Aio-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, October 28,1989
UafisgiSfiMeggH
OPINION
SOS In Chester County
After months of research and investigation, The Open Space and
Environmental Task Force in Chester County assembled its recom
mendations on current and anticipated development in Chester Coun
ty. In their report to the Chester County Commissioners, they called
for a $5O million bond issue to acquire land for county parks, to help
preserve farmland, open space, environmentally and historically sen
sitive areas, and to provide matching grants and loans to local munici
palities and conservancies to help accomplish the same goals.
Because of the magnitude of the project, the Chester County Com
missioners requested a referendum question for the November 7 bal
lot in order to measure public support for open space preservation.
Following the Commissioners’ decision to hold the referendum,
several members from the Open Space Task Force, recognizing the
importance of the issue, decided to form a temporary, non-profit com
mittee to educate voters about the importance of the issue of preserv
ing open space and to encourage voters to vote YES on the referen
dum.
This new committee is called Chester County Citizens To Save
Open Space. Headquarters have been established at 152 West Gay
Street in West Chester. The organization is chaired by Peter O. Haus
mann, a member of the Open Space Task Force. Linda L. Peterson
was named Executive Director in August. Former Judge Theodore
Rogers was named Tieasurer.
The organization has won endorsements for the passage of the re
ferendum from leading environmental, business, political, civic, and
municipal organizations, as well as numerous corporations and politi
cal officials in Chester County. Field coordinators throughout the
county are being appointed, phone banks are being created, and a
broad based promotional effort is being mounted.
Here are a few of the facts the Task Force has assembled for voter
consideration:
90 acres of open space are being lost every day to development
(average over last three years). In 1988 alone, approximately 32,812
Chester County acres were proposed for development.
Over 12,000 new housing units were proposed for development
in 1988. This is the equivalent of two new “West Chester Boroughs”
being created. In the past three years, 34,781 new housing units have
been proposed in the county.
—The county is becoming increasingly urban and suburban, rather
than rural. In 1985, it was estimated that 22 percent of the County was
developed, double the amount developed between 1970 and 1985.
Today, 44 percent of the county is now classified as urban or subur
ban, double the amount of just four years ago.
Farmland is being lost at the rate of 6,000 acres per year, or
about 16 acres per day. This rate continued steady from 1982 to 1987.
Wc have lost 30,037 acres of farmland since 1982. At the current rate
of loss, there will be no farmland left in Chester County at the end of
this generation (specifically, 32 years).
The SOS (Save Open Space) call has gone out in Chester County,
Let’s have the voters give a positive response to this call.
/,V^7
Farm Calendar
Saturday, October 28
Great Pet & Animal Fair, York
Fairgrounds, York, 10:00 a.m.
to 4:00 p.m.
Lancaster County Sheep & Wool
Growers Association sheep to
shawl contest. Watt & Shand
Mall, Park City Center, Lancas
ter, 1:00 p.r.i.
Dutch Country Calf Sale, Lebanon
Area Fairgrounds, Lebanon,
1:30 p.m.
Pennsylvania Simmental Associa
tion show and sale, Greene
County Fairgrounds, Waynes
burg; show at 10:00 a.m., sale at
1:00 p.m.
Lebanon Quilters Guild sth annual
quilt show, Lebanon Area fair
Lancaster Farming
Established 1955
Published Every Saturday
Ephrata Review Building
1 E. Main St.
Ephrata, PA 17522
by
Lancaster Farming, Inc.
A Stelnmen Enterprise
Robert G Campbell General Manager
Everett R Newswanger Managing Editor
Copyright ItM by Lancaster Farming
grounds; runs through October
29.
Monday, October 30
(Turn to Page A 36)
Readers Write
Editor:
About your editorial October 7,
1989, you mention a “World
Resources Institute.” Who &
where are they? How do they
make money to keep going? Did
you ever look at their income
reports?
Another thing about your com
ments relative to VA billion metr
ic tons. Who weighed all of this
OTI9, ARE VOO &01M&
TO DO ANYTMING
SPEC/AL TO
CELEBRATE
PORK MONTH ? .
&
NOW IS
THE TIME
By Jay Irwin
'Lancaster County Agriculture Agent
To Observe Weed
Populations
Now that most of our com is
harvested, we can plainly see what
weeds failed to be controlled in
those fields. We are seeing more
of the persistent, hard-to-control
weeds appearing in our crop fields
during the past eight-10 years. In
part, this is because we have
changed our farming methods,
particularly tillage techniques and
we’re not using crop rotations in
the case of continuous com.
Bindweeds, horsenettle, hemp
dogbane, curly dock, Canada
thistle, Johnsongrass, and yes,
even woody plants such as bram
bles and small volunteer trees
have appeared in increasing num
bers. We need to note the presence
of these weeds now and then pre
pare to deal with them.
When you notice a new weed,
have it identified and take appro
priate control measures before that
weed becomes a menacing prob
lem. If weeds afe presently escap
ing from your control efforts, find
out how to change your weed
management program.
To Prevent Pneumonia
As temperature and weather
conditions vary considerably from
day to day and from hour to hour,
precautions need to be taken to
prevent pneumonia. Pneumonia
causing organisms are normally
present in the respiratory tract, but
under periods of stress an animal’s
resistance can be lowered to the
point where it can no longer fight
off the infection. So, it’s important
to minimize stress on animals.
Keep bams well ventilated, but
avoid cold drafts. This may
require frequent adjustments of
doors and windows, or the proper
installation and use of fans. Good
ventilation prevents the buildup of
stagnant, moist germ-laden air.
That’s important! Also avoid
overcrowding. During inclement
and rapidly changing weather con
ditions, one should also minimize
stresses associated with transport-
stuff? And if it’s hanging up in the
atmosphere, what holds it up?
Please answer these simple
questions in your next editorial.
I’m, in favor of using farm
grown materials for fuel, but I
believe you’re out on a limb by
your comments.
Harved Mundy
Three Bridges, NJ
VOR I'M GOING DOWN ID
THE RE3TAURAMTAND
ORDER MVSELF A COUPLE
OF TRICK, OUICy DELICIOUS?
PORK CHOPS...
ing animals, weaning, changing
feeds, deworming, vaccinating,
etc. When necessary, consult youi l
veterinarian for advice on immu
nization and treatment.
To Winterize Small Engines
Many small engines on farms
and around houses will be hard to
start next spring. But you can
change that by properly winteriz
ing your small engines. Here are
some suggestions:
• After running the engine to
reach operating temperature, drain
the crankcase and refill with new
oil of proper weight, as specified
in the operator’s manual.
• Add a few teaspoons of gaso
line stablizer into the gas tank and
run the engine for several minutes
to make sure additive flows
throughout the fuel system.
• If the engine is water cooled,
be sure the anti-freeze in the cool
ing system is sufficient for the
lowest temperature.
/ Remove the spark plug and
pour a tablespoon of clean oil into
the cylinder. Also clean and regap
the spark plug or replace with a
new one.
SPIRITUAL
FREELOADERS
October 29,1989
Background Scripture:
2 Thessalonians 2 through 3
Devotional Reading:
Matthew 24: 15-28.
I’ve known a fair number of
people in the churches I’ve served
who always could be counted
upon to do much more than their
share. As a pastor I was always
glad to have these people. But I
would have been just as satisfied
to have everyone do just his own
share. The fact is, in the church,
like just about everywhere else,
there are lots of freeloaders, peo
ple who don’t pull their own
weight
I’m reminded of the young man
who was inducted into the U.S.
Navy. In his first letter home he
wrote, “Dear Mom, I joined the
Navy because I noticed that they
always kept their ships so nice and
clean. Now I know who it is that
keeps them nice and clean!” Lots
of people take for granted the tre
mendous amount of effort that
goes into sustaining congregation
al life. When they arrive at church
there’s never any question but that
it will be open, lighted, heated or
cooled, cleaned and ready for wor
ship or Sunday school. There will
be worship bulletins handed out at
the door, fresh flowers on the
altar, an anthem for the choir and a
sermon from the minister. It
would never occur to anyone that
any of these elements might not be
ready on any particular Sunday
morning.
DOING YOUR SHARE
I now am on the staff of a very
• Use an air gun to blow loose
dirt and chaff from the engine.
Remove and service the air
cleaner.
• Finally, cover the engine with
a piece of canvas and store in a dry
place under cover.
To Check Stand-By
Generators
The winter season brings with it
snow and ice storms that can dam
age and knock out our supply of
electricity. Most farmers are badly
crippled without electricity so the
need for a stand-by generator is
recognized. I know that many
poultry farms already have this
equipment. However, if the gener
ator is not in good working condi
tion, it may not do the job in case
of emergency. These generators
should be run once a week to reas
sure yourself that it’s in good run
ning condition. If it is a tractor
hookup type, then take the time to
make that connection each week.
When the power goes off, you
don’t have time to run tests of the
equipment to make sure it’s in
proper working order.
large United Methodist Church
with a considerable staff of paid
employees. But even with all our
paid employees, the church still
couldn’t begin to fulfill its basic
functions without the efforts of
lots and lots of volunteers. (“Vol
unteers” includes people who
didn’t actually volunteer, but
didn’t say “no” when you asked
them.) No church can be very
effective in serving either its
members or the community unless
it can find enough people who are
willing to do their share and per
haps more.
I have found over the years that
most of the freeloading in the
church is unintentional and uncon
scious. These people don’t go out
of their way to shirk their share of
the work; for the most part they
are simply oblivious. They never
stop to think how all these neces
sary tasks are accomplished in the
church. And the reason they are
usually unaware is that someone
else has picked up their share of
the load.
GOOD EXAMPLES
Paul’s concern for the people of
the church at Thessalonica was
along these same lines, although
the cause was somewhat different.
Lots of these people were so cer
tain that Christ’s return was just
around the comer that they just sat
and waited. Paul pointedly
reminds the Thessalonians of the
people he and his associates set
when they were with them: “We
were not idle when we were with
you, we did not eat anyone’s bread
without paying, but with toil and
labor we worked night and day,
that we might not burden any of
you” (3:8). It was because of this
example that they set before the
church at Thessalonica that Paul
and his associates felt confident in
commanding them: “If anyone
will not work, let him not eat”
(3:10).
(Based on copyrighted Outlines produced by
the Committee on the Uniform Senes and used
by permission Released by Community & Sub
urban Press)
AND TWEfN IM
GOINGr TO /VVAKH
A REAL PIG
OUT OF MYSELF.