Aio-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, December 26, 1992
The Christmas Story
And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a
decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be tax
ed. (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was gover
nor of Syria.) And all went to be taxed every one into his own
city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of
Nazareth, into Judea, unto the city of David, which is called
Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of
David:) To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great
■ with child. And so it was, that, while they were there, the days
were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she
brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling
clothes, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room
for them in the inn.
And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the
field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, io, the
angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord
shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the
angel said unto them. Fear not: for behold, I bring you good tid
ings of great joy. which shall be to all people. For unto you is
bom this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the
Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you: Ye shall find the babe
wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly
there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host prais
ing God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth
peace, good will toward men.
And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them
into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go
even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass,
which the Lord hath made known unto us. And they came with
haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a
manger. And when they had seen it, they made known abroad
the saying which was told them concerning the child. All they
that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by
the shepherds.
The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light;
they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them
hath the light shined.
For unto us a child is bom, unto us a son is given; and the
government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be
called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlast
ing Father, The Prince of Peace.
Farm Calendar
Tuesday. December 29
.Wednesday, December 30
Thursday, December 31
I'Vidin. ,I.mu.ir\ I
Huppx V-xx Year!
Sundax. lamiarx 3
Mondax. .lamiarx 4
Water Rights, Water Law, and Irri
gation Management meeting,
Lancaster Farm and Home Cen
ten&SOamj-Mjjm^^^^
Northwestern Pa. Forage Schools,
Log Cabin Restaurant, Water
ford^hn^an^j^^^^^^
Farm/Municipal Composting
Field Days, Preston- Boop’s
Briar Patch Farm, Mifflinburg,
10 a.m.-2;30 p.m.
Dairy MAP-Managing For Suc
cess, Family Time Restaurant,
York, 10 a.m.-3 p.m., repeats
Jan. 20.
OPINION
Franklin County Dairy Day,
Kauffman’s Community Cen
ter. 9 a.m.-2:30 p.m.
Regional tomato growers meeting,
Thompson’s Dairy Bar, Lacka
wanna County, 9:30 a.m.-3:30
p.m.
Farm Financial Management
Workshop, Mahantongo Fire
Company Hall, Pitman, 7
Northumberland County Winter
Conference, Ottcrbein United
Methodist Church, Sunbury. 10
Pa. State. Farm Show. Harrisburg,
thru January 14.
Leader’s Conference, Linganore
United Methodist Church, 10
lui , sda\. .liinuarv 12
New Jersey annual vegetable
meeting, Trump Taj Mahal,
Atlantic City, thru Jan. 14.
Evergreen Plant Identification,
Lehigh Co. Ag Center, Allen
town, repeats Jan. 13, 19. 20.
Pa. Flying Farmers. Farm Show
Complex, Room D, 9 a.m.-3
(Turn to Pago A3l)
-nr—
'
To Study Why
Businesses Fail
Recently, Donald R. Keough,
president of Coca Cola Company,
shared his 10 commandments for
successful losing the reasons
why businesses may fail.
They are:
1. Quit taking risks. Let some
one else take the chance. Sit on
your laurels.
2. Be content with the status
quo. You cannot really control the
future, so let it take you where it
may.
3. Before you make any move,
always ask yourself, “What would
the founder have done?”
4. Be inflexible. If you want to
lose, rule out flexibility. Do not
confuse unwavering principles
with unwavering prejudices.
5. Rely totally on research and
experts to make decisions for you.
6. Concentrate on your competi
tor instead of your customer.
7. Put yourself first.
8. Make sure that administrative
concerns take precedence over all
others.
9. Look to someone else to do
the thinking for you.
10. T-G-E-= That*s Good
Enough! That is a losing formula.
You should never have an upper
limit on quality. T-G-E subscribers
also have a related credo: T-N-M-
J: That’s not my job!
As you begin planning for 1993,
how many of these losing com
mandments do you have?
Now would be a good time to
change them into winning
commandments.
To Keep Cows
In Good Flesh
Does your cow herd need to gain
weight? There is increasing evi
dence that proves when cows lose
body condition during mid
gestation, their ability to cycle is
lower during the next breeding
season.
Researchers at the University of
Missouri found when cows lost
weight, prior to calving and con
tinued to lose weight after calving,
the number of females cycling 60
days after calving was only 23 per
cent The number of cows in good
condition at calving was 90
percent
Trying to increase the body con
dition of thin cows after calving
resulted in 46 percent, cycling
within 60 days.
' The time to improve their condi
tion is now. Waiting until the last
100 days of pregnancy to put on
the gain may be much more expen
sive than putting the gain on at a
slower rate.
To move a thin cow to moderate
condition (260 pounds gain —lOO
pounds for fetal growth and 160
pounds for cow weight gain)
would require a daily gain of 1.3
pounds if the cow was 70 days pre
gnant (260 pounds/200 days) or a
daily gain of 2.6 pounds if the cow
was 170 days pregnant (260
pounds/100 days).
To maintain a 12.5 month calv
ing interval, cows have to conceive
by about 100 days after calving.
Estimates are that it costs about $3
for each day a cow is open beyond
her desired date of conception. By
keeping cows in proper condition,
you will improve your chances of
achieving your 12. S month calving
interval.
To Continue
Good Horse
Management
Keeping horses healthy and
properly fed during the winter
months is an important factor in
good horse management
Horse owners need to remember
management practices for the “off
season” when their use of horses
are at a minimum. Some practices
to remember are:
BY lAWRtNCt W Al IHOUSE
'muißim
MOUNTAINS
AND
VALLEYS
December 27,1992
Background Scripture:
Matthew 3:1 through 4:11.
Devotional Reading;
John 1:19-34.
Have you ever noticed that just
about every mount of inspiration
is likely to be followed by a valley
of doubt? Inspiration often seems
to open us to doubts of which we
were previously unaware. A
Roman Catholic priest is said to
have confided that “Thre’s
nothing more boring than hearing
the confessions of a group of
nuns”. The implication, of course,
is that being so spiritually
advanced, nuns.have so little to
confess.
But it isn’t necessarily so! Very
often the more we advance in the
spiritual life, the more we discover
that we would not have recog
nized on a lower level. Some of
the saintliest people I have
known—and there have been a
few—were those who were more
aware of their imperfection than
those of us still battling with the
more obvious sins. If you are a
drunk, an adulterer, a murderer, a
cheat, your sins are very obvious.
But some sins—deceit, pride, bit
terness, lust, envy, and'others
are easily hidden within ourselves.
THE TEMPTER CAME
So, the higher we climb spirtu
ally, the more aware we become
of how far we have to go. Jesus
was not spared this experience.
Three of the gospel writers tell us
that, following his wonderful
experience of baptism at the River
Jordan by John the Baptist, he
“was led up by the Spirit into the
wilderness to be tempted by the
devil. And he fasted forty days
and forty nights, and afterward he
was hungry. And the tempter
came and said to him...” (4; 1,2,3).
It is well to note that it was the
Spirit of God that led Jesus out
into the wilderness and it was
Jesus himself, who by fasting for
40 days and nights, put himself in
the position wherein he could be
tempted.
What this means is, not that
God wants to see us tempted, but
that with every opportunity to
choose a higher course, there is
also the possibility of choosing a
lower one. God could remove the
> Study the condition of each
horse and make plans for proper
nutrition or special care needs.
• Check feed supplies, making
sure you have a supply of clean,
high quality hay and grain to build
a balanced ration.
• Make sure horses have access
to clean and fresh feed and water.
• Clean and inspect horse stalls
and sheds and repair damaged
materials and remove hazards.
• Plan for an adequate exercise
program during the winter months.
• Proper hoof care is a must,
especially for young growing
horses.
• Separate pregnant mares and
provide them special attention and
proper nutrition.
• Clean, inspect, and properly
store tack that will not be in use
during the winter.
Feather Profs Footnote:
“Some people dream of worthy
accomplishments while others stay
awake and do them."
temptation only by giving us no
choice at all. But when we are
confronted with a higher and low-
er way, the tempter is always pre
-1 sent to persuade us to take the
lower way, just as the Spirit is
always present to encourage us to
take the higher way. When Jesus
recognized at the River Jordan
that God was saying to him, “This
is my beloved Son, with whom I
am well pleased,” the valley of
temptation was assured if he took
this message seriously. The temp
tation is part of the offer. There
would be no good, if there were
not the possibility of evil. Note,
how the devil tempts him: “If you
are the Son of G0d...”.
TRUST IN THINGS
sn
It is interesting that Jesus was
faced with the same temptations
that sometimes confront us. Not
that you and I are ever tempted to
turn stones into bread, but, we are
tempted to forget that there is
more to life than material things.
We too are tempted to trust in
things, but Jesus answered rightly
when he said, “Man shall not live
by bread alone” (4:4). I’m not sure
about the second temptation, to
test God, but the third one is
known to all of us, the temptation
to use ignoble means for the sake
of achieving noble ends. How
often has the tempter said to each
of us, “All these I will give you if
you will fall down and worship
me”? AH of us need to remember
as Jesus did: “Begone, Satan! for
it is written, “You shall worship
the Lord your God and him only
shall you serve” (4:10).
Note that the tempter often
appeals to reason. In fact, that
which makes temptation so com
pelling is its shear reasonableness.
If Jesus were the Son of God, then,
of course, he could do these
things! If you and I want to see the
Kington of God on earth, then
why not do this or that to make its
coming more sure?
At last the devil leaves,
although Luke says, only “until an
opportune time” (Luke 4:13).
Unfortunately, he will be back.
But let us remember that if the
devil returns to the valley of temp
tation, there will also be more
mounts of inspiration.
Lancaster Farming
Established 1955
Published Every Saturday
Ephrata Review Building
1 E. Main St.
Ephrata, PA 17522
by
Lancaster Farming, Inc.
A SMnman Entmpfk*
Robert C. Campbell General Manager
EvarMt R. Namwangar Managing Editor
Copyright IW2 by Lancaalar Farming