AlO-La«eutor Farming, Saturday, Fabraary 21,1957
OPINION
The Vo-ag Teacher That Did It For Me
Today through next Saturday is
National FFA week, and we salute
the more than 420,000 Future
Fanners of America members
across the nation in 8,200 chapters.
And while we sometimes throw
these big numbers around, we need
to realize that each of these
members is an individual person,
boy or girl, who has individual
talents, personalities and
aspirations. But each of these
chapters provides the framework
for the development and ad
vancement of each of these talents,
personalities and aspirations.
Beside the classroom and shop
instruction, you often find the vo
ag teacher out on the farm or in the
home of the individual student to
check on a project or provide a bit
of council. Maybe more than any
other teacher in our school system,
the vo-ag teacher becomes in
volved in the problems and the
triumphs of his students because of
the nature of the work.
The theme for the week is ‘ ‘FFA
-Leaders For The New Fields of
Agriculture”. And if this theme is
to become a reality, the individual
vo-ag teacher will largely be
responsible.
In any discussion of FFA, we
must of course include the pres
sures on the program and on the
individual instructors. With the
reduced emphasis on vo-ag at the
1 Farm Calendar
Saturday, February 21
York County 4-H Alumni Night, 4-H
Center, 7:30 p.m.
Cumberland Valley Cooperative
Annual Meeting, Shippensburg
Senior High School. Luncheon,
11:30 a.m., business meeting, 1
p.m.
Monday, February 23
Pa. Game Bird Conference, Keller
Building, Penn State Univer
sity; continues through
tomorrow.
Cumberland Cooperative Sheep
and Wool Growers Annual
Meeting, S. Middleton Fireball,
Boiling Spring, 7 p.m.
Fayette County Agronomy Day,
Pesticide Update, Fairgrounds.
N.J. Vegetable Meeting, Hope
Grange. Call Warren Co. 475-
8000 Extension 657 for details.
Tuesday, February 24
W. Pa. Turf Conference and Trade
Show, Pittsburgh Expo
Mart/Marriott Hotel,
Monroeville.
Berks County Cattlemen’s
Association meeting, Berks Ag
Center, 7:30 p.m.
Vegetable Producers meeting,
Shippensburg Valley Bank,
Shippensburg, 9 a.m.
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local level because of diminishing
farm populations and moneys
available, the vo-ag teacher and
the administrator in the state
office are called upon to do more
than should be required of them.
Without a doubt, lack of funds has
caused a hardship for the FFA
program as we know it.
One bright spot is the FFA
Foundation, Inc., which has a fund
raising effort to address these
needs of FFA. Moneys raised by
the foundation are used to fund
awards, contests, scholarships,
judging teams and leadership
activities. All these things that get
cut from a local FFA program
when money is short.
Yes, any way you look at it, FFA
provides an experience for our
young people we don’t want to lose.
And while it often takes a number
of years after we are out of school
to appreciate our teachers and
what they have done for us, we
usually end up remembering at
least one teacher with affection.
One who provides encouragement
or reprimand at just the right time.
And we would venture to guess that
in a few years from now, most of
these 420,000 FFA students will
find themselves thinking the same
thing. They will look back on their
high school experience and say,
“Yes, it was my vo-ag teacher that
did it for me.”
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44*M
Farm Management Series,
Cumberland County Extension
Building, Carlisle, 12:30 p.m.
Pa. Holstein Convention, Wilkes-
Barre, Sheraton-Crossgates;
continues through Feb. 26.
Central Jersey Nurserymen’s
meeting, Farmingdale.
Ephrata Area Young Farmers
meeting, Vegetable Growing
Opportunities, Ephrata High
School ag department, 7:45
p.m.
Hamilton Bank Agri-Education
Seminar, Lancaster Farm and
Home Center, 8:30 a.m. to 3:00
p.m.
McKean County Crops Day,
Seneca Highlands Vo-Tech
School, Port Allegany, 10 a.m.
to 3:30 p.m.
Wednesday, February 25
York/Lancaster Vegetable
Growers meeting, Rutters East
York, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Cumberland County Dairy Clinic,
Penn Township Fireball,
Huntsdale, 9; 30 a.m.
Making Smart Decisions Seminar,
session 3, Chambersburg.
N.J. Grain and Forage Producers
Association Conference and
trade show, National Guard
Armory, Lawrenceville
Bucks County Extension
NOW IS
THE TIME
By Jay Irwin
Lancaster County Agriculture Agent
To Broadcast
Legumes
Alfalfa and red clover growers
who are planning to broadcast the
seed into a stand of winter wheat or
barley should be preparing their
seed now. Research and ex
perience have both proven that
early March seeding will give the
best results. It’s the time of year
when the ground freezes and thaws
frequently, creating a
“honeycomb” condition to the top
soil. This is an excellent way to
give the seeds a light covering of
top soil. If the broadcast seeding is
made in late March, this condition
may not prevail.
The seeds should be of top
quality and should be innoculated
meeting, Plumsteadville
Fireball, 7 p.m.
Thursday, February 26
Franklin County Estate Planning
for Farm Families, County
Administration Building,
Chambersburg, 1:30 to 3:30
p.m.
Lancaster County Conservation
Tillage Day, Farm and Home
Center, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
“Smart Farm Decisions”
workshop, Lancaster Farm and
Home Center, 9:30 a.m. to noon.
Estate Planning seminar, Lan
caster Farm and Home Center,
7:30 p.m.
Small Grains/Soybeans meeting,
Dover High School ag room,
7:30 p.m.
Ephrata Area Young Fanners
meeting, Pole Buildings and
Farm Shops tour. Meet in
parking lot outside Ephrata
High School ag shop at 9:15 a.m.
Dairy meeting, “Milk Market
Update,” Hunterdon County
Extension Center, 8 p.m.
Wayne County Sheep and Wool
Growers Association annual
meeting, Belmont Corners
Fireball, Pleasant Mount.
Dinner reservations requested.
Friday, February 27
Swine Finishing meeting, Roth
ville Fireball, 8:45 a.m.
Small Grains/Soybeans meeting,
John Marsteller Farm,
Stewartstown, 10 a.m.
Grassland FFA Chapter, Garden
Spot High School donkey
basketball game, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, February 28
Chesapeake Bay Conference,
Gettysburg College.
Berks 4-H Leader/Member
Breakfast, Berks 4-H Center,
8:30 a.m. to noon.
Woodland Conference, Cook
College, New Brunswick.
annual
(Turn to Page A 33)
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with legume bacteria before
seeding.
To Mend
Pasture Fences
Pastures can provide cattle a lot
of good nutritious forage, and they
offer cattle a place to get fresh air,
exercise and sunlight. Before too
long, we will be turning our cattle
out to pasture, but let’s not turn
them out too soon. It’s best to let
the sod develop and the ground
firm up. Spend the time now to fix
fences and pick up trash and debris
before the grass gets too tall and
before you’re tied down with
spring field work.
It might also be helpful to section
off the pasture in order to make
best use of the grass. For example,
wet areas and flat areas may be
fenced off from other areas. This
will enable you to keep cows out of
wet areas until the ground firms
up, and could help prevent the
development of foot problems.
During the early spring flush of
pasture growth, you could keep
cattle out of the flat area; save it
for hay, and feed it to the cows
later in the summer.
To Store
Supplies Safely
Many farmers have purchased
and accepted early deliveries of
seeds, fertilizer and other supplies.
Proper storage of these items is
important. I have seen bags of
fertilizer stored too close to a barn
door, or to an open window;
THE FIRST
AND THE LAST
February 22,1987
Background Scripture:
Revelation 1.
Devotional Reading: Revelation
21:1-4.
Some twenty years ago I was
part of a team of American
churchmen who were visiting
congregations of the German
Evangelische Kirke (Protestant
Church) in Bavaria. One night, I
was assigned to stay with a family
in Nuremburg and I remembered
that, as I got into bed, I was feeling
considerable anxiety about several
things related to the tour.
In the middle of the night, I was
awakened - or so I thought - by the
awareness that someone was in the
darkness of my room. He was
standing at the foot of my bed and
suddenly my bed began to vibrate
as if he were shaking it with great
power. As this was happening, I
realized that the “person” was
Christ. I didn’t dare look directly
at him, but I heard him say in a
commanding voice, “Fear not!”
The vibrations stopped and I
realized I was once again alone.
ADREAM?
“Was I dreaming?” I asked
myself. “No, it was no dream,” I
told myself. “It was all too real -1
felt the bed shake and I heard the
voice.” Or did I? Perhaps it was a
dream, but it didn’t “feel” like a
dream. (Later, I was to learn that
very often in the Bible, the writers
use the same word for either a
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the same with farm seeds. ExtrJ
moisture on these materials, *
under them on a damp floor, cn
cause problems. *
Also, it is very important to Iqm
seeds away from chemical weal
killers. These herbicides
reduce, or kill, the
the seeds. Children, pets mg
livestock should not have
stored seeds or farm chemicak
All of these materials becooi
more expensive each year. K)
only good management to sfte
them carefully.
To Prepare For
Dormant Sprays
Many types of trees are infestq)
with various kinds of scale inseck,
These pests attach themselves to
the bark and twigs and shrubs ant
suck strength from the plant. 000
of the best treatments is to apply (
dormant spray oil before the bud(
start to open. The date of the spray
will vary with the weather.
However, on many fruit trees ant
shrubbery this will be late
February and early March. Tin
spray should be applied before ft
buds open. In addition, a spray
during May or June while the in
sect is in the crawler stage k
strongly suggested; materials for
this spray can be Malathion or
Sevin. Scale insects should be
controlled the way is to use i
dormant spray.
Th« Cooperative Extension Service is an *
firmabve action, equal opportunity education
institution
‘ ‘vision’ ’ or a “ night dream. ’’)
That was a long time ago that I
had my dream or my vision (take
your pick), but I remember i
vividly and I recall that it gave®
the confidence to rise above tj;
challenges that had been mald|
me feel anxious. In the midst of
fears, God had somehow reassu
me that he was in charge, not o
of my life, but of all life.
God’s messages of reassurai
may come to us in many, mi
different ways, but we all hi
times in our lives when we m
them. We need to know ti
although everything seems to
falling apart, God is holding i
world together and me along «
it. “Fear not!” is the messagek
sends us in tunes such as these. Vt
may not always hear that message
or recognize it if we hear it, but I
am convinced he sends it.
This is what the Book oi
Revelation was in the early days of
the Christian Church - a message
from God saying to the church in
the middle of persecution: “Fear
not! I’m in charge!” That was
exactly what the early Christians
had to hear, because, from whit
they could see with their eyes,
powerful men and nations, not
God, were in charge of the world
But the visions of John were given
him to promise them that beyond
what they could see with their
physical eyes, there were realities
that can be seen only in dreams
and visions.
ALPHA AND OMEGA
John saw a vision in which he
first heard a voice speaking to him
and then saw a person “like a son
of man.” John says, “When I saw
him, I fell at his feet as though
dead. But he laid his right hand
upon me, saying, ‘Fear not, I tun
the first and the last, and the living
one; I died, and behold I am alive
for evermore, and I have the keys
of Death and Hades” (Revelation
1:17,18).
There are many times in life
when we need to be reassured that
Christ is, as John wrote, “Alpha
and Omega,” “the first and the
last.” We need to know that he is
both before and after everything in
life. Before adverstities come, he
is on the scene, determining the
course of history. And after our
anxieties have come and gone,
Christ will still be here and at the
end of time itself. He is, in every
human situation, both the first
word and the last word. Prim
cipalities and powers may hold
sway for a while, but, in the long
run, it is Christ who has the world
in his hands.
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