AlO-Lancaster Fanning, Saturday, March 3,1990 •ardslick to determine champ ions. Today’s standards are the reverse of the 1950 s ideal which proliferated short, boxy steers for a decade or more. We don’t advocate either extreme, but moderating toward a functional, lean beef animal that better reflects the marketplace in price and quality may be in order for the youth show and sale at the farm show. - Farm Calendar Saturday, March 3 3d Annual Outreach Luncheon, Fellowship of Christian Far mers, Friendly Farm Restaur- ant, Westminster, Md., 12:15 p.m.-2:30 p.m. Warren Co. information program, drugs and alcohol, 4-H Center, Warren Co. Fairgrounds, 1:00 p.m.-3:00 p.m. Mercer Co. regional pesticide update meeting, Mercer Co. extension office, 10:30 a.m.-3:00 p.m. Sunday, March 4 Frederick Co. Ag Promotion, Fre derick Towne Mall, Frederick, Md. Monday, March 5 Capitol Region Christmas Tree Growers meeting, Adams Co. Capital Region fruit weed control I Lancaster Fanning Established 1955 Published Every Saturday Ephrata Review Building 1 E. Main St. Ephrata. PA 17522 by pr Lancaster Farming, Inc. A St»lnrmn Enm.p/mt Robert G. Campbell General Manager Everett R. Newswanger Managing Editor O'jrffhl M hy UniHb Fannie meeting, York Co. extension office, York, 9:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m. Milk quality meeting, Dawson Carrol Farm, Ridgely, Md. Tuesday, March 6 Lancaster County Dairy Day 2, Farm and Home Center, 9:00 a.m.-2;30 p.m. Tri-county soybean meeting, Ship pensburg Memorial Lutheran Church, Shippensburg, 9:30 a.m. Weed control in vegetables, York Co. extension office, York, 9:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m. Christmas Tree Growers meeting, Penn State Fruit Research Lab, Biglerville, 7:00 p.m. Adams/Franklin/Cumberland (Turn to Page A 42) UKJCLE OTIS, DID YOU HAVE PROBLEMS WlTp your grades WHEN IK jjf NOW IS THE TIME By Jay Irwin Lancaster County Agricultural Agent Plan Location For Tobacco Planting We have been saying for years that animal and poultry manure are an excellent fertilizer. It still is ... but not for tobacco. Research shows us that animal manure, par ticularly dairy, increases the chlorine content of the tobacco; this chlorine content reduces the “bum“ quality of the tobacco, and buyers frown on that. Locate the area that you plan to transplant your tobacco, and be sure not to apply any manure to that area this year. We suggest that a soil test be taken as an indicator of your pre sent nutrient level. Then apply fer tilizer at the recommended rates. The fertility program, recom mended by Research Agronom ists, for a 2,000 pound tobacco crop, should consist of 80 pounds of nitrogen, 35 pounds of pho sphorus (P 205) and 165 pounds of potash from either sulfate of potash or potassium nitrate. This fertility program will increase quality and reduce buyer resistance. To Check Pastures With the arrival of March and moderating temperatures, our thoughts quicken to early spring pastures. We need to be concerned with pastures and exercise lots along rural roads for discarded junk. Unfortunately, people still throw bags of waste from their cars into nearby fields. Some of the materials may be poisonous to livestock. Every producer should remove these materials before starting to graze. Also, in hay fields the materials should be removed before growth begins. Bottles and cans will damage equipment and be a threat to the livestock eating the hay. Be sure your animals are not poisoned through someone’s carelessness. To Be Aware Of Safe Drinking Water Private water supply is just that - private. The quality of your water supply is the responsibility of the homeowner or fanner. State laws do not require testing and regulatory agencies do not moni tor the quality of private supplies. NOT REALLY ] • WHY ? ; - 0 r € Therefore, the only way you, as a water supply owner, can be certain that the water is safe to drink is to have the water tested periodically. What Should Water Be Tested For? Comprehensive water analysis can be very costly. The following tests can determine the most common water quality concerns. BACTERIA: A test for total coliform bacteria can determine contamination from septic tanks or manure. NITRATES: Excessive levels of nitrates can be harmful to human infants and some animals, although the occurrence of this is rare level of 10 ppm nitrate nitro gen has been set for humans, for livestock. Water with a pH less than 6.5 or greater than 8.0 can cause plumbing problems. Corro sion shortens the life of the pipe and introduce dissolved metals into the water that can stain fix tures and pose a potential health hazard. To assure that a well supp- IS CHRISTLIKE LOVE POSSIBLE? March 4,1990 Background Scripture: John 15: 1-17 Devotional Reading: 1 Corinthians 13: 1-13, Have you ever thought about just how impossible it seems to live up to the command of Christ to “love one another as I have loved you”? Daily I am con fronted by people to whom I find it difficult to be nice. Perhaps you experience’ much the same thing. How can we force ourselves to love the seemingly unlovable. How can we make ourselves feel differently than irritable or hos tile? I have certainly had a lot of experience trying to feel and act differently. But, usually when I try, I do not succeed in loving, but only in hiding my true feelings. And the very reality of those feel ings haunts me when I hear Christ saying: “This is my command ment, that you love one another as I have loved you” (John 15:12). Jesus must have known how difficult it is for us to love other people. So, did he knowingly give us a commandment that we can’t possibly obey? Did he set for us a standard that we cannot reach? Are the cards stacked against us so that we cannot sincerely obey that commandment? RELATIONSHIPS When I read John 15, however, I see a possible way through my dilemma and I trust not mine alone. He does not begin with this hard commandment, but rather with the statement: “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine dresser” (15:1). Jesus begins this discourse with some important truths about the relationship <7gg> ly is safe, it should be tested for bacteria and nitrate at least once a year, preferably during a wet spell. Only after accurate testing can a decision be made for treat ment equipment. Prune Fruit Trees Whether you have a few or sev eral hundred fruit trees, orchard pruning need not be delayed until spring. It may be started in colder weather. But it is a good practice to work on the hardiest trees first. Early pruning can involve some problems from winter injury, but in many cases an early start will be necessary to complete pruning of large orchards before spring. By confining early work to the older, hardier trees, fruit growers keep injury to a minimum. Apple and pear trees are the hardiest of the fruits, with plums and our cherries next in order. Because peach and sweet cherries are most tender, delay their pruning, particularly the younger trees, until late. between the Father, the Son and the disciples. Jesus uses an Old Testament image Israel, the vine planted by God to be fruitful to com municate the nature of the three way relationship. Because Israel had failed to be fruitful, Jesus was now the “true vine” of God and the Father is as the vinedresser: the one who plants, nourishes, and cares for the vine. And the disci ples are like the “branches” of the vine. “I am the vine, you are the branches” (John 15:5). The branches are important to the vine’s fruitfulness, but without the vine itself the branches would be useless. Producing “fruit” without being attached to the vine would be as difficult as trying to love the unlovable on your own power alone. ABIDE IN ME Then he goes on to use another image: to abide. This word can mean to remain, to continue, tQ stay, to dwell, to reside, to wgdt and to endure. The word “abide,” which is not commonly used ip today’s speech, indicates a .close relationship that remain? close regardless of what happens. There; is a strong suggestion of persever ance on the part of the disciple and tender care on the part of the Christ. This mystical relationship, then of God with Christ, of Christ with us, and of us with each other is the key to the command ment, for we cannot manage to “love one another" by the sheer power of our own will. Trying to love the seemingly “unlovable” on our power alone is about as unlikely as producing “fruit” with out being attached to the vine. So. that which makes love possible tc others around us is the closeness of the relationship we have with Christ within. On our own, we cannot do it, but if we live so close to Christ, we cannot help but find the power and inspiration to love even the most unlovable. (Baled on copyrighted Outline! produced bj the Committee on the Unifonn Seriec and usee by pemuition. Released by Community & Sub uiban Press.)