AlO-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, August 26,1989
OPINION
Few of us would be so naive to believe that because we live on
a farm or in a rural area our young people don’t experience the
same problems as some of the troubled youth from the more
urban areas.
We’d like to believe that on the street comers of our small
towns, or on the steps of the local hangout or inside the homes of
neighbors, families and friends, our young people are entertain
ing themselves with harmless fun.
We’d like to think that when they go out with their friends that
at least some of what they have been told by parents and teachers
or seen on TV or read about the tragedy of drug and alcohol
abuse has been absorbed. We’d like to think that when they find
themselves in a precarious situation, surrounded by their peers,
being pushed to try whatever is on hand, that they will have the
courage to ‘just say no’ even if it means being humiliated,
embarassed or even ostracized from the group.
We’d like to think that our children, our grandchildren, our
sisters, our brothers, our nieces and nephews, and all the young
people we know would never take part in any of this debilitating
abuse which seems to be plaguing youth and adults alike across
the country.
We are half way through the fair season. Parents and 4-H
leaders are midway through a season when most of their time is
spent carting often times reluctant animals and young people
across the county and across the state. They spend hours either
in the hot sun or pouring rain holding animals for the next class.
And sometimes those efforts of parents and leaders seem
unappreciated.
But when you see young people putting hours into brushing
and clipping their steer or dairy heifer or sheep, when you see
them take some of the abuse which a 1,200 pound Angus-
Chianina or 125-pound ram can deliver, when you see a teenage
girl give a hug and a consoling word to her tenth placed Jersey
heifer, that’s a big thank you.
Thanks to the efforts of parents and 4-H leaders and friends of
4-H these young people are doing something constructive with
their time. They are learning to care for someone other than
themselves. They are learning how to take pride in what they do
and pride in themselves.
They are learning how to win and how to lose and to do both
gracefully.
We arc not so naive to think that our children growing up in a
rural environment will not experience the peer pressures that
other young people do, but, we believe, with the help of parents
and 4-H leaders and all those who work so hard to organize the
shows our kids have an alternative.
Keep up the good work.
Farm Calendar
Saturday, August 26
Pennsylvania Shorthorn Show,
Hookstown fairgrounds, Hook
slown, 1:00 p.m.
Maryland State Fair, state fair
grounds, Timonium, Md.; runs
through September 4.
Sunday, August 27
National Livestock & Meat Board
summer meeting. Charleston,
S.C.; runs through August 29.
Monday, August 28
Southcentral District 4-H Dairy
Show, Farm Show Complex,
Harrisburg, 9:00 a.m.
Indiana County Fair, Indiana; runs
Lancaster Farming
Established 1955
Published Every Saturday
Ephrata Review Building
1 E. Main St.
Ephrata. PA 17522
by
Lancaster Farming, Inc.
A SMnnmn Enltrprke
Robert G. Campbell General Manager
Everett R. Newswanger Managing Editor
C«pyrl|M 1M by Lancaah, Parmlni
An Alternative
through September 2.
West End Fair, Gilbert; runs
through September 2.
Tuesday, August 29
Centre County Holstein Show,
Centre County fairgrounds,
Centre Hall, 9:30 a.m.
Mid-Atlantic Soybean Associa
tion summer meeting, Wye
Institute, Wye Mills, Md., 1:00
p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Flcmington Fair, Flcmington,
N.J.; runs through September 4.
Allentown Fair, Allentown; runs
through September 4.
(Turn to Pago A 29)
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We are entering one of the
busiest and most hazardous times
of the year... silo filling and com
picking time. Blend into that time
wheat and barley planting and the
last cutting of alfalfa. This means
a lot of farm machinery will be on
our highways during semi-dark or
dark hours.
Slow moving vehicles such as
farm equipment traveling on high
ways presents a real traffic haz
zard. The motorist must recognize
that a tractor traveling at 10 to IS
miles per hour is almost standing
still compared to a SS mph car.
Most highway drivers have never
driven a farm machine on the
highway and simply do not realize
how slow they do travel.
Proper identification and warn
ing is real'important Let’s keep
alert during this busy fall season
both on the highway and in the
fields.
If you need more forage this
winter consider harvesting more
com silage and using it as a partial
substitute for hay, haylagc or ryel
age in the ration. The extra silage
could also be sold as a valuable
cash crop. To accomplish this, you
may need additional storage, per
haps in the form of a bag or stack.
If so, do you have all your sup
plies and is your custom operator
fined up now so you’ll be ready
when the time comes. Also con
sider how you will remove the sil
age from this storage. Will it be
used to refill present structures, or
will you be feeding it out daily.
This could determine where to
locate the storage. Remember,
when silage is transferred, and
goes through a second fermenta
tion, there is some loss of feed
nutrients. Thus, it may be more
desirable to feed out of the storage
on a daily basis.
NOW IS
THE TIME
By Jay Irwin
Lancaster County Agriculture Agent
To Be Safe During
This Busy Season
To Consider the Need
for Extra Silage
To Consider Newspaper
for Bedding
Many communities have a pap
er disposal problem. An alterna
tive to dumping waste paper into
landfills is to use newspaper as
bedding material for dairy cattle,
livestock, poultry and small
animals.
Some communities are separat
ing, shredding and baling paper.
At the farm, these bales are usual
ly put through a bedding chopper
or a bale buster to end up with
paper particles that are small
enough to work through gutter
gratings, and small enough to pre
vent animals from tracking it
around. Some fanners place bun
dles of tied paper into bedding
cnoppcrs and have been quite
satisfied with the results. For more
information, call the Lancaster
County Solid Waste Authority at
717-397-9968 or Penn State
Cooperative Extension Dairy
Agent, Glenn Shirk at
717-394-6851.
This sorghum-like grass is' a
problem on many fields in this
part of the state. There are cases
where nothing is being done to
control this weed; for those I
would remind you that Johnson
grass is listed as a noxious weed in
Pennsylvania. In com there is little
that can be done at this time of
year except cut the seed-heads off
COMPENSATIONS
August 27,1989
Background Scripture: Ruth
Devotional Reading: Revela
tion 3:7-13.
Perhaps you have noticed in
reading the Book of Ruth that God
is rarely mentioned in this story.
He is mentioned casually a few
times by Naomi and once by Ruth
- “your people shall be my peo
ple, and your God my God”- but
it is only when Naomi returns to
Bethlehem that God is really
brought into the story: “Do not
call me Naomi, call me Mara
(“bitter”), for the Almighty has
dealt very bitterly with me. I went
away full, and the Lord has
brought me back empty. Why call
me Naomi (“pleasant”) when the
Lord has afflicted me and the
Almighty has brought calamity
upon me” (1:20,21). God becomes
very real in the story only when
Naomi bitterly complains about
her losses.
Before you judge Naomi too
harshly, put yourself in her shoes:
wouldn’t you be bitter if you had
lost, not one, but two sons and
your husband in a rather short
interval of time? Naomi was
blessed with a wonderful
daughter-in-law, but her losses
were so great that she could not
allow herself to appreciate that
You and I ought to be able to
understand that, in that we often
fail to count the blessings we have
because we arc too distraught over
the blessings we do not have.
HOW THE MATTER
TURNS OUT
Note that none of the resolution
of the problem seems to have any
thing to do with God either. It is
Ruth’s decision to glean in the
fields and it is Naomi’s advice on
how to handle Boaz that appear to
change their fortunes. No one has
a vision from God or hears a
heavenly voice. It is Boaz’s admi-
and bum them. It’ll require treat
ment at planting time.
However, in other fields such as
small grains, where the growth of
Johnsongrass reaches 2'A to 3
feet., in the boot stage... the plants
may be sprayed with Roundup.
These plants are very heavy seed
producers; a few plants allowed to
go to seed this fall will mean hun
dreds of plants next summer.
Johnsongrass is fast growing and
will crowd out most farm crops.
We urge landowners to make
every effort to eliminate Johnson
grass from their farm. The
1989-90 Agronomy Guide lists
control information.
The Penn State Cooperative
Extension is an affirmative action,
equal opportunity educational
institution.
ration for and later his attraction to
Ruth that turn Naomi’s bitterness
into joy. Even the problem of the
kinsman who had the first right of
refusal to Ruth’s hand is solved
without divine intervention.
But, just as Naomi felt free to
complain about the Lord’s treat
ment of her, so she freely gave
him the praise when it seemed that
the fortunes were turning:
“Blessed be he (Boaz) by the
Lord, whose kindness has not for
saken the living or the dead!”
(2:20). Naomi was delighted and
thankful to God that Boaz was
showing exceptional interest in
Ruth. And when, at last, Ruth is
married to Boaz and they have a
son, the women of Bethlehem say
to her: “Blessed be the Lord who
has not left you this day without
next of kin; and may his name be
renowned in Israel! He shall be to
you a restorer of life and a nour
ishcr of your old age” (4:14,15).
THE PRESENCE
OF LOVE
So, although God is mentioned
very little in this story, still he is a
very important part of it. Just
because his name was not fre
quently invoked, doesn’t mean
that the principal characters were
unmindful of Him. Neither is the
word “love” mentioned in the
story but one time; when the
women of Bethlehem speak of
“your daughter-in-law who loves
you, who is more to you than
seven sons...” (4:15). Yet, love is
very much present: in the commit
ment of Ruth to Naomi, in the
attraction between Ruth and Boaz,
in Naomi’s appreciation of Ruth,
and in everyone’s assumption that
the good fortune of Naomi, Ruth
and Boaz is the result, not of blind
chance, but of the love of God.
And, although the word “love” is
not mentioned, who can fail to see
the love when the writer says
“Than Naomi took the child and
laid him at her bosom, and became
his nurse”? (4:16).
Like Naomi, there may be many
times in our lives when we have
cause to feel bitter. But let us nev
er become so hurt that we fail to
sec the compensations which God
will provide for us, if we will
accept them.
(Based on copyrighted Outlines produced by
the Committee on the Uniform Series and used
by permission. Released by Community ft Sub
urban Press.)