10-Lancattar Farming, Saturday, April 18,1987
OPINION
Not For Capital Gains
From time to time we get reports
that food supplies are being
damaged by contaminated fallout
from industrial and nuclear
operations. This week The Deutch
Press Wire reported that in
Bangladesh more than 65,000 bags
of powdered milk imported from
Polland have been destroyed
because a harmful level of
radioactivity was detected. Of
ficials say the milk was con
taminated by fallout from the
Chernobyl nuclear accident.
Another report on our desk in
dicates that contaminated milk
from Chernobyl has been sold to
unsuspecting customers in other
foreign countries. In addition,
while much research has been
done to disassociate any link
between cancer and low dose
radiation, yet the reports that keep
coming back to show more in
cidences of cancer around nuclear
installations in Britain. And in
.—H-—.———-
I FARM FORUM our readers write J
Striped fields of barley and of rye,
Are greening ’neath the April sky.
Deep-delved earth with beauty Spring endows
She follows close upon the plows.
The showers come in desarray
Drab dregs of winter washed away.
Last season’s leaf is brought along
By brook that sings her ancient song.
Veiled willows hold a wanning nest
For robin as a welcome guest.
The very air seems dewey wine
As petals from the stem untwine.
So God in splendor walks the earth
And once again it knows rebirth.
Farm Calendar
Saturday, April 18
Little International Livestock
Show, Penn State University, 8
a.m.totp.m.
NW Pa. All-Breed Calf Sale,
Fairgrounds, Meadville, 12:30
p.m.
Monday, April 20
Wayne County Milk Marketing
Meeting, Tom Jurchak, Clifford
Fireball, Clifford.
Tuesday, April 21
Eptanta Area Young Fanner
Association monthly meeting,
planning questionnaire and
FFA slave auction.
Poultry Sales and Service Con
ference, Keller Conference
Center, Penn State University;
continues through April 22.
Oklahoma a company won per
mission from the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission to test a
fertilizer product made from the
filtered liquid waste taken from
the company’s low level
radioactive fuel waste pools.
While we don’t have first-hand
knowledge of any of these reports,
yet we have no reason to doubt
them. And we mention the reports
here to remind us again that all
segments of the population need to
be conscious of our tendencies to
pollute the air and water around
our modem civilizations. If far
mers over apply manure to their
fields, they can cause down stream
pollution, too.
So let’s set up some personal and
company guidelines for ourselves.
Let’s say to ourselves, “I won’t
pollute the part of the environment
that has been entrusted to me with
any thing for any reason.
Especially not for capital gains.”
SPRINGTIME
Lancaster County Co-op Day,
Farm and Home Center, 9 a.m.
to 2 p.m.
Pa. Feeder Pig Show/Sale, New
Holland Sales Stables; show, 4
p.m.; sale, 7 p.m.
Thursday, April 23
Annual Fundraising Banquet, Pa.
Poultry Federation, Hershey
Lodge and Convention Center.
Lancaster County Ladies Day Out,
tour and luncheon, 9 a.m.
Wayne County Beekeepers
Meeting, Extension office,
Courthouse, Honesdale.
Friday, April 24
N.J. State Holstein Calf Sale,
Warren County Fairgrounds,
Harmony, 7 p.m.
Gail Redheffer Stull
Willow Street
riJ fi-i
NOW IS
THE TIME
By Jay Irwin
Lancaster County Agriculture Agent
To Clean Pastures Before
Turning Animals On Them
A careful check of pastures
before turning cows into them can
be time well spent. Trash, broken
glass, and wire may produce bad
udder and foot injuries. So remove
or bury the debris.
Nails sticking through boards
may produce serious puncture
wounds in feet. Old farm im
plements should be hauled away;
cows seem unable to resist step
ping through old discs or harrows,
often with disastrous results.
Fertilizer and fertilizer bags are
deadly; especially those con
taining nitrates. Cows will eagerly
kill themselves eating it.
In spite of laws, we still have a
few people who will pitch a bagful
of junk out of their cars while they
drive along our highways. A walk
Saturday, April 25
Witmer Fire Company Ox Roast,
noon, Witmer.
NE Regional Seminar, “Women in
a Changing World,” Bloom
sburg University, Bakeless
Center, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Penn State Dairy Expo, Ag Arena,
8:30 a.m.
Wayne County Holstein Club Sale,
Wayne County Fairgrounds,
Honesdale.
Cook College Ag Field Day, New
Brunswick, all day.
Sunday, April 21
4-H Capital Days, Harrisburg;
continues through April 28.
Pa. Flying Farmers monthly
meeting at Bruce and Nancy
Younker’s, Bethel. For more
information call 717-867-2384.
Monday, April 27
Pfizer Research Conference, In
dianapolis Convention Center,
1:30t05p.m.
PFA Women’s Spring Conference,
State College.
State Grange Banquet, Marriott-
Harrisburg, 5 p.m.
Wednesday, April 29
Lancaster County FFA Ag
Mechanics Contest, Solanco
High School, 12:30 p.m.
Thursday, April 30
Adams County Homemaker’s Day,
Cashtown Fireball, 9:30 a.m. to
2:30 p.m.
Friday, May 1
Delaware Food Festival, Felton
Fireball, 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Call 1-800-202-8685 for in
formation.
/
through your pasture fields before
, turning your cows out, is time very
i well spent.
To Practice Strict Sanitation
Livestock and poultry producers
must take a special effort to
prevent contagious diseases. Many
of these infections are brought
home by the owner, or with the
purchase of a new arrival. There
are a number of infections that can
be spread very easily from farm to
farm.
In this part of the country, where
the density of poultry and livestock
is so great, producers should be
alert to the possibility of spreading
diseases. When returning from
another farm, or public place,
different clothes and footwear
should be used. Stray dogs, cats
and wild birds should be controlled
as much as possible. New pur
chases should be segregated and
tested before mixing with the home
herd or flock. In many cases
vaccination should go along with
very strict sanitation practices.
Every producer should give at
tention to the prevention of disease
through good management and the
use of good sanitation practices.
To Understand Persistent
Weed Problems
Just how persistent do we have
to be in order to control weed
problems? Well, the answer to this
question comes from weed
scientists who ran germination
tests on weed seeds.
They report that 29 percent of
Johsongrass seed germinated
after being buried for 3% years;
Saturday, May 2 tomorrow, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Md. Sheep and Wool Festival, Sheep auction, May 3,3 p.m.
Howard County Fairgrounds, Pa. Shorthorn Association Spring
W. Friendship Md., off 1-70, 9 Sale, Mercer,
a.m. to 9 p.m. Continues
THE SUPERSTITION
OF REASON
April 19,1987
Background Scripture: Luke 23:50
through 24:12.
Devotional Reading: 1 Corinthians
15:1-11.
If 1 have been addicted to
anything in my life, it has probably
been to reason. I don’t mean that
there is anything wrong with
reason; in fact, there are lots of
people whom I wish were more
reasonable and lots of situations in
life in which I would like to see
reason prevail more often.
No, the problem is not with
reason per se, but with me. I have
asked of reason what often it
cannot give. There have been
times when I have forgotten the
limitations of reason and tried to
understand what is forever beyond
my powers of reasoning. My
reluctance to acknowledge this, in
fact my stubborn resistance
against this realization, has
subjected me to a superstitious
passion for reason that has
sometimes been my undoing.
morning glory 74 percent after 5
years; pigweed 66 percent after 40
years and dock 52 percent after SO
years. They further reported that
51 of 107 species tested still had live
seeds after 20 years.
The reason these seeds remain in
the soil for such a long period
without sprouting is apparently
related to environmental con
ditions. According to weed experts,
some seeds need just the right
combination of moisture, tem
perature, and nutrients before they
will germinate. This explains why
we may suddenly be faced with a
weed problem we thought was
cured several years ago.
To Manage Poultry
Home Equiment
General management of poultry
house equiment is important in
maintaining a comfortable en
vironment for chickens and
turkeys. Defective equipment
should be repaired or replaced
promptly, especially if it is in
volved with the delivery of feed or
water to the birds.
Rusty or bent cages will allow
some birds to escape and may trap
or injure other birds. It can also
cause an increase in cracked egg
shells. All sharp edges on the
poultry equipment must be
removed to avoid injuries. Rusty
and decaying feed bins are another
problem; they allow moisture to
seep into the feed, resulting in
mold and sick birds.
The Cooperative Extension Service is an
affirmative action, equal opportunity
educational institution.
AN IDLE TALE
Of course, I'm in good company
with my superstitious belief in
reason. There are lots of people
just as addicted to it as I am
often with pretty much the same
consequences. And, although l
can’t take any real satisfaction in
it, I can’t help feeling a bit relieved
to know that the twelve disciples of
Jesus also suffered from the same
addiction. When the women from
Galilee returned from Jesus’s
tomb with the news that Jesus was
risen and that this had been at
tested by an angel whom they
encountered there, the disciples
reacted the way any good church
officials would react: “these words
seemed to them an idle tale, and
they did not believe them’’ <Luke
24:11). How strange that today
there are still many people who
would deny that women should
serve as priests and ministers,
despite the fact that it was the
women who alone initially ac
cepted the reality of Jesus’s
resurrection.)
Why did the disciples the male
disciples, at least reject the
resurrection news as “an idle tale”
and refuse to believe it? Par
ticularly in the light of some of
Jesus’s own words which had
suggested that he would rise
again?
BEYOND REASON
The answer must surely be that
the disciples of Jesus, like many of
us, were addicted to reason. And
because the report of the wombn
seemed to contradict their
reasonable minds, they could not
accept it. Of course, they were
wrong the resurrection does not
contradict reason, it goes beyond
it. That shouldn’t really be haitl for
us to accept, for, when we really
think of it, there are lots of ex
periences in life that, although not
irrational, are surely super
rational; love is super-rational
phenomenon, so is loyalty, courage
and faith. So, although we must
avoid living irrationally, we must
not impoverish our lives by failing
to accept and embrace the realities
that carry us beyond the super
stition of reason.
(Based on copyright Outlines produced by the
Committee on the Uniform Senes and used by
permission Released by Community 4 Suburban
Press)