AlO-tancaster fuming,' Saturday, February 3, WO
OPINION
A Sobering World
At this time, while the daily industry has been captivated by
synthetic protein (BST) injected into a dairy cow to get her to
produce more milk, a new animal genetic manipulation process
has been bom. Now you can have a whole stable full of clones of
your favorite dairy cow. The process is called nuclear transfer.
To accomplish this new way of breeding cows, nuclear mater
ial from a donor embryo is taken to create new embryos, each
identical to the donor embryo. Cloned embryos are transferred
to recipient heifers or cows or frozen for later use to make addi
tional clones or pregnancies. The calves that result from this
process are identical, each containing the exact genetics of the
donor embryo. In addition, with a perfected selection process,
you can have your choice of boys or girls added to your order
from the test-tube.
The incredible possibilities here could make BST obsolete in
less time than it takes to get FDA approval on anything. Get
yourself an embryo out of an Excellent 40,000 lb. milk cow that
is sired by... let’s say Carlin-M Ivanhoe Bell. Then ask the lab to
make a model set of offspring. When these identical heifers
mature, all the cows in your bam will look Excellent and have
the extraordinary milk production characteristics of their sire
and dam bom right into their bodies. When you lose a cow from
milk fever, hardware or old age. just go back to the lab and reor
der a few more identical clones from the original embryo. This
will keep your herd pleasingly uniform.
Nuclear transfer is available right now with all its tremendous
possibilities to do the world a lot of good and within the means
of very ordinary dairymen. And we would expect that many
dairymen will want to use the service.
But while everyone thinks of the beautiful, useful animals
that can be genetically generated with this technology, we can’t
help but suppose some diabolical person might also create a
deformed animal to attract attention to a peep show on the mid
way at the county fair.
With all the potential of this new technology, maybe some
day soon, inheritable defects in human beings will also be cor
rected with nuclear transfer. This would greatly benefit many
future generations of people.
But then we ask, may scientists, within our lifetime, need to
stand in their laboratories and wrestle with the moral decision to
create a clone of Mother Theresa rather than create a clone of
Adolf Hitler.
We live in a sobering world.
Farm Calendar
Saturday, February 3 Township Fire Hall, Huntsdale,
Cumberland County Holstein 10:45 a.m.
Association Meeting, Penn (Turn to Pag* A 44)
Farm Forum
Editor:
I was so glad to see an old
Rumely oil pull 16-30 H on page
D 22 in Lancaster Fanning. That
made my day. Thank you! I made
them my hobby. About 1920 on a
cold morning in harvest time, you
could hear them running no matter
which way you turned your head.
They were hard to beat
I like your paper. I found a few
“Rumelys” in your paper in mail-
Lancaster Farming
Established 10SS
Published Every Saturday
Ephrata Review Building
1 E. Main St
Ephrata, PA 17522
-•>y m
Lancaster Farming, InC.
A SMwmn frrtoprfe*
Robtrt G. Campbell General Manager
Everett R. Nawewanger Managing Edito
ine hr Lm* Fan**
box markets.
C.E. Stambaugh
York, Pa.
Editor:
I agree with the Editor’s com
ments on the Lottery in the Farm
Show. I am glad someone took a
stand against some of the wrong
things that are done in this state
and nation. Thank you!
Timothy Hofftnan
Dover
WHK2E YA A
&01N&. 0715? J
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NOW IS
THE TIME
By Jay Irwin
Lancaster County
Agricultural Agent
To Plan
Forage Management
A good supply of quality for
ages is one of the most important
things in the feeding program of
dairymen, cattlemen and sheep
producers. Growers should now
be planning what kind of forage
crops they hope to produce this
year.
Both hay and silage crops
respond to good management.
Growers who make a special
effort to obtain maximum yields
of quality forages usually produce
more than the average.
Some of the top alfalfa growers
produce double the tonnage per
acre than the average. In fact some
of the top alfalfa growers in the
state averaged over 8 tons per
acre. This did not just happen.
They planned and made decisions
on data from their farm records.
Doing all the practices that have
been successful, and doing them
on time, will normally bring good
results.
To Check
Poultry Waterers
Hens without water can cost
you money. In one experiment,
birds deprived of water for only 24
hours required 24 days to return to
normal.egg production. In most
experiments, after a period of only
36 hours without water, birds nev
er returned to normal. A flock
without water for 36 hours or
more may molt, then go through a
prolonged period of restricted pro
duction. litis is especially so in
older flocks. If water is restricted
for 48 to 60 hours, severe mortali
ty can result from dehydration.
As you walk through your
houses each day, check the water
ers to make sure none are dry or a
line is plugged. I am aware of a
case where the water line was
restricted, by a faulty valve, to the
middle row of cages for nearly 3
days. Production was seriously
affected in that row.
A few minutes a day checking
waterers can well mean saving a
lot of dollars ~ don’t wait until
molted feathers are under the
cage.
To Prone Trees
General pruning of apple trees
should be in full swing at this time
of year, especially if you have a
lot of pruning to do. I’d like to
remind growers and homeowners
not to ovetprune young trees or
those which haven’t yet started to
bear fruit. There is a tendency to
either [mine the small trees too
heavily, or simply to leave them
alone. A middle-of-the-road
course is best.
The training of young trees
should involve just enough cutting
to maintain a healthy central lead
er and to develop the desired num
ber of well-spaced scaffold
branches. Branches that are either
poorly spaced, or ones making
very- narrow-angled crotches
should be removed.
Keep in mind, when you start
pruning early, start with your
hardier trees, the apple and pear
with plums, sour cherries next and
leave your peaches till near the
" end; they’re quite tender.
To Correct
Drainage Problems
The recent heavy rains provide
a good chance to observe the
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SOME SAID IT
THUNDERED!
February 4,1990
Background Scripture:
John 12.
Devotional Reading:
John 12:44-50.
This is one of the most dramatic
moments in John’s Gospel: Christ
praying. “Father, glorify thy
name,” and a heavenly voice
replying, “I have glorified it and I
will glorify it again” (John 12:28).
How ironic, that, although there
woe many people present on that
occasion, all of whbm heard
something, some got the message,
while others did not Some heard
the heavenly voice and said, “An
angel has spoken to him,” while
others said simply that “it had
thundered.”
EYE OF THE
BEHOLDER
This brings to mind some of the
accounts that I have read of the
third and final great vision on
October 13.1917 at Fatima in Por
tugal. Seventy-thousand people
woe present that day and thou
sands heard the heavenly voice
and saw the celestial manifesta
tions, but thousands of others did
not. Even more ironic is the fact
that some of those who “saw” and
“heard” were those who came to
Fatima to scoff, while some of
those who did not “see” and
“hear” were those who came with
the expectation of something
miraculous.
Was the sound that people
heard in John 12 really the voice
of God, or was it “only thunder”?
It has to be one or the other,
doesn't it? No, not really. I submit
water drainage problems around
many bams and storage buildings.
If surface water drained into farm
buildings or into homes, then
something should be done about it
very soon. Surface water should
be directed away from buildings
by way of terraces or diversion
ditches.
Water should not be permitted
to flow down against buildings
from upgrade. This will weaken
the structure and wadi soil away
from the foundation. Water that
seeps into a building from under
ground is a different problem and
more difficult to control.
However, the surface water can
be directed around and away from
farm buildings. Also, the area
around wells should be protected
from surface water contamination.
Water from feedlots and barn
yards should not be allowed to
flow directly into public streams;
pastures or holding areas will help
prevent the possibility of pollu
tion.
to you that it can be both, that to
some degree that which a person
sees and hears is dependent upon
his or her perception and recep
tion. I don’t mean to imply that the
difference between the voice of
God and the sound of thunder is
just that and no more, but I do
believe that it is at least (me of the
factors that helps to make that dif
ference. If “Beauty is in the eye of
the beholder,” much of faith is
also. On that day in John 12 I’m
sure there was both thunder and
the voice of God and the receptivi
ty of the people helped to deter
mine which of these the people
would hear.
BEYOND THE
CONSCIOUS
But what about the skeptics
who “heard” and the faithful who
didn’t? A series of experiments by
Dr. David C. McClelland of Har
vard University involved showing
a film about Mother Teresa to
groups of students. When ques
tioned afterwards, the students
were split roughly SO-SO in their
response, half with positive
responses and half with negative
ones. But, when each person in the
study was tested for salivary
immunoglobulin A one of the
body’s primary defenses against
the cold virus Dr. McClelland
found that some who said they did
not like Mother Teresa neverthe
less had a positive unconscious
physiological response. Dr.
McClelland says: “At the con
scious level, a person may not
believe at all, but at the uncon
scious level, something in the per
son may still respond
(positively)...”
There is more to faith than the
ideas and words that we offer up
from our conscious minds. Deep
down in our spirits there are ele
ments of faith and disbelief that
make the difference between hear
ing the sound of thunder or the
voice of God.
(Based on copyrighted Outlines produced by
the Committee on the Uniform Series and need
by permission. Released by Community ft Sub
urban Prase.)