AlO-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, September 21,1985
NOW IS THE TIME
To Be Careful
During Silo Filling
Two problems are occurring
during this silo filling season as a
result of the excellent growing
year. One is overloading wagons
causing broken spindles, twisted
frames and bent axles. Com silage
is heavy this year and overloaded
wagons crossing ditches and ruts
in fields causes excessive strain on
equipment. If your wagon is full
when only half way around the
field, change wagons; the “down
time’’ making repairs is more
costly than the time to change
wagons.
The other problem is “silo gas.”
We are receiving a lot of calls
concerning silo gas. These gases
can develop from one to 14 days
after the silo is filled. Most of these
gases have a chlorine-laundry
bleach odor. Some are yellow and
some are colorless. Don’t take any
chances-never enter a partly filled
silo without running the blower for
at least 15 minutes. These gases
are heavier than air and will come
down the chute into the barn. Be
careful around recently filled silos.
To Beware of
Frosted Chips
Colder weather means frost. In
fact this is good news to many of us
who have had enough of hot humid
weather this summer. Livestock
producers who have fields of
underway throughout state
HARRISBURG - Harvesting
activities for the Pennsylvania
apple crop were about £(f the
halfway point during the week
ending September 15, according to
the Pennsylvania Crop Reporting
Service. Meanwhile, harvest of the
Commonwealth’s pear and grape
crop continued on schedule.
According to the Service, five
days were rated suitable for
fieldwork. Activities for the week
included harvesting potatoes,
tomatoes, pumpkins, sweet corn,
hay, com silage and tobacco; and
some fall plowing.
Topsoil moisture statewide was
41 percent short and 59 percent
adequate. Northern region
reporters rated soil moisture 30
percent short and 70 percent
adequate. Southern reporters
rated soil moisture supplies 36
percent short and 64 percent
adequate.
Overall Pennsylvania com crop
condition was rated 45 percent
excellent, 39 percent good, 13
percent fair and three percent
poor. Statewide, four percent of the
com crop was reported in the silk
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By Jay Irwin
Lancaster County Agriculture Agent
Phone 717-394-6851
sudan-sorghum hybrids should
keep in mind that when frost hits
these crops they could be toxic to
livestock for seven to 10 days
following the freeze. After this
period, and the plants are dead,
they may be used safely. However,
any growth coming from the plant
after a killing frost might also be
toxic.
Another frost hazard would be to
permit livestock to graze alfalfa or
clover stands while the frost is still
on the plant. This can cause severe
bloating. Allow the frost to melt
and the plants to dry before
grazing. Good management is
needed on various forage crops
after a killing frost.
Recent growing conditions have
favored the growth of alfalfa and
weeds. In many cases the
broadleaf weeds will crowd out the
small alfalfa plants, if not con
trolled. Early seedlings of alfalfa
without a nurse crop need some
weed protection.
One practice suggested in the
Agronomy Guide is to spray with
2,4-D B when the weeds are one
inch tall. This will knock out the
broadleaf weeds without harming
the alfalfa plants.
If the weeds are permitted to
develop larger, they will be hard to
Harvesting, fall plowing
stage, 28 percent in dough, 58
percent dented and 10 percent
mature. Last year at this time,
com was reported as six percent in
silk, 44 percent in dough, 45 per
cent in dent and five percent
mature. Northern reporters rated
the crop as 50 percent excellent, 27
percent good, 18 percent fair and
five percent poor. Central
reporters rated com as 44 percent
excellent, 44 percent good, 10
percent fair and two percent poor.
Southern reporters rated com as 44
percent excellent, 40 percent good,
13 percent fair, two percent poor
and one percent very poor. The
harvest of com silage was reported
to be 18 percent complete
statewide.
Statewide, the condition of
soybeans was rated 36 percent
excellent, 49 percent good, 13
percent fair and two percent poor.
The harvest of potatoes was
reported to be 72 percent complete,
compared to 52 percent complete
last year at this time. Northern,
central and southern region
reporters indicate harvesting rates
of 56, 80 and 77 percent, respec-
To Control Weeds
in New Alfalfa
TRV landing
A PENTAGON
CONTRACT /
kill without hurting the alfalfa.
Alfalfa seeding is an expensive
practice; this investment needs
protection by controlling the
weeds. Many good stands of alfalfa
have been ruined by excessive
weed growth.
To Store
Pesticides Safely
Most producers are about
finished with their spray materials
for the year. Many of these can be
held over until next year with good
results. However, it is always best
to purchase only enough for one
season at a time.
When storing spray materials,
always keep them in their original
container and away from children,
pets and livestock. It’s recom
mended to have a separate room or
building for pesticide storage.
Wettable powders are easy to
store; however, emulsions and
liquids may be harmed by freezing
weather.
Producers are urged to follow
the label instructions in this
respect. It may be necessary to
keep some of them in a heated
building. Be sure they are not near
feed supplies because accidents
can happen. Pesticides kept in a
room or building under lock is a
good way to prevent costly
mistakes and tragedies.
lively.
Statewide, 86 percent of the
tobacco was harvested, compared
with 87 percent harvested at this
time last year.
Statewide, 78 percent of third
cutting alfalfa was harvested
compared with 69 percent har
vested at this time last year.
Second cutting clo-tim was 94
percent harvested, the same as
last year. Fourth cutting alfalfa
was rated 31 percent complete
statewide compared to 32 percent
last year. The quality of hay made
during the week was rated poor by
seven percent, fair by 57 percent
and good by 36 percent of our
reporters. The amount of feed
being obtained from pastures was
rated below average by 40 percent
and average by 60 percent of our
reporters. By the end of last week
fall plowing statewide was about
one-half complete. Throughout the
Commonmwealth fall planting of
barley was 20 percent complete
while winter wheat seeding had
reached 15 percent complete by
week’s end.
|wmTp)
NO LONGER
CHILDREN
September 22,1985
Background Scripture:
Ephesians 4; 1-16.
Devotional Reading:
2 Corinthians 9:6-15.
Let’s think of the Church for a
moment as a person somewhere
between birth and old age. The
Church has probably finished with
its infancy, but just where is it
these days: childhood,
adolescence, youth, middle age,
maturity, or its senior years? For
the Church is intended to grow up
and not just grow old. “We are to
grow up in every way into him who
is the head, into Christ...”
(Ephesians 4:15).
That is the plan, but what is the
reality?
There are some who might hold
that the Church is still in its
childhood. The writer of Ephesians
gives us a rule-of-thumb by which
we may make that evaluation: “so
that we may no longer be children,
tossed to and fro and carried about
with every kind of doctrine, by the
cunning of men, by their craf
tiness...(4; 14).
TO AND FRO
The evidence seems pretty
compelling for the childhood of the
Church. We are still being “tossed
-to and fro and carried about by
every wind of doctrine...”
Although we have taken some long
strides in the direction of
ecumenicity - eliminating the
Farm Calendar
Saturday, September 21
Ag Awareness Day, Hunterdon
County, NJ, contact; 201-788-
1338.
Indian Summer Festival, Indian
Steps Museum, Airville (York
County). Contact: 717-755-3777.
Monday, September 23
All-American Dairy Show, Farm
Show Building, Harrisburg;
continues through Sept. 27.
Bloomsburg Fair, Bloomsburg;
continues through Sept. 28.
Reading Fair, Reading; continues
through Sept. 28.
Tuesday, September 24
Ephrata Fair, Ephrata; continues
through Sept. 28.
Pa. State Dairy Princess Pageant,
reception-5:30, banquet-6:30,
pageant-8 p.m.
Morrison Cove Community Fair,
Martinsburg; continues
through Sept. 26.
Ephrata Fair, Ephrata; continues
through Sept. 28.
Wednesday, September 25
W. Lampeter Fair, Lampeter;
continues through Sept 27.
IF THEY'D PRY HUNDREDS
OF DOLLARS FOR TOST A
HAMMER, THINK OF WHAT
THEY'D PAY FOR A) BUSHEL
barriers that separate us -
Christendom is more divided by its
winds of doctrine than united by
them. Although we speak and sing
of “One Lord, one faith, one
baptism, one God and Father of us
all,” we pretty much conduct our
church lives as if we each followed
a different God and Father.
A few weeks ago, I attended a
concert in the Roman Catholic
parish i*' ” 'ustnan alpine town
of Bad Gc
for the concert to be*,. ~ i nr
the ironies of the situation, iu».
choir presenting the concert was
from Dallas, Texas. They were
singing in a Christian Church and
presumably we were all Christians
together. But the local people
attending spoke German, not
English. Furthermore, the church
was Roman Catholic and so dif
ferent from the church life to
which tarn accustomed.
HIS GIFTS
What a mixture of languages,
nationalities, and religious ex
perience we were! What diversity!
And actually it is the same
diversity of which Ephesians is
speaking when the writer talked
about the variety of gifts in the
Church. Each one, by the grace of
God, has something to contribute,
something to share, some means of
ministering to others. The sheer
diversity of these gifts makes it
seem impossible that there can be
any oneness.
Yet, the source of this diversity
is a oneness and the end to which it
is intended to lead us is also a
unity. The source of our diversity
and its gifts is “one Lord, one God
and Father of us all.” And the goal
to which we were intended to move
is this same unity: “until we all
attain to the unity of faith,...to the
measure of the stature of the
fullness of Christ’ ’(4:13).
It would seem we still have a
long way to go until we are “no
longer children.”
Thursday, September 26
Tri-Valley Fair, Begins; continues
through Sept. 29.
Sunday, September 29
National County Agents Meeting,
Hershey; continues through
Oct. 3.
Wednesday, October 2
Lancaster Conservation District
monthly board meeting, 7:30
p.m., Farm and Home Center.
New Holland Farmers Fair, New
Holland; continues through Oct.
5.
Friday, October 4
State 4-H Horse Show, Harrisburg;
continues through Oct. 6.
Blake appointed
CARLISLE - Harris D. Blake, a
businessman and civic leader from
Pinehurst, N.C., was named
associate administrator of the
Farmers Home Administration
today by Secretary of Agriculture
John R. Block.
Blake brings a background in
manufacturing, banking and
business and industrial develop
ment to the second highest position
at Farmers Home, the principal
credit agency of the U.S. Depart
ment of Agriculture.
He is president of Colonial
Abrasives, a manufacturing
company, and owner and
developer of a shopping and
professional center, an industrial
park and a retirement village in
Pinehurst, and formerly owned
and operated a hardware and
building supply business there. He
has served on the board of the First
Federal Savings and Loan
Association, the Carolina Bank and
the Moore County Economic
Development Committee.
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