AlO-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, December 16,1989
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OPINION
A Win/Win Situation
Once again we farmers can help bail our city friends out of a
major jam. Experts say the 75 landfills in Pennsylvania are fill
ing up fast. Within five years they will all be full.
Of course, the tons and tons of newspapers that are printed
each day add to the problem because a lot of newsprint ends up
in the landfills. Glenn Shirk, Lancaster County agent, says that
up to now, it has been convenient to dump papers on a truck and
bury them. But there must be a better way.
At a bam meeting this week, Shirk, along with other officials
and a number of farm equipment manufacturers, were trying to
help farmers find that better way and also help save tons of
money on the usual livestock bedding costs.
The research projects done on the subject of newsprint bed
ding go back more than 30 years. And everything we know indi
cates that this is a viable alternative to conventional bedding.
Dan McFarlan, PSU engineer, says the heavy metals content in
paper and ink is well within safe limits. There is no apparent
health problem or contamination of meat or milk. Environmen
tal mastitis bacteria grow slowly in newspaper bedding and
there seems to be no problem with plant growth when applied to
the soil.
Therefore, we conclude that to use newspaper bedding for
your livestock can help with environmental concerns and at the
same time save you a lot of money on conventional bedding
costs. That’s what we call a wiii/win situation.
Farm Calendar
Tuesday, December 19
Farrowing Short Course, 111 Hen
ning Building, Penn State, Uni
versity Park; runs through
December 20.
Wednesday, December 20
Pennsylvania Forage & Grassland
Council meeting and banquet,
Sheraton Inn, Altoona, noon.
Thursday, December 21
Grain drying and storage meeting,
Conference Center, Penn State,
Schuylkill Campus, Schuylkill
Haven, 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Forage Testing Van in Bucks Co.,
Welles Mills, 8:30n a.m. and
Troy Agway, 1:00 p.m.
Wednesday, December 27
Lebanon County 4-H Livestock
Club Winter Roundup, Leba
non Area Fairgrounds, Leba
non, pig show at noon, beef and
lamb shows 1:00 p.m. Decem
ber 28, and sale6:oo p.m.
December 28.
Monday, January 1
Red Rose Alliance pork and
sauerkraut dinner, Churchtown
Fire Hall, Churchtown, 11:00
a.m.
Tuesday, January 2
44th annaul meeting of the North
eastern Weed Science Society,
Sheraton Boston Hotel & Tow
ers, Boston, Mass.; runs
through January S.
Wednesday, January 3
Schuylkill County Dairy Day,
Penn State Schuylkill campus,
Sludent/Community Activity
Building, 9:0 a.m. to 3:00 p.tn.
Lancaster Farming
Established 1955
Published Every Saturday
Ephrata Review Building
1 E. Mam St
Ephrata, PA 17522
by
Lancaster Farming, Inc.
A Sldnimn £nt»,prk»
Robert G Campbell General Manager
Everett R. Newawanger. .Managing Editor
CapyrlgM IMty laAMttor Faalnf
Pennsylvania Dairy Promotion
Program second annual ban
quet, Holiday Inn, Grantville,
general session at 2:00 p.m.,
banquet 5:30 p.m.
Lancaster County tobacco man
agement meeting and show,
Lancaster Farm & Home Cen
ter, Lancaster, 11:00 a.m. to
3:15 p.m.
Lancaster County home horticul
ture seminar, Lancaster Farm &
Home Center, Lancaster;
beginning beekeeping at 7:30
p.m. to 9:30 p.m. and home gar
dener’s guide to fruit produc
tion at 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
Sunday, January 7
Pennsylvania Farm Show, Farm
Show Building, Harrisburg:
runs through January 12. Times
Readers Write
Editor,
On Friday, November 24, the
day after Thanksgiving, sixty-five
(65) men and women came to our
farm with their tractors, wagons,
trucks and a caterpillar to clean up
our tobacco phed that was demol
ished five (5) days earlier by a
wind storm. The men worked
together, each one doing a job, and
by one o’clock all that was left
was a slab of concrete where the
shed had been. In the meantime,
NOW IS
THE TIME
By Jay Irwin
Lancaster County Agriculture Agent
To Review
Partnership Agreements
There are a number of advant
ages to establishing farm partner
ships, but an annual review of the
agreement and its value in relation
to current needs is essential.
I would like to offer a few sug
gestions for those who have enter
ed into farm partnership agree
ments.
Once a farm partnership is
drawn up, the agreement should
be reviewed at least once a year.
This should be done for two rea
sons. First, to see how well each of
the partners is meeting his obliga
tions and secondly, to carefully
evaluate the agreement to see if it
is doing its intended job.
Then too, farming is a rapidly
changing business. So, don’t be
surprised if the agreement you set
up just a couple years ago isn’t en
tirely adequate to meet today’s
needs.
So review that agreement care
fully. If it doesn’t quite measure
up to current needs, plan to make
necessary changes before 1990
rolls around.
To Understand Firewood
Volume Terms
Energy costs continue high and
many people are using wood burn
ing stoves as a means of reducing
oil, electric or gas use. This means
buying more firewood.
It is a good idea to know what
you are buying. Some firewood
sellers may offer such “measure
ments” as face cord, rack, stack,
truckload or “pile” and buyers of
ten believe they are getting a cord.
are 1:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. Sun
day, 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Monday through Thursday,
8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on
Friday.
the women were busily preparing
a lunch of hot soups and sand
wiches, hot chocolate and pies.
We thank you, family, friends,
and neighbors for working so hard
on a cold day, the many words of
encouragement and for caring.
The day left us a feeling of true
Thanksgiving.
Thanks to all,
The Lloyd Esbenshade Family
Manheim
A “cord” is defined by Pennsyl
vania law as “the amount of wood
which is contained in a space of
128 cubic feet when wood is rank
ed and well stowed.” This means a
neatly piled rank of wood 4 feet
high, 4 feet wide and 8 feet long.
Those selling fuel wood are liable
under the law when they use the
term “cord” alone.
A “face cord” which is a term
widely used is a neatly piled rank
of wood 4 feet wide, 8 feet long
and as wide as the lengths of the
sticks of wood. If the pieces of
wood are 16 inches long, you have
one-third of a cord of wood.
It pays to know the amount you
agree to buy.
To Control
Livestock Parasites
The winter feeding programs
are under way and parasite infest
ed livestock are poor money mak
ers. Body lice are often found on
nearly all species of livestock. In
cold weather the heavy hair coats
make it difficult to eradicate these
pests.
For best results, use two
treatments at 12- to 14-day in
tervals. Some cattle operators
will have automatic louse con
trol devices filled with an ap
proved insecticide. This is ex-
Background Scripture:
Devotional Reading:
I’ve been to the well at Sychar
several times. The picture of it is
fixed very well in my memory.
Not because the place is remark
able in its appearance or its setting
just a dusty street like many
others throughout the Holy Land.
But the current appearance of
this street, the well and its shrine
is deceptive, obscuring the drama
tic event that took place there. The
writer himself underplays this
event, but in these simple verses
there is spiritual dynamite that
breaks down some very formid
able walls.
“Give me a drink,” Jesus says to
the woman, and the first wall is
struck a fatal blow. No rabbi
would dare to speak to any woman
in public, let alone a woman with
an unsavory reputation. Didn’t he
realize what trouble this encounter
could bring him? Apparently he
did, but it did not matter. The wall
did not belong there, so he broke it
down.
UNTOUCHABLES
The second wall was even high
er and thicker. “The Samaritan
woman said to him, ‘How is it that
you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a
woman of Samaria?’” John under
states the case: “For Jews have no
dealings with Samaritans.” It was
ASKING HIM
TO STAY
December 17,1989
John 4:1-42,
John 3:31-36,
cellent and efficient ... if the
materials are kept in the equip
ment. In milder weather cattle can
be sprayed with the material using
cold water. Stomach worms
should also be eradicated in order
to make the best use of feeds.
Your local veterinarian can check
fecal samples to determine the in
fection. You cannot afford to
operate with parasite infection of
any kind.
To Prepare For
Slippery Conditions
Slippery roads, walks and steps
will be a common hazard in the
next few months. Many people
use salt too freely in cutting the
ice; it may get the job done but
also may injure nearby turf or
shrubbery. I’d suggest the use of
sand or sawdust These materials
will make the surface safe without
possible ifijury to vegetation. In
areas without any vegetation, salt
will give good results. Along our
main highways there is some evi
dence that the constant use of salt
is inflicting injury to nearby trees
and shrubs. Don’t let this happen
to your favorite tree, shrub or the
turf lining your walk.
The Cooperative Extension is
an affirmative action, equal op
portunity educational institution.
not just a matter of disagreement
between them or of old scores to
settle. The Jews regarded the
Samaritans as heretics and they
took every opportunity to display
their contempt. Jesus knew all
that, but this was another wall that
ought not to be there and he
destroyed it, 100.
“Go, call your husband, and
come here,” he tells her. When she
answers that she has no husband,
he startles her by saying, “You are
right...for you have had five hus
bands, and he whom you now
have is not your husband...” Appa
rently, like some of us, the woman
decided that when you’re trapped,
it’s time to ask a religious ques
tion! Which is the right place to
worship: Mt. Gerizim or Mount
Zion? You’re a prophet, so who’s
right: the Samaritans or the Jews.
NO MORE WALLS
Instead of haggling with the
woman. Jesus reveals what is this
“living water” which he had told
her he could give her; direct
access to God, who is spirit and
not limited to either material
things or human speculations.
Access to God is available to all
who turn to him “in spirit and
truth.” Neither her status as a
woman, a Samaritan, nor a notori
ous sinner can keep her from God
if she will'turn to him.
Forgetting the barriers that once
separated them, she shares the
good news with her neighbors so
that “they asked him to stay with
them.” And, in a sense, that’s what
all of us need to do to ask him
to stay with us until we too can
* say: “It is no longer because of
your words that we believe, for we
have heard for ourselves, and we
know that this is indeed the Savior
of the world.”
(Based on copyrighted Outlines produced by
the Committee of the Uniform Senes and used by
peimission Released by Community A Subur
ban Press)