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OPINION
A Reason To Attend
If you want to see how much agriculture has progressed over
the years, visit Ag Progress Days next week at Penn State’s Rus
sell E. Larson Agricultural Research Center at Rock Springs,
near State College. The Pasto Agricultural Museum on the
grounds will give you a look at the machinery and other rare
farm antiques of rural life of years gone by. But the field demon
strations will show you where we are now. In fact, more than
250 commercial exhibitors will show and demonstrate $2O mil
lion worth of agricultrual equipment.
Under the theme, “Food and Environmental Quality; Prepar
ing for the 21st Gentry,” a wide range of agriculturally related
events will be featured. One of the college exhibits will show
different housing options for sows. Dr. Kenneth Kephart, assis
tant professor of animal science, says the exhibit is designed to
demonstrate that producers must review a wealth of variables
affecting animal welfare before deciding what facilities to use in
their own enterprise.
A wide variety of subjects will be covered by the programs,
from conservation to biotechnology.
“Ag Progress Days is an opportunity to show visitors the
many ways that agriculture touches our lives today, and to look
to the future,” said Dr. Lamartine Hood, dean of Penn State’s
College of Agriculture. “We want to show visitors the scope of
issues that theircollege of Agriculture is addressing arid how the
research conducted at Penn State is transformed into programs
that reach all citizens of the Commonwealth.
“We’ll also give them the opportunity to talk with people in
agribusiness, watch some of the latest farm machinery in opera
tion, tour several research and conservation demonstration areas
and have a great experience in a family-oriented atmosphere,”
Hood said.
Anyone who has an interest in agriculture, for any reason,
will have a reason to attend Ag Progress Days Aug. 14 to 16. See
you there.
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Farm Calendar /
South Central Pa. Championship
Show, Shippensburg, 9:30 a.m.
New Carlisle Fair, Carlisle
Fairgrounds.
Antique Steam and Gas Show,
C.V. Antique Engine and
Machinery Association, Cham
bersburg, 8:00 a.m.-dark, thru
August 12.
Bedford Community Fair,
Bedford.
Butler Farm Show, Butler.
Elk Co. Fair, Kersey.
Huntingdon Co. Fair, Huntingdon,
Antique Steam and Gas Show,
C.V. Antique Engine and
Machinery Association, Cham
bersburg, 8:00 a.m.-daik.
Huntingdon Co. Fair, Huntingdon,
Huntingdon Co. Fair, Huntingdon,
thru August 18.
McKean County Fair, Smethport,
thru August 18.
York Co. 4-H Hog Sale, Weikerts
Market. 7:00 p.m.
1/OH, 6AYOTIS, WHEN VDCrRE'X
Lancaster Farming [ PAINTING ON THAT SIDE OF )
esfabteterf 1955 V the: BARN, WATCH OUT FOR /
Published Every Saturday \. ' /
Ephrata Review Building THAT
Ephrata, PA 17522 ('
Lancaster Farming, Inc.
A Slammer Entofpree - yfl / \
Robert G Campbell General Manager ot\ . Jgft '
Everett R Newswanger Managing. Editor *?C
Copyright IWO by lineMbf* Farming
Tuesday, August 14
Ag Progress Days, Rock Springs,
thru August 16.
Huntingdon Co. Holstein Show,
Huntingdon, 9:00 a.m.
Pa. Hay Show at Ag Progress
Days, Rock Springs, thru Aug.
16.
Twilight Landscape Walking
Tour, Reading Rehab Hospital,
6:30 p.m.-8:00 p.m.
Huntingdon Co. Fair, Huntingdon,
thru August 18.
McKean County Fair, Smethport,
thru August 18.
113th annual Transfer Home Festi
val, Transfer Community Park,
Ag Progress Days, Rock Springs,
thru August 16.
Pa. Hay Show at Ag Progress
Days, Rock Springs, thru Aug.
16.
East-Central Holstein Sale, Hugh
esville Fairgrounds, 7:30 p.m.
Pa. Dept, of Ag 13 th Performance
Tested Boar Sale, Ag Arena
Complex, Penn State, 6:00 p.m.
(Turn to Pago A 45)
4
NOW IS
THE TIME
By Jay Irwin
Lancaster County
Agricultural Agent
To Use
Equipment Safely
We are fast approaching the
harvesting of nearly 168,000 acres
of com in Lancaster County. This
harvest is the result of a big invest
ment of time, effort and money. A
good yield depends on your farm
ing skills, land resources and a
smile from Mother Nature. But
whether it’s free from a costly
mishap depends on bow well you
prepare your equipment and how
safely you and your help run that
equipment. Here are some
suggestions;
* Operate and maintain all
machines according to the opera
tor’s manual.
* Keep all shields in place.
* Shut off the power before
unclogging or servicing. Wait
until all parts have stopped.
* Adjust ground speed to field
and crop conditions.
* Use caution on highways
with SMV signs in place.
* Keep children and non
workers off and safely away from
harvesting equipment.
* Look up as well as to the front
and back when driving, moving or
positioning tall equipment near
overhead power lines.
Safety requires practice ... let’s
prac ice it every day.
To Apply For
Liquid Fuel
Tax Refund
I would like to remind our far
mers that application for the
Pennsylvania Liquid Fuel Tax
Refund should be filed before
September 30.
Farmers may apply for a
12-cent per gallon refund on all
liquid fuels used in non-licensed
tractors when used off the high
way for agricultural purposes, or
non-licensed power farm machin
ery used for actual farm work.
This includes fuel used in all
auxiliary engines on balers, eleva
tors and other stationary
equipment.
The liquid fuel tax is for all
farm production fuel used
between July 1,1989 and June 30,
1990. This includes gasoline and
diesel fuel.
The people who have not
already received an application
should apply by writing: Board of
Finance and Revenue, Room 409
Finance Building, Harrisburg,
PA 17120 or by calling
717-787-3365.
Remember, applications
received after September 30 will
not be honored; they must be filed
on time. The time to do it is now.
Keep in mind this is not
money the State is giving you -
it’s money you already paid; you
are just applying to get it back. It
may not seem like much but 12
cents on 5,000 gallons is $600.00.
To Be Aware
Of Poisonous Plants
A number of plants arc poison
ous to animals. Fortunately, ani
mals will avoid most of these
plants as long as they have ample
supplies of other feeds.
Thus, as pastures dry up and
become dormant during the sum
mer it is important to provide
additional feed to pastured ani
mals so they are not forced to con
sume poisonous weeds.
Many ornamental plants are
poisonous. Thus, prunings should
HOW CAN
YOU TELL?
August 12,1990
Background Scripture:
Matthew 7.
Devotional Reading:
Romans 8: 1-2, 31-39,
People tell me that they are con
fused about religion. With all the
claims from this group and that
group, many of them really quite
divergent in their teachings, how
can you know which is the “right
religion”?
Part of the problem, I think, is
in that concept of “the right relig
ion.” Actually, I do not believe
there are any “right” religions.
Religions are systems made by
human beings around their faith
experiences. Although their faith
experiences are indicative of their
encounter with God, the express
ions, formulations, and organiza
tions they devise are at least partly
tainted with human error and dis
tortion. For example, I am a
United Methodist clergyman and I
love my denomination and am
reasonably comfortable in the way
it is structured and expressed. Not
for one minute, however, would I
want to equate the United
Methodist Church with The
Church or God’s Kingdom. It
seems to be “right” for me and
many others, but it is not “the right
religion.”
THE RIGHT RELIGION
Not even Christianity (I am
using this term in the sense of the
sum total of all the Christian
denominations, branches and
churches), is “the right religion.”
There is much in these organiza
tions that is a distortion and
perhaps even the negation of
the gospel of Jesus Christ. These
human-made institutions are but,
in the terms of the Apostle Paul,
the earthen vessels in which the
treasure of the gospel is contained.
I have also found a great deal of
unlabeled “Good News” of Jesus
WASP
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not be tossed into pastures or
fields.
Wilted wild cherry leaves are
very toxic, so be sure to pick up
broken branches soon after a wind
storm.
Immature, drought stricken or
frost damaged sudangrass can also
be poisonous. It should be at least
18 inches tall before being
harvested.
To Fertilize
Strawberries
The new strawberry patch that
you planted this spring should be
pushing runners by this time of
year. It’s a good idea to fertilize
these new plantings during
August. A fertilizer high in nitro
gen would be best.
The objective is to encourage
more runners and develop a stron
ger plant. It will also increase
yields for next summer. Another
thing, weeds must be controlled at
all times to have a healthy straw
berry patch. The earlier in the
summer we can get the runner
plants to take root, the better they
will be established for next year.
Christ in some other religions.
So, how can you judge what is
(rue and what is not? In Matthew
7, Jesus sets forth some guidelines
that Christians too often tend to
forget. First of all, he warns
against the deceit of appearances.
“Beware of false prophets who
come to you in sheep’s clothing
but inwardly are ravenous
wolves” (7:15). In religion, what
you see is not always what you
get. Prosperous, powerful chur
ches are not always indicative of a
faithfulness to the gospel of Jesus
Christ They may be representa
tive of an obsession with material
things, respectability and social
mores which are considerably less
than the gospel. Cathedrals and
temples, impressive and beautiful
as they,are, may be a testimony,
not to God but to human pride. (I
am not saying they are, but that
they may be.)
WORDS, WORDS,
WORDS
The way to tell, says Jesus in
Matthew 7, is to look, not at
appearances, but at results: “You
will know them by their fruits”
(7:16). What are these “fruits”?
For one thing, they are generally
not words. “Not every one who
says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall
enter the kingdom of heaven, but
he who does the will of my Father
who is in heaven” (7:21). That is
rather disquieting for some of us,
for given a choice between words
and deeds, many of us would pick
words. But Jesus says that what
God really wants of us is to do his
will not talk about it. “Every
one who hears these words of
mine and does them will be like a
wise man who built his house
upon the rock...” (7:24)
What confuses so many people
today are the oceans of words they
hear about religion. If we focus on
fruits instead of words, our task of
discernment should be substan
tially simplified!
(Bated on copyrighted Outlines produced by
the Committee on the Uniform Series and used
by permission. Released by Community ft Sub
urban Press.)
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