AlO-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, June 9,1990
OPINION
Reading , Writing And Agriculture?
Could it be that Americans live too comfortably to be in touch
with reality?
Not that anyone should give up or stop pursuing a better life for
themselves, but it’s obvious that when the hard labor shrank out of
most lives, the ignorance of basic life functions grew into them.
This observation has arisen out of a quest to understand the ani
mal rights activism and growing American ignorance of gathering
food, water, clothing and shelter. The most logical answer is that
too many people own a silver spoon (or plastic) instead of a spade.
The progress that came from the American desire to be creative,
make more money, expand horizons and so forth, resulted in most
Americans leaving the farm several generations ago.
For the most part, present generations can not go back to the
farm, if they wanted to.
Maybe that’s the way it should be. Progress can’t be stopped and
for the most part, the progress has been good.
However, the United States sorely needs to stop dead, do an
about-face on its march toward progress, and take a hard and
thoughtful look at what it has dropped along the pathway.
What it will see, strewn along the road to a better world, are
packages of various necessities lying on the ground - they were
tossed off in the rush to get ahead quickly.
These arc things such as understanding basics of living, morals,
ethics . . .
Every explorer must have his essentials, and they get carried
along the way, even if the pace is slower than it could be.
What we’ve done is to drop a few essentials in order to lessen the
load.
Thus, without these essentials, it seems we have created a varie
ty of factions within society that are made up of people without the
knowledge of fundemental rules of survival it is these factions,
such as the animal rights activists, which arc causing problems now
for all of us.
The situation can be corrected. The answer lies within the
schools and ultimately within ourselves.
We suggest that a good start is in early education.
School districts should offer, in addition to vocational agricul
ture and other elective agricultural courses offered in later grades,
mandatory basic agriculture for every student.
The morals and ethics can come from home, church, and society,
but schools now need to include a fundemental education of living
that used to be taken for granted.
The educational system, instead of using so many computers
and televisions as teaching aides in early grades, should re
appropriate some funds for the sole purpose of getting a sound
foundation of knowledge of food culture, water cycles and other
aspects of day-to-day life.
Schools and teachers often get blamed for many social prob
lems, but in this case the finger pointing is not merely to redirect
responsibility. We need the schools.
Human Survival 101 should start in elementary school, before
sex education, and include actual, hands-on plant and animal cul
ture as part of the curriculum.
When we left the fafm, we left a lot of knowledge that is still
taken for granted. It can’t be that way any more.
Mandatory agriculture classes in all schools needs to be done.
Farm Calendar
W
Delmarva Chicken Festival and
Cooking Contest, Easton, Md.
Northeast Ohio Dairy Goat Asso
ciation Annual Show, Ran
dolph Fairgrounds, Randolph,
Ohio, thru June 10.
Lancaster Farming
Established 1955
Published Every Saturday
Ephrata Review Building
1 E. Main St
Ephrata, PA 17522
by
Lancaster Farming, Ino.
A SMumn EnfepnlM
Robert G. Campbell General Manager
Everett R. Newswanger Managing Editor
IIM ty Unuatr
Suii(l;i>, ,1 uin 1 10
Northeast Ohio Dairy Goat Asso
ciation Annual Show, Ran
dolph Fairgrounds. Randolph,
Ohio.
1 rusihn , .1 urn 1 ’
Eastern Junior Simmental Expo,
uncu£ one>. 010 you
£VER TAKE A „
MIUK BATM BEFORE?
s*" r*
nn
NOW IS
THE TIME
By Jay Irwin
Lancaster County
Agricultural Agent
To Complete the U.S.D.A.
Annual Farm Survey
Nearly 3,000 Pennsylvania
farmers will be asked to partici
pate in the U.S. Department of
Agriculture’s Annual June
Survey. Totally 117,000 of the
nation’s over 2 million farmers
will be asked to answer the
survey. The information gathered
in the survey will be used to make
state, regional and national esti
mates of crop acreage, grain
stocks, livestock inventories, the
number of farms and the amount
of land being farmed. Farmers
selected for participation in the
program will be getting survey
forms between June 1 and June
15.
The survey is important in mak
ing accurate crop and livestock
estimates so I would encourage
you to complete it to the best of
your ability. These estimates are
the basis for the development of
marketing programs by the
U.S.D.A. In addition, the informa
tion is used by state and federal
government in developing rules
and guidelines. The June survey is
considered the most important
survey of the year by the Depart
ment of Agriculture.
Facts about individual farms are
strictly confidential and used
only in combination with reports
from other farms to produce agri
cultural statistics for the state and
nation. If farmers have questions
about the survey they can contact
the Department of Agriculture at
(717) 787-3904.
To Keep
Pesticide Records
Today’s battle with insects,
fungus, rodents and weeds
requires the use of many different
chemicals. It is important to keep
Washington County Fair
Cumberland Cooperative Sheep
and Wool Growers Wool Pool,
Carlisle Fairgrounds.
Lancaster Co. Plant Disease Clin
ic, Lancaster Farm and Home
Center, 7:00 p.m.-8;00 p.m.
Eastern Junior Simmental Expo,
Washington County Fair
grounds. thru June 15.
(Turn to Pago A2S)
no. Bor i
did Soak
MY FOOT
an accurate record of any chemi
cal used. This would include the
date, name of material, application
rate, field number and even the
direction the wind is blowing.
This might save a lot of trouble
and loss of ihcome in case there is
some question.
Many food items are being
checked by Food and Drag rep
resentatives for pesticide residues.
It is possible to find residues even
where the producer followed reg
ulations and every recommended
practice. Your records would be
very important in these cases. In
any event, always follow label
instructions.
To Manage
Ventilation Systems
Fresh air is the most essential
and least expensive item we use in
producing poultry and eggs.
A great deal of air, in fact about
three billion cubic feet of air may
be movced through a poultry
house in a year. So, we see where
■■■■■■ .vf
BY lAWRINU W ALIHOUSI
ISSUES
SK
IT’S NOT
FAIR!
June 10,1990
Background Scripture:
Psalms 37.
Devotional Reading: Luke
18:9-14.
Some months ago, as I was
waiting to tape a program at a Dal
las television station, I met a man
who was to appear on the same
telecast in another slot We had
quite a while to wait, so we talked
together at length. 1 found that he
was to be interviewed because of
his experiences during World War
II in the Auschwitz extermination
camp. A Polish Jew, he was taken
to the camp as a young boy and
saw both his father and mother
murdered, along with tens of thou
sands of others. He himself had to
endure great suffering, humilia
tion and privation. After the war
he came to the U.S., penniless and
without any promise of help from
anyone. Today he is one of Dallas’
most prominent businessmen.
His is a dramatic success story.
But his greatest success, I found,
was not his survival of Auschwitz
nor his financial enterprise, but an
inner victory that is even more
spectacular. For that which
impressed me most about him was
his complete freedom from bitter
ness. Life had dealt him more mis
ery than most of us can even ima
gine and he has not one resentful
or bitter bone in his body. Life had
been unfair to him, but he has not
let it defeat him.
WHY BE
SURPRISED?
Somehow, this man learned
quite early what has escaped so
many of us: life is not fair. That
comes as a shock to most people --
in fact, some people never seem
able to grasp it - for they assume
that it is written somewhere that it
WHY DID
YOU CO
T&ATf
m
iV
a single fan must be clean, lubri
cated, and wellpowered so that it
can move 10,000 tons or more of
air each year. I’d suggest using a
checklist to examine the condition
of fans in poultry houses. The
checklist should include these
items:
• Remove all dust, dirt and
feathers from blades, louvers,
belts, pulleys and motors once
each month.
• Lubricate all bearings that
may cause friction.
• Replace bearings, motors,
pulley’s belts, pulleys and motors
once each month.
• Allow the right amount of
inlet space so as not to choke off
air flow.
About 12 square inches of inlet
is needed for each 50 cfm of fan
capacity. The amount of inlet
space should always be adjustable
so that it can be open in hot weath
er and nearly closed in cold
weather.
must be. This includes most
Christians I have known. But that
is ironic, for the Bible itself is one
long testimony to the unfairness of
life. What could be more unfair
than Christ’s crucifixion?
In the Dallas Morning News the
other day was the story of a man
who had spent 20 years in jail,
only to be released when another
finally admitted his guilt. Worst of
all, it was learned that people who
would have testified to the first
man’s innocence had been ignored
by the police and the prosecutor.
A few days ago saw the untimely
death of Ryan White, the Indiana
teen-ager who, through no fault of
his own, contracted the deadly
AIDS disease. How can we con
tinue to be surprised that life is not
fair?
FRET NOT!
Although probably not on that
level of magnitude, who among us
has not experienced the unfairness
of life? We lose a loved one who
fails to reach the prime of life. The
doctor tells us we have a disease
that is incurable. Someone else
receives the promotion we should
have had. Our well-off next door
neighbor wins the lottery. The
blatantly immoral political candi
date wins the election. Why?
Because God never promised us
that life would be fair.
In the face of all this, the Psal
mist counsels “Fret not!” Why?
Because, as the man I met in the
television station knows, the more
important question is not, “Is it
fair?”, but “What can I make of
it?” This man 1 would certainly be
justified in hating for the rest of
his life. But as he told me, “Hate
destroys the hater.” Terrible as
were die things that heppened to
him, he knew that even worse
would be a life consumed with bit
terness. That’s why the Psalmist
says, “Refrain from anger, and
forsake wrath! Fret not yourself; it
tends only to evil” (37:8).
Life is not fai, but in the total
perspective of time God is just.
And it is that by which we hope
and live.
(Bwed on copyiifhted Outline* produced by
tho Committee on the Unifonn Sene* end wed
by peimieeion. Rdeued by Community dt Sub
uiben Prou.)