AlO-lancaster Farming, Saturday, May 25,1985
NOW IS THE TIME
To Recognize Stage
of Maturity
Harvesting at the proper stage of
maturity is the most important
factor in the process of making top
quality hay or silage. Many far
mers allow their crops to become
too mature before cutting. This is
very easy to do early in the spring
when leather conditions are poor
for making hay.
The legumes such as alfalfa and
clover are at their peak when in the
bud to early blossom stage. The
grasses are highest in feed
nutrients at heading time. Winter
grains contain the most feeding
value when made into silage in the
blossom stage.
The crop may be easier to cure
later in the spring but not contain
top feeding values. The making of
crops into silage, instead of hay,
early in the season is one way to
preserve maximum nutritional
value.
To Check Stored Pesticides
The shelf life of most pesticides,
when stored in their original
containers, is usually several
years. The greatest problem with
stored pesticides comes from
freezing temperatures. Cold
HARRISBURG - Rep. Samuel
W. Morns, D-Pottstown, is calling
for creation of a $2.3 million
Pennsylvania Agricultural Crop
and Livestock Productivity
Program to help insure long-term
prosperity for the state’s largest
industry.
The legislation (H.B. 1224), co
sponsored by Morns, who is
Chairman of the House Agriculture
and Rural Affairs Committee,
would set aside funds for acid rain
research, avian flu and other
animal disease research, diagnosis
and treatment. It also would un
derwrite an on-going poultry
disease surveillance to prevent a
repeat of the avian flu outbreak
which devastated the industry last
year.
Agriculture is Pennsylvania’s
biggest cash industry and its
biggest growth industry, the
Chester County lawmaker noted.
He said it was the duty of state
government to protect its principal
industries and to be on the lookout
for threats to such key elements of
economy. Government, he said,
should provide the kinds of aid and
services which individual en
trepreneurs cannot generate for
themselves.
Principal products in Penn
sylvania’s agricultural mix, he
noted, are grains for feed and
human consumption, truck and
fruit crops, dairy products and
SINCE AAAY IS BEEF MONTH, WE WISH WOT
ONLY TO SALUTE OOR BEEF PRODUCERS BUT
ALSO, To TRANK YOU, FOR PROV/D/NCr AMERICA
AND OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD WITH ONE
OF OOR MOST IMPORTANT FOOD PRODUCTS
yt>o!
By Jay Irwin
Lancaster County Agriculture Agent
Phone 717-394-6851
winter temperatures may cause a
breakdown of the emulsifier in
liquid materials. These materials
may not mix properly when added
to the spray water.
To determine if the pesticide will
still mix properly with water,
follow this easy procedure; (1)
place % pint of water in a small
container; (2) add % to 1 teaspoon
of the pesticide; (3) shake or stir
thoroughly (you should get a milky
mixture); (4) let stand for about
one hour. The spray mix should
remain an even milky mixture. If
an oily scum or layer forms on top,
or if a layer of curds appear on top,
don’t use the material.
To Check Water Supplies
Water is one of our most im
portant resources, and it should be
checked periodically. Many
families depend on wells for their
water supply. But they pay little
attention to the water unless the
pump fails or the well runs dry.
Your water should be tested an
nually to determine its quality.
It is important to test water
following any reconstruction or
addition to the water supply or its
distribution system. Water sup
plies should be checked whenever
Morris proposes $2 million
ag productivity program
poultry and other meat products. A
flaw in Pennsylvania’s current
services to farmers is the state’s
failure to adequately address the
problems of pollution on crops and
diseases on animals, he said.
The plan would set aside $400,000
for acid rain research, $300,000 for
epidemiology and health
economics training at veterinary
schools concentrating on large
animals, $275,000 for a com
puterized diagnostic and tracking
network and $153,000 for livestock
disease diagnosis. Also, the plan
earmarks $183,000 for a field in
vestigation team on animal
diseases, $375,000 for avian in
fluenza research, $500,000 for
poultry research and surveillance
programs and $169,000 for
diagnostic services at poultry
laboratories.
The lawmaker said there was a
lesson in avian flu “which ap
parently has been lost on” the state
Department of Agriculture.
In 1979, an eminent
epidemiologist, Dr. Daniel Coher,
recommended the creation of a
"modern early-warning epidemic
intelligence system in the Com
monwealth” for animal disease
similar to that underway in New
York state. Those recom
mendations, according to Morns,
were not implemented and the
avian flu epidemic, which could
have been better contained with a
a disease occurs that may have
been caused by unsafe drinking
water. If water changes in taste,
odor or appearance for no reason,
it should be tested.
There are many tests and
analyses that can be used. Two of
the most important are for nitrates
and bacteria.
To Be Aware of Ticks
The tick season is here. These
pests may be on almost any dog or
person that walks through un
cultivated fields or woody areas
from May to September.
Ticks await their victims on low
growing shrubs and on tall grass.
They attach to, and feed on the
blood of, dogs and humans as well
as many other animals.
To control the American dog
tick, first clean the area of tall
grass and weeds on which the ticks
await their victims. Also, treat
bushes 20 to 30 feet on either side of
paths with either Sevin, Diazinon
or Lindane. The dog should also be
treated with a 5% Sevin dust at
weekly intervals, or as needed, to
control ticks.
The Penn State Extension Service is an
affirmative action, equal opportunity
educational institution
more effective early warning
system, almost wiped out Penn
sylvania’s poultry industry.
State government, said Morns,
has the duty to work to prevent a
repeat in the poultry industry or in
another animal area.
His program, he added, will not
attempt to seek a solution to the
acid ram problem. Rather, he said,
it will underwrite research to
determine what kinds of crops do
best under current conditions and
which hybrids can be most
productive.
Morns noted that besides avian
influenza, Pennsylvania
agriculture is threatened by such
animal diseases as pseudorabies,
wildlife rabies, trichinosis and
various cattle diseases.
The Chester County legislator
noted that the Thornburgh Ad
ministration has cut more than $1
million from livestock disease
research programs in the
Department of Agriculture in its
1985-86 budget proposal.
The Crop and Livestock
Productivity Program would
restore the cuts and move into
advanced animal disease control
and research into acid-rain
resistant crops.
Background Scripture:
Proverbs 1:7-19; 3:5-6; 14:1-12.
Devotional Reading:
Proverbs 6:1-15.
One of the achievements of
understanding is the ability to
differentiate between intelligence,
education, and wisdom. Lots of
people fail to distinguish the im
portant differences between them.
Some of the most intelligent
people I’ve known have not much
of a formal education (although an
education could have enhanced
their superior intelligence). I’ve
also known some people who were
well educated and obviously quite
intelligent, but that did not
necessarily say that they were also
wise. In fact, some of the most
foolish people I’ve known (and this
can include myself) have been
both well-educated and quite in
telligent.
LEARNED FOOLS
I have frequently noted that
some people seem to reach a point
in life where, surrounded upon
success after success, they have
come to believe that all their
judgements and decisions are
guaranteed to be right. Hitler, for
example, began the Second World
War with a string of brilliant
victories. As time went by,
however, he was so intoxicated by
his success, that he refused to
follow the wise advice of those
around him. The result was
Pa. Simmental Association Sale,
Farm Show Building. Small
Arena, 1 p m
York County dairy pnmess
pageant, Bpm, York Countv 4-
H Center
North West Keystone Jr Beet
Classic, Mercer Countv 4-H
Park, Mercer
Pa Dairy Promotion Boanl
Meeting, 10 a m , Room 309 ot
Agriculture Building.
Harrisburg
UNIVERSITY PARK - Two
new agricultural minors have been
created at The Pennsylvania State
University.
Dr. William C. Richardson,
executive vice president and
provost of the University, in-
THE LIMITS
OF WISDOM
May 26,1985
Farm Calendar
Saturday, May 25
Sunday, May 26
Thursday, May 30
Penn State adds ag options
crushing defeat. I have also known
businessmen with brilliant track
records for success after success
who, eventually, have come to
bitter and humiliating ends. The
reason: they forgot or perhaps
never knew that there are always
limits to human wisdom.
The problem is that our
cleverness often leads us in the
direction of pride and self
satisfaction, which is the opposite
direction from wisdom. If we are
really learned or smart or both, we
will realize the limitations of these
faculties. The result will be
humility, not pnde. The more we
know, the more we will realize how
much we don’t know. The more we
understand, the more we ■ will
acknowledge the enormity of what
we do not understand.
WISE IN WHOSE EYES?
But there’s more to it than
learning our own limitations. The
writer of Proverbs counsels us:
“Trust in the Lord with all your
heart, and do not rely on your own
insight” (3:5). The more we learn
about life, the more we will realize
that none of us, by ourselves, is
sufficient. There are tunes when
we have thought as clearly as we
can think, when we have per
severed as long as we could, and
worked as hard as we have
strength, and it still was not
enough. Real learning, intelligence
and wisdom mean that we find
there is something beyond our
selves on which we must
ultimately rely and someone to
whom we must eventually turn.
“Trust in the Lord.. ” is the sage’s
counsel, but it takes a truly smart
person to do it. Only the smart
person realizes that smartness is
never enough - no matter how
brilliant it may seem to ourselves,
no matter how much it may dazzle
others.
When we have reached the ex
tremities of our own wisdom, it is
then that we enter to the precincts
of the wisdom of God.
Wednesday, June 5
Lancaster Consenation Distm t
monthl} board meeting, 7 Mi
p m , Fai m and Home Centei
( edai Crest Young Karmeis
Banquet, Si haelterstown Fn i
Hall, 7 p m
Friday, June 7
J/th Delmana Chu ken h estival a!
Wicomno Youth and Civk
t enter, Salisbury. Mil , (on
tmues through June 9
.S K Pa Lamb (Irading and
Marketing workshop, continues
through June 8, Petei s
Brothers Meals, I ,enhartsville
Milk . It's Fitness You (.an Dunk
Da}, 11 ,10a m . independent e
Mall, Centei ( it\ 1 hiladelphia
formed the Penn State Board ot
Trustees today (May 17) that no
additional funding is required for
these changes.
The new minor in wildlife
science provides nonmajors with
an introduction to the principles
and practices of wildlife research
and management, he said, offering
an introduction to wildlife con
servation, mammalogy and or
nithology, as well as wildlife
ecology and management.
The new minor in poultfy
technology and management
enables students to focus their
studies m the poultry field while at
the same time pursuing a major
such as animal bioscience,
agricultural business management
or agricultural education, Dr.
Richardson said.
He added that no new courses
are required for either of the new
minors, both of which are in the
College of Agriculture.