AlO-Unctster Fanning, Saturday, March 2, 1991
OPINION
Rainfall Tops The List
The reports of devastation and personal hardship for fanners
in the drought-stricken areas of California have touched all of
us. For five years in a row, these fanners have been without a
crop. In the past, rain has come in years following a drought
year, but this time, five consecutive dry years have reservoirs
low, the ground dry and cracked and the state sending water for
irrigation on to the cities. Of course, agribusiness and the total
state economy is adversely affected.
While California is somewhere beyond the Rocky Mountains
as far as our personal involvement in the East, their situation
should teach us a lesson. In this area we have adequate rainfall
every year to grow bumper crops. Not three years out of five.
five years out of five. We don’t even need to irrigate our
crops during most growing seasons.
That’s why we believe the number one reason to preserve
farmland in Southeast Pennsylvania, all of Pennsylvania, and in
all of the states that border Pennsylvania, is because we have
water. Sure, we’re close to markets, we have the best soils, we
need open space, and farming is a way of life. All of these rea
sons make our local farmland important.
But the major reason for governments, business and farm
organizations, and individuals to work to preserve farmland and
the family farm is water. We can’t control the rainfall. But we
can prevent this wonderful blessing from above from falling on
an asphalt jungle.
One developer said we don’t need all this good land for farm
ing. Farmers can move somewhere else to farm.
We say, with all the empty, unrented business facilities and
shopping center slores-with hundreds of new homes on the
market that can’t be sold, we don’t need all this good land for
development. Developers can move somewhere else to develop.
When you look at all the reasons to preserve farmland and the
family farms in this area, adequate rainfall, year in and year out
comes to the top of the list.
Farm Calendar
Saturday, March 2
Fellowship of Christian Fanners
fourth annual outreach lunc
heon, Friendly Farms Restaur
ant, Westminster, Md„ 11:45
a.m.-2:30 p.m.
Northeast Regional Christmas
Tree Growers meeting and
trade show, Mountain Laurel
Resort, White Haven, 8 a.rn,-4
p.m.
National Farmers Union Conven
tion, Wyndham Franklin Plaza,
National Farmers Union Conven
tion, Wyndham Franklin Plaza,
Philadelphia, thru March 6.
Maple Sugar Festival, Hashawha
Environmental Appreciation
Center, 1 p.m.-5 p.m.
York Co. Rabbit and Cavy Breed
ers Assoc. Spring Show, 4-H
National Farmers Union Conven
tion, Wyndham Franklin Plaza,
Philadelphia, thru March 6.
Central Hardwood Forest Confer-
Lancaster Farming
Established 1955
Published Every Saturday
Ephrata Review Building
1 E Mam St
Ephrata, PA 17522
by
Lancaster Farming, Inc.
A Stemman Enterprise
Robert G Campbell General Manager
Everett R Newswanger Managing Editor
CvpyrlfM IHO by Lancaster Parminf
ence, University Park, thru
March 6.
Berks Co. ag zoning meeting,
Berks Co. Ag Center, Lccsport,
1 p.m.
Jefferson Co. Dairy Nutrition
School 1, UNILEC building,
Dußois, 10 a.m.-3 p.m.
Delaware Valley Milk Goat Asso
ciation meeting, Boyertown
Borough Hall, 1:30 p.m.
Farm Bill ASCS Seminar, Farm
and Home Center, Lancaster,
9:30 a.m.
Lancaster Co. tobacco meeting,
Lancaster Farm and Home Cen
ter, 12:30 p.m.-3 p.m.
USDA CRP Sign-Up, thru March
15.
Lancaster Co. Dairy Day, Farm
and Home Center, 9 a.m.-3 p.m.
10th annual Pa. Frame Builders
Conference, Days Inn, Keller
Conference Center, State Col
lege, thru March 6.
Elk Co. bee management, exten
sion office.
(Turn to Page A3l)
V IMEREj J FINALLY GOT TH
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NOW IS
THE TIME
By Jay Irwfn
Lancaster County '
Agricultural Agent
To Be Award Of Safe
Drinking Water
A private water supply is just
that private. The quality of
your water supply is the responsi
bility of the homeowneer or far
mer. State laws do not require test
ing and regulatory agencies do not
monitor the quality of private sup
plies. 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?
A comprehensive water analys
is can be very costly. The follow
ing tests can determine the most
common water quality concerns.
... BACTERIA: A lest 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. A level of 10 ppm nitrate nit
rogen has been set for humans,
100 ppm for livestock.
...pH: Water with a pH less than
6.5 or greater than 8.0 can cause
plumbing problems. Corrosion
shortens the life of the pipe and
can introduce dissolved metals
into the water that can stain fix
tures and pose a potential health
hazard.
To assure that a well supply is
safe, it should be tested for bacter
ia and nitrate at least once a year,
preferably during wet spells. Only
after accurate testing can a deci
sion be made for treatment
equipment.
To Avoid Soil Compaction
One of the real dangers of being
in 100 big a hurry in getting on the
soil in the spring with heavy
equipment is that we pack this wet
soil so hard that poor yields result.
With modern machinery, the
weight is much more than a team
of horses or mules. As a result we
have ground that is as hard as con
crete and it is slow to recover. It is
important to wait until the soil is
dried out sufficiently before tak
ing this heavy equipment over the
fields. When the soil is worked too
wet, it Wcomes hard and forms
clods. Tips type of soil structure
will not give you the best yields.
Don’t be in too big a hurry, slow
\T FAUCET FIXED
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down and leave the weather catch
up to you.
To Plan Location For
Tobacco Planting
We have been saying for years
that animal and poultry manure is
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 tobacco, and
buyers frown on that.
Locate the area that you plan to
transplant your tobacco, and be
sure NOtto 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-
THE LIMITS
OF LOVE
March 3,1991
Background Scripture:
Luke 10:25-37
Devotional Reading:
Matthew 22:34-46.
Have you ever noticed that the
parables that Jesus tells seem to
have nothing to do with what peo
ple believe? The parables always
leach us how to live our daily
lives. Yet, very often these very
practical teachings on how to live
have a great deal to do with what
we believe.
This is what we sec in the Para
ble of the Good Samaritan. It
begins with a question about
belief from a lawyer or scribe
one learned in the religious law:
“Teacher, what shall I do to inherit
eternal life?” Luke tells us that he
did this “to put him to the test.” He
hoped that Jesus would give an
unorthodox answer that would
spark a doctrinal argument. But
Jesus refused to be trapped and
turned the question back on the
scribe: “What is written in the
law? How do you read? Anxious
to show his expertise, the scribe
replied with a quotation taken
from Deuteronomy 6:4 and Leviti
cus 19:18: “You shall love the
Lord your God... and your neigh
bor as yourself.” In response,
Jesus says: “You have answered
right; do this, and you will live.”
KNOWING & DOING
But the scribe once more seeks
to embroil Jesus in a theological
controversy: “And who is my
neighbor?” Jesus could very well
have answered him with a one
liner: your neighbor is anyone
needing your help whom you can
help. Instead, however, he tells a
parable that Says that and more.
Remember, the scribes prided
sphoms (P 5 0 5 ) and 165 pounds of
potash fiom either sulfate of pot
ash or potassium nitrate. This fer
tility program will increase quality
and reduce buyer resistance.
To 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 good practice to
work on the hardiest trees first.
Easy 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 ate the
hardiest of the fruits, with plums
and sour cherries next in order.
Because peach and sweet cherries
are most tender, delay their prun
ing, particularly the younger trees,
until late March.
themselves on knowing the law.
But in the parable the “hero” is a
Samaritan. As a lay person he
would “know” far less than a
scribe, and as a Samaritan even
what little he “knew” would be
wrong!
By the careful way in which
Jesus crafted his story, he discreet
ly showed that it is more a matter
of doing than knowing. The priest
who “passed by on the other side”
certainly knew what to do, but
didn’t. The Levite also knew the
right answers, but he too refrained
from doing what he could. All
Jews knew that Samaritans were
all wrong in their religious views.
For one thing, they believed the
right place to worship God was on
Mt. Gerizim, not Mt. Zion in Jeru
salem. Yet, although the Samari
tan was guilty of “wrong beliefs,”
he did exactly the right thing: he
helped the robbery victim, despite
the fact that the victim was a Jew,
a sworn enemy of any Samaritan.
LEI’S BE REASONABLE
In a sense, the senbe had asked
Jesus to say something about the
limits of loving one’s neighbor.
We can understand that because
we too often wonder if love
doesn’t have some reasonable lim
its. Obviously, we must help
someone in our own family who is
in need. We all “know” that,
although we may not all act upon
it. The same is true of our friends.
But what about the family next
door whom we hardly know and
actually don’t much like they,
with their loud stereos and dog
who seems to like our yard a lot
more than theirs?
And what about the people on
the south end of town who live in
perpetual squalor and unemploy
ment? What about those Hare
Kristinas who always accost us
when we go to the airport? And
even if all the others are my
“neighbors,” surely that doesn’t
include Saddam Hussein!
The answer is no less hard for
us than it was for the scribe: in
Christ there are no limits to love.
(Based on copyrighted outlines produced by
the Committee on the Uniform Senes and used
by permission. Released by Community and Sub*
urban Press.)