AlO-Lmcaster Farming, Saturday, May 10,1986
OPINION
Faith In The Future of Agriculture
Agriculture in Lancaster Far
ming territory is growing in im
portance. When compared to other
areas of farm production, we
have increased our share of the
national market, and we have
increased our dominance. That is
because we have a lot of diver
sification. We have dairy, cattle,
poultry, hogs, mushrooms, hor
ticulture and even grains. We don’t
“put our eggs all in one basket.” In
addition we are close to large
markets such as New York,
Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and
other major eastern cities.
By taking advantage of these
factors, the dairy, poultry and hog
industries have all experienced
substantial growth. In Penn
sylvania for example the dairy
industry ranks fifth in production
nationally. Production of broilers,
chickens and turkeys also ranks
fifth. And egg production ranks
fourth in the nation.
We hear much about how bad off
the farmer is, and there are many
problems. Recent figures show
that maybe 20 percent of all far
The Joys Of Being A Farmer Boy
Recently several samples of
writing came to our desk entitled,
“The Joys of Being a Farmer
Boy”. These samples captured the
personal feeling many of us have
had as we grew up on the farm.
The accompanying letter said,
“Our son Daniel who loves to read
and write is 13 years old. He is an
Amish boy from a family of eight
boys on a 160-acre farm in
Franklin County along the Blue
Mountain. It seems like there is
always something agoing and we
thought perhaps you would be
interested in hearing some of the
farm life. He is dependable in his
schoolwork and chores.”
Yes we were interested, and we
thought our readers may get a
good feeling from the boy’s
viewpoint too. So here is the first
article in a series of six by Daniel
Luke Fisher, son of Mr. & Mrs. Ben
Fisher, RD 1, Newburg, Franklin
County, entitled,
“The Joys of
Being a Farmer Boy”
“Giddap!” is a very comman
word on this farm since we farm
with mules. Some of the mules are
big, some are small. Some are shy,
some are bold. We have nine
altogether. There is Jake, Kate,
Jenny, Jack, Mamie, Jill, Pete,
Queeny, and Jane.
Jane is the one that Mom is
always afraid will run away.
But there is one thing the she
won’t do and that is run away with
Mark driving. She does with
Matthew but not with Mark. One
time Mark was driving her and she
started going real fast. He slapped
/ARE you ANXIOUS>
triers are in financial trouble. And
we know how inherent problems
are in farming as in any other
business. But if these figures are
correct we still have 80 percent of
the farmers who are not in trouble.
We think a very encouraging
indicator of faith in the future of
agriculture comes with the
building of a new feed mill in
Mount Joy as reported in this issue
of Lancaster Farming. This
company says their customers are
the kind of farmers who manage
well and stay with the business
side of farming.
Another encouragement came in
the form of a little note to the editor
from a farmer who said, “this note
is not for publication, but I just
want you to know that some of us
farmers out here are still making
money”.
So while we may not hear as
much from the good farmers who
are doing all right, we know a lot of
people have a great deal of faith in
the future of agriculture in Lan
caster Farming territory- And of
course we do too.
her so she would run away because
he wanted some excitement. But
she soon slowed down.
One time Jack and Queeny ran
away for Mark. They headed
straight for a telephone pole. Jack
went on one side and Queeny on the
other. They crashed right in the
pole and the wagon tongue snap
ped.
We use Jill to haul manure out of
the cow stable. We have a long
rope connected from Jill to a fork
in the cow stable. Dad hollers “All
right!” I give Jill a kick in the ribs
to get her moving. She slowly
walks along out till she feels the
pull of the rope, then she starts
going fast. She goes till the end of
the trail which she made by herself
by going along there.
When she is almost at the end of
the trail she goes slower and
slower till Dad hollers “Whoa!”.
Then she slowly turns around.
When the manure spreader is
full, I jump off her back and hook
her up with the other mules at the
spreader.
One time Ben and Dad hooked up
Mamie to the rope to see how well
she pulls. She went along till she
felt the pull of the rope. Then she
went tearing down the meadow
with Ben hanging on. He got her
stopped though.
Working with mules is a very
enjoyable thing to do.
We have already driven Mamie
to school in the pony cart.
Sometimes we all go riding up to
the mountain with mules and
ponies and horses or whatever else
is handy.
Y UP. BUT
NOW IS
THE TIME
By Jay Irwin
Lancaster County Agriculture Agent
To Refreshen Pseudorabies
Prevention Guidelines
Spring is a busy time for swing
producers, but With recent out
breaks of a hot strain of swine
pseudorabies, caution must be
taken. It’s a time when producers
could become relaxed in swine
disease prevention measures.
Control and prevention of
pseudorabies in Lancaster County
must be an ongoing program.
Chester D. Hughes, Extension
livestock agent, refreshes swine
producers with these pseudorabies
prevention guidelines for spring
and summer for all herds:
- Isolate pigs from all other
livestock.
- Allow no visitation in your hog
house and don’t visit others.
- Sanitizer and footbath, or
clean boots and appropriate
clothing provided for authorized
visitors.
. Isejtj
Farm I^^
Calendar *
Saturday, May 10
Spring Field Day, Pa. Polled
Hereford Association, Spring
Bottom Farm, Fairfield.
Kraybill School Sale, 9 a.m.,
Kraybill’s Mennonite School,
Mt. Joy.
W. Pa. Sheep and Club Lamb Sale,
Mercer.
Sunday, May 11
Southwest Warmup Arabian Horse
Show, Arden Downs,
Washington.
Monday, May 12
Annual Meeting, Pa. Approved
Dairy Lab Directors, Penn
State University.
Tuesday, May 13
York County Farmland Tax
Reassessment Meeting, Nor
thern Middle School
Auditorium, R 2 Dillsburg, 7:30
p.m.
Wednesday, May 14
Regional 4-H Meeting, Danville,
9:43 a.m.
Twilight Fruit Meeting, Sussex
County, N.J.; call 475-8000 ext.
655 for Retails.
District 111 Jersey Breeders
Dinner Meeting, 7:15 p.m.,
Bird-in-Hand Restaurant.
- Control stray animals.
- Pre-sort hogs for shipment to
prevent hogs from entering truck
and returning to pen.
- Haul pigs in clean, sanitzed
vehicles only.
- Dispose of dead pigs promp
tly, bury under one foot of cover,
incinerate, or seal in bag and give
to scavenger.
- Call vet if herd has nervous
disorders or unusual problems.
- Eradicate infections —request
eradication guidelines.
- Encourage everyone to adopt
these practices - farmers and
servicemen.
- Consider permanent iden
tification system in your herd.
To Do
Spring Pruning
Many plants and bushes require
some corrective pruning to im
prove their appearance, to hold
them to desirable size, and to
remove damaged and weakened
sections. *
There is a time to prune and a
time not to prune, and this varies
from plant to plant. A good time for
pruning spring flowering plants is
after they’ve bloomed and before
they start forming next year’s
flower buds. Pruning soon after
flowering also gives more time for
new growth to cover up that newly
pruned look.
To Be Careful
With Weed Sprayers
Farmers and gardeners should
keep in mind that many weed killer
materials will stick in the equip
ment for years. This is especially
true of all forms of 2,4-D. Sprayers
in which this material has been
THE LANGUAGE
THE SPIRIT SPEAKS
May 11,1986
Background Scripture; Acts 1:4-8;
2:1-21; 13:1-12.
Devotional Reading: John 16:12-
15.
Many Christians don’t know
what to do with Pentecost. It is an
experience they have never had.
Furthermore, they’re not even
sure they would want it if it were
offered them. Essentially, as
presented in Acts 2, Pentecost is an
ecstatic experience and ecstasy,
particulary spiritual ectasy, is a
rather rare commodity in standard
brand Christianity where there is a
kind of common, unspoken un
derstanding that, H you fool same
ecstasy coming on, take a deep breath
and try to hold it until it passes.
Fearing the consequences of
religious emotional excess, we
have pretty well eliminated the
Thursday, May 15
Lebanon County FFA Banquet,
Cedar Crest Middle School, 7
p.m.
Annual Meeting, Pa. Horse
Breeders Association, New
Bolton Center, West Chester.
(Turn to Page A3l)
Ir
used should be kept only for weed
spraying, or very carefully
cleaned. The use of very hot water
and household ammonia (1 part of
ammonia to 100 parts of hot water)
is suggested; this mixture should
be allowed to stand for 24 hours in
the equipment and then sprayed
out. Extreme care should be taken
with this cleaning job after each
herbicide treatment.
The safest method is to have
separate sprayers for weed killers.
Over the years I can recall a
number of tobacco and vegetable
plants that have been damaged
because a sprinkling can or
sprayer used last fall was not
thoroughly cleaned.
To Practice Lawn
Mowing Safety
Lawn grasses are growing
rapidly now. Bluegrasses push-up
their seed heads, making cutting
more difficult, clogging mowers,
using more power to operate and
causing more accidents.
Unsafe operation of power
lawnmowers leads to 75,000
mowing accidents every year
according to the National Safety
Council. Unfortunately most of the
injuries occur to the hands and feet
of boys and girls.
Follow common sense safety
rules in operating these power
machines: wear sturdy shoes;
keep hands and feet away from
moving parts; never mow while
the grass is wet from dew or rain.
Always insist that the engine is
shut off when servicing, adjusting
or cleaning under the machine.
Accidents cannot happen from
moving parts...if there is no power
available.
emotional dimension of religion m
many churches.
INSPIRED CONTROL
As a result, many Christians are
bored by a religious lifestyle that
so tightly reigns in all emotion that
it is always “safe” and
correspondingly impotent to lift us
out or above ourselves. At the
same time, we both covet the
apparent power of the spiritually
less inhibited and remain eternally
vigilant lest anything, including
the Spirit of God, causes us to lose
.control of our normal detached
demeanor.
Is there no middle ground bet
ween these two apparent ex
tremes? I believe Pentecost in
dicates that there is. That which
makes Acts 2 a Pentecostal ex
perience is not that the disciples of
Jesus were "out of control” with
religious ecstasy, but that they
were under the precise inspiration
of the Holy Spirit. The experience
was not one of chaos, but of an
inspired order. This was not a case
of each worshipper “doing his own
thing,” but doing God’s “thing”
under the direction of the Spirit.
Furthermore, many people have
a picture in their minds of Pen
tecostal Christians speaking ec
statically in unintelligible sounds
or tongues. But, if you read
carefully Acts 2 you will find that
the tongues in which these people
were found speaking were not
unintelligible tongues but bona fide
languages that could be and were
understood by many people in the
vicinity. No less than three times
the writer of Acts tells us “each
one heard them speaking in his
own language” (2:6,8,11) and goes
on to list the different languages
that were recognized.
INSPIRED POWER
The essence of the Pentecostal
experience, therefore, was not
ecstasy for its own sake or
exhibitionism, but power to wit
ness to the saving grace of God.
The “tongues” were intended, not
to point to those who uttered them
or to say, “Look what we can do!”
but to point to God and say “Look
what He has done and is doing!”
The Spirit had the worshippers
speak in intelligible tongues so that
others could be edified, not
mystified.
In other words, Pentecost gave
the disciples the power to speak of
God in Christ to people in words
they could understand.