be brought back to us.
A 20-year-old wagon among four
others was purchased by my
husband’s father and was sold with
the farm to my husband. Another
was made by my husband and, of
course, we do not have a Bill of
Sale.
On January 19, we were told we
cannot get the wagons back
without proof of ownership. It’s
going to be tough, but they’re ours
and we need them to operate and
we will get them back. Most of the
people there on the days of the
awful event didn’t even know how
to start farm machinery, let alone
drive it down the road (on a Sun
day) in sub-zero weather. The
weather conditions certainly could
not have helped this equipment.
The wear and tear on the engines,
tires and farmers’ nerves could
have been handled in a much more
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humane way,
We also saw our nine-shank
chisel plow and the two wings from
our cultipacker taken. I’m only
glad our children weren’t on the
land, they may have been taken,
too.
Our fingernails have our dirt
from our soil under them and our
backs have our pain in them at the
end of an 18 or 20-hour day, so why
should our machinery be in their
possession? Can’t someone look
into this mess - slaughter of the
American farmer before America
is no longer known as a self
preserved country. We want to
keep our farms, surely there is a
way to keep our people from going
hungry.
Our plea is not a worthless one,
but any response has been. You
may be next and then what?
Look into our county offices all
over our beautiful country and tell
us “Why?”
May we have a reply to our letter
before we are forced out, too.
Won’t someone try to help? The
American farmer is an en
dangered species.
We help to preserve the
American eagle. Why not help to
preserve the American farmer.
Dale and Suzanne Smith
R 2, Smith Road
Phelps, N.Y.
Farm Calendar
(Continued from Page A 10)
p.m., Briggsville Mt. Zion
Church.
Saturday, Feb. 4
Ephrata Area Young Farmers
annual banquet, 6:45 p.m.,
Durloch-Mt. Airy Fire Hall.
Del. Horse Expo, 8 a.m., Lake
Forest High School, Felton, Del.
![* Now is
the Time
(Continued from Page AID)
see wnere and how much to prune.
And it’s easier to reshape tangled
and low-hanging branches.
Most trees need thinning when
they approach maturity. But,
corrective pruning is important
when trees are young. While the
young tree is growing it’s im
portant to remove a branch
starting in the wrong position
because this branch could change
the whole tree structure. Pruning
consists mostly of cuttings that
train the tree... but it generally
involves more and more thinning
out of weak and dead wood as the
tree matures.
There is a saying that “as the
branch is bent, so will the tree
grow.” With pruning, the results
are even more drastic, for a limb
which is cut will not grow back. So
it’s important to know the proper
method of pruning before you
start. The pruning of dormant
shade trees while they are young
will determine, to a large measure,
the beauty and health of a tree in
later years.
TONNAGE TABLE FOR 8 FT. SIDEWALLS*
V. Width
20' 30’ 40’ 50’
Lengtn^s^
60’ 215 323 432 540
70’ 251 376 504 630
80’ 287 431 576 720
80’ 323 485 648 806
100’ 359 539 720 900
110’ 395 593 792 969
120’ 431 648 864 1080
130’ 467 688 936 1170
140’ 503 755 1008 1260
150’ 539 808 1080 1350
'Baaed on level fill with 45 lbs /Cu Ft
S*&* T JSP..' r imSh'XJ*