OPINION
Portrait Of
This word portrait of a farmer
has surfaced a number of times
over the years. The latest time in
the September issue of the Jersey
Journal edited by our Adams
County correspondent Ginger
Myers. While the original author is
unknown, we think it is fitting over
this labor day weekend that you
take a look at yourself again. The
farmer is a unique member of the
labor force in Pennsylvania. We
think you will enjoy this portrait of
a farmer. Author unknown.
Farmers are found in fields
plowing up, seeding down, return
ing from, planting to, fertilizing
with, spraying for and harvesting
if. Wives help them, little boys fol
low them, the Agriculture Depart
ment confuses them, city relatives
visit them, salesmen detain them,
meals wait for them, weather can
delay them, but it takes Heaven to
stop them.
When your car stalls along the
way, a farmer is considerate, cour
teous, inexpensive road service.
When a farmer’s wife suggests he
buy a new suit, he can quote from
memory every expense involved in
operating the farm last year plus
the added expense he is certain will
crop up this year. Or else he
assumes the role of the indignant
shopper, impressing upon every
one within earshot the pounds of
milk he must produce in order to
pay for a suit at today’s prices.
A farmer is a paradox he is
“overalled” executive with his
home his office; a scientist using
fertilizer attachments; a purchas
ing agent in an old straw hat; a per
sonnel director with grease under
his fingernails; a dietician with a
passion for alfalfa, animals and
antibiotics; a production expert
faced with a surplus; and a mana
ger battling a price-cost squeeze.
He manages more capital than
1 Farm Calendar
Saturday, September 5
Southwest District Dairy Show,
Martinsburg, 9 a.m.
Mon Valley District Dairy Show,
Washington Co. Fairgrounds, 9
a.m.
Northwest District Dairy Show,
Crawford County Fairgrounds.
Susquehanna Co. Holstein
Show.
Tuesday, September 8
New Jersey Holstein Bam Meet
ing, William Terhune, Belvi-
dere, 8 p.m.
Atlantic Dairy Co-op District 4
Meet, English Family Restaur
ant, Westover, MD., 7 p.m.
TU& NEW PICKUP OP Mi
A Farmer
most of the businessmen in town.
He likes sunshine, good food,
state fairs, dinner at NOON, auc
tions, his neighbors, Saturday
nights in town, his shirt collar
unbuttoned and, above all, a good
soaking rain in August.
He is not much for droughts,
ditches, thruways, experts, weeds,
the eight-hour day, helping with
the housework or grasshoppers.
Nobody else is so far from the
telephone or so close to God.
Nobody else gets so much satisfac
tion out of modem plumbing,
favorable weather and good ice
cream.
Nobody else can remove all
those things from his pockets and
on washday still have overlooked
five “steeples,” one cotter key, a
rusty spike, three grains of com,
the stub end of a lead pencd, a
square tape, a $4.98 pocket watch
and a cupful of chaff in each trous
er cuff.
A farmer is both Faith and Fatal
ist he must have faith to conti
nually meet the challenges of his
capacities amid an ever-present
possibility that an act of God (a late
spring, an early frost, tornado,
flood, drought) can bring his busi
ness to a standstill. You can
REDUCE HIS ACREAGE, but
you can’t RESTRAIN HIS
AMBITION.
Might as well put up with him
he is your friend, your competi
tor, your customer, your source of
food and fiber, and self-reliant
young citizens to help replenish
your cities.
He is your countryman a
denim-dressed, business-wise,
fast-growing statesman of stature.
And when he comes in at noon
having spent the energy of his
hopes and dreams, he can be
recharged anew with the magic
words: “The Market’s Un.”
Eastern Lancaster County Adult
Farmer Private Applicator
License Training, Leola Pro
duce Auction, 7 p.m.
Wednesday, September 9
Veterinary Nutrition Forum.
Speaker - Dr. Peter Van Soest.
New Jersey Holstein Bam Meet
ing, WiUiam Teets, Cokesbury,
8 p.m.
Veterinary Nutrition Forum Din
ner Meeting, Host Town, 7 p.m.
Thursday, September 10
York County Pesticide Recertifi
cation, Extension Room, 7:30
p.m.
Schuylkill County Ag Extension
NOW IS
THE TIME
By Jay Irwin
Lancaster County Agriculture Agent
To Protect
Show Animals
September, in Lancaster Coun
ty, is Fair time. It is also a time to
be concerned about the health of
show animals. Fairs should be a
place where we can exhibit our
animals; they should not be a place
for spreading diseases and other
animals. Be considerate of other
exhibitors and of other show ani
mals. If your animals have any
infection or contagious problems,
leave them at home; it’s like keep
ing a sick child out of school to
protect those who are healthy. If
you do show, consult your veter
inarian about necessary tests and
Annual meeting, 6:30 p.m.
New Jersey Holstein Bam Meet
ing, William Petit Jr., Vincen-
town, 8 p.m.
Bradford County Dairy Day, 4-H
Building, Troy Fairgrounds, 10
a.m,
Capon Conference, Thrifti Inn,
Warrendale, 8 a.m.
PFA Farmer Fundraising Lunc
heon and tour of New Bolton
Veterinary School, Kennett
Square, 10:30 a.m.
Friday, September 11
Fall Holstein Championship
Show, Ag Arena, PSU
York Fair, September 11-19.
New Jersey Holstein Bam Meet
ing, Dale Petterson, Alloway, 8
p.m.
Saturday, September 12
Autumn Harvest Classic II Sale.
Spring Bottom Polled Hereford
Farm, Fairfield.
Berks County Pond Management
Meeting, 4-H Community
Center.
Octorara Young Farmers Chicken
Barbeque, Stoltzfus Farm Ser
vice, Cochranville, 10 a.m.
Sunday, September 13
National 4-H Nutrition Leader
Forum, National 4-H Center,
Chevy Chase, MD., continues
through September 17.
Penn Ag Convention, State Col
lege, through September 15.
Monday, September 14
Poultry Servicemen’s Seminar,
Lancaster
PFA Cambria Co. meeting, 7 p.m.
New Germany Church Hall.
Atlantic Dairy Coop District 20
Curryville-Cresson Local meeting
REA Bdlg. Martinsburg.
(Turn to Page ASS)
protective vaccines.
When you return your livestock
to the farm after the show, isolate
them from other animals on the
farm before introducing them to
their herdmates.
To Fertilize
Alfalfa Stands
The fall of the year is one of the
best times to apply phosphorus and
potash to established alfalfa
stands. Many growers will top
dress the field after the last cutting
is removed. In addition, the stand
can be fertilized next spring after
tne first cutting is removed. When
the plants are fertilized in the fall
they will be stronger next summer.
Since alfalfa is a very heavy
feeder of both phosphorus and pot
ash, these elements must be
replaced for top yields. If the area
is to be grazed in the fall instead of
removing the final cutting, the fer
tilizer should be washed down
With a rain before allowing lives
tock on the field; also bloating may
result if grazed soon after applica
tion. Use the application rates as
recommended on your soil test
results.
To Check
Stored Grain
Farmers should check all their
tored grain at this time of year
because heating of stored grain can
HOMO SAPIENS’
FAMILY TREE
September6,l9B7
Background Scripture: Genesis
2:4 through 3:24.
Devotional Reading: Psalm 8.
“Whose side of the family do
you take after?” Almost all of us
have been asked that question at
some time in our life. I look pretty
much like my father, but I have
traits of both my parents.
In a sense, we might say that this
is also true of the whole human
race. In the Book of Genesis,
Adam is presented as deriving
from two sources. On the one
hand, Adam is of the earth, the
created order “then the Lord
formed man of dust from the
ground...” (2:7a). And later in
Genesis 3 God says to Adam and
Eve, “In the sweat of your face
you shall eat bread till you return to
the ground, for out of it you were
taken; you are dust, and to dust you
shall return” (3:19).
OUT OF THE DUST
There is nothing particularly
unique about this view of human
nature. Few would dispute that we
are made of the stuff of nature
material finite and temporal.
Furthermore, when we are referred
to as having come firgm dust and
bound to return to it, it would seem
we have been assigned to natural
boundaries, that pretty thoroughly
be a symptom of insect activity or
just too much moisture. In either
case, the heating problem should
be corrected before the grain is
ruined. If grain requires pest con
trol materials (as listed on page 66
of the 1987-88 Agronomy Guide),
it should be done while the air
temperature is still fairly high or
above 60 degrees F. If it’s mois
ture, then check for possible leaks
in the roof. We have too much
money invested in the seed, fertil
izer and labor to lose it in storage.
To Stop Feeding
Trees and Shrubs
The time is here when we should
not be applying any fertilizer to
rose bushes, trees and shrubs. The
season’s growing period is about
over and new growth should have a
chance to harden before cold
weather arrives. When we fertilize
during the fall we encourge new
growth, which will be tender, and
will winter-kill in zero weather.
It is best to wait until early
spring to apply any plant food to
these types of plants. Mulching is a
good practice to help conserve
moisture and control weeds, but
keep the fertilizer in the bag until
the 1988 season.
The Cooperative Extension Ser
vice is an affirmative action, equal
opportunity educational
institution.
circumscribe our potentialities and
destinies.
But the writer of Genesis tells us
that there is something else to our
inheritance that takes us beyond
the “dust” of matter. For God
“breathed into his nostrils the
breath of life; and man became a
living being” (2:7b). It was God’s
own spirit that transformed Adam
from “dust” to “a living being”.
Thus Adam, it would appear,
had two inheritances: the “dust”
of nature and the devine breath of
God. It is this second inheritance,
obviously, that is both unique ,and
controversial in the world. There
are lots of people who do not
believe that homo sapiens is any
thing but “dust,” let alone pos
sessing a divine nature. While they
would acknowledge that homo
sapiens is related to the earth, from
which they came, they would deny
that we are similarly related to God
by the presence of his “ breath ’ ’ or
Spirit within us.
MISERY AND GRANDEUR
The Judao-Christian view of
humanity has always emphasized
both inheritances and to see in this
duality the root of our human mor
al dilemmna that we are fre
quently tom between these two
natures: one that would lift us up,
the other that would pull us down.
Thus, we have tended to think of
these as our “higher” and “low
er” natures.
But we must remember that
these terms “divine” and
“human,” “higher” and “low
er” are only relative. Genesis
dpes not present Adam’s “dusty”
inheritance as evil, low or miser
able. Genesis is reports that Adam
was made in God’s image and pro
nounced it “very good” (1:31).
Thus, it is closer to the Genesis
view of creation to characterize
our earthly nature, not so much as
“evil,” butas “finite”. Obviously
the evil people do arise out of that
finitude, but we are not by our
human nature condemned to be
evil. Evil is what we do with what
God gives us.
Instead of thinking of human
nature, then, as depraved and
doomed to destruction, Christians
need to witness to our God-given
divine potential of homo sapiens’
often-maligned family tree.
(Based on copyrighted Outlines pro
duced by the Committee on the Uniform
Senes and used by permission. Released by
Community & Suburban Press)