AlO-Laticaster Farming. Saturday, October 9,1993
ifliwwwß&SwjaM
OPINION
Recognize 4-H
Volunteers are the backbone of Extension and the 4-H Prog
ram. They helped create Cooperative Extension in the early
1900’s and continue to guide its growth and development as
well as multiply Extension’s budget many times. Across the
nation, volunteers play an active part in program direction,
implementation and evaluation. Some of the more specific
titles which identify their roles are: 4-H leader. Extension
homemaker, and master volunteer. Others work on committees
or projects without titles. Some are from community organiza
tions which seek Extension assistance.
4-H leaders teach youth life skills so necessary for a young
person’s growth knd development. Using “hands-on” tech
niques, over half a million well-trained volunteers in the U.S.
help make 4-H one of the most cost-effective publicly sup
ported programs of the 1990’5. Master volunteers help to
organize 4-H clubs, train 4-H leaders and homemakers. Exten
sion Homemakers groups support 4-H and Extension in fund
raising and creating awareness of the programs that Extension
has to offer. Volunteer committees such as the 4-H Cabinet,
4-H Leadership Development, 4-H Foundation and Extension
Executive Board help to guide and plan as well as raise funds
for Extension programs for youth members and teen and adult
volunteers.
In one year. Cooperative Extension agents work with about
2.9 million volunteers nationwide who, in turn, work with
about 48 million other adults and youth, resulting in multiple
benefits to clientele, volunteers and communities. Did you
know that 50% of 4-H leaders were former 4-H members?
But why do volunteers volunteer? Most recognize a number
of ways in which their work is of benefit to others in the com
munity, such as improvements in the well being, knowledge,
skills, and health and safety of others. Some also realize many
personal benefits from their woik, such as improved know
ledge, skills, feelings of satisfaction in helping others, watching
young people grow into mature adults, and improved family
relationships.
The human touch remains essential in helping people con
tinue their educations and putting university-based information
to work in their own lives. This week, October 3-9, is National
4-H Week. We celebrate the week by applauding die 4-H vol
unteers everywhere who make 4-H happen. It would be a good
time for you to volunteer to help your local 4-H program. A call
to your county extension office will get you started.
Farm Calendar /^/
S;iliii(la\, (Ulolht '>
National 4-H Wei'k
Pa. Junior Holstein Executive
Committee meeting. State
Office, State College, 10:30
a.m.
Schuylkill Co. Fall Festival and
Crafts Show, Schuylkill Co.
Mond.n . ()i Inlici 11
( dliimluis I);«\
Poultry Management and Health
Seminar, Kreider’s Restaurant,
Delmarva Poultry Industry annual
meeting, Delmarva Convention
Center, Delmar, Md.
Dillsburg Community Fair, Dills
burg, thru Oct 16.
Successful Retirement Seminar,
Walgreen’s Lehigh Valley Dis
tribution Center, Bethlehem, 7
Pay Va. Turkey Day, Mechanics
burg Holiday Inn.
Mechanicsburg.
Flower Crowns Day at Penn
State, Keller Conference Cen
ter, 9 a.m!-5 p.m.
Berks Co. 4-H Market Steer Show
and Sale, Leesport Farmer’s
Market, show 9 a.m., sale 4
Carbon Co. 4-H Leaders Banquet,
cooperative extension office.
Jim Thorpe, 6:30 p.m.
PSU Professional Landscape Man
agement Program. Focus On
Diseases of Ornamentals, Farm
and Home Center, Lancaster, 9
a.m.-3:30 p.m., continues OcL
21 and 28.
A Stream Evening at the Stroud
Center, Stroud Water Research
Center. Avondale, 4:30 p.m.
ADADC District 12 meeting, Sen
nett Federated Church, Sennet t.
National 4-H Livestock Judging
Contest Louisville, Ky.. thru
Oct 18.
Eastern Pa. 4-H Beef and Lamb
Show and Sale, Allentown Fair-
lion to benefit Lancaster Farm
land Trust Paradise Sales Bam,
11 a.m.-4 pjn.
Forest Stewardship Landowner
Workshop, Best Western
Centre Court Restaurant and
Conference Center, Mont-
To Control
Multiflora Rose
Multiflora Rose was introduced
in the 1930 s and 1940 s by federal
and state agricultural officials as a
living fence, wildlife habitat, food
source for wildlife, and an erosion
control agent While it does per
form those functions, it has
become a serious weed problem all
across the Northeast.
Farmers have been attempting
to control this weed by cutting,
burning, pulling out with equip
ment, and applying pesticides.
Leon Ressler, extension environ
mental agent, reports biological
control is a possibility. Research
ers at West Virginia University
have identified a mite and a virus
that have proven effective in con
trolling multiflora rose.
The virus causes the rose rosette
disease and is spread by the erio
phyid mite. A five-year research
project was conducted to evaluate
the effectiveness of the disease in
controlling multiflora rose.
At the beginning of the research,
30 percent of the plants showed
symptoms of the disease and one
percent of the plants had died. At
the end of five years, 94 percent of
the plants had been infected and 88
percent of the weeds had died. For
farmers and others who have land
infested with multiflora rose, bio
logical control now offers hope for
clearing the land of this problem
weed.
While biological control is not
fast, it does allow the landowner to
clean up the land without the use of
herbicides or costly mechanical
clearing operations.
To Construct
Mud-Free
Cow Lanes
Cow lanes are the paths used by
Tulpehocken Young Fanners
Dried Flowers Christmas Tree
Demonstration. High School ag
classroom, 7:IS p.m.-9 p.m.
ADADC District 14 meeting.
Spot High School, 1 p.m.
Solanco Young Farmers meeting,
Silage Com Management.
Westmoreland Co. Tested Hay
Sale, Westmoreland Fair-
grounds, 11 a.m.
ADADC District 4 meeting. Sar
atoga Co. Extension, Ballston
Spa, N.Y., 7:30 p.m.
ADADC District 9 meeting, Tally-
Ho Restaurant, Richfield
Springs. N.Y., 7:45 p.m.
ADADC District II meeting.
(Turn to Pago A 39)
farmers to controlthe movement
of cows to and from the bam to the
pastures or. between pastures.
These paths often cross low lying
wet areas or dra inways that cany
water runoff during heaving rains.
As cows cross these areas, the
ground turns to mud. Recent con
cerns for herd health and environ
mental concerns about the impact
of muddy lanes, barnyards, and
exercise areas have on water qual
ity have caused farmers and envir
onmentalists to look at new man
agement practices to manage bar
nyard runoff, fence slreambanks,
and maintain grass sod in exercise
lots.
Jerry Martin, extension associ
ate for the Pequea-Mill Creek pro
ject, reports there are several diffe
rent approaches farmers have
taken to remedy the problems of
muddy cow lanes. The first type is
modeled after the construction of
access roads. In this process, a
heavy duty woven geotextile fabr
ic is covered with crushed stone.
The fabric allows water to filter
through while preventing soil from
mixing with the stone.
The second type utilizes cattle
and hog slat seconds to lay on sec
tions of cow lanes that are suscep-
vi i
JI/?.
Hr I A'.‘vK( Ni ( W Al 1 HOUbt
'Hi
MLI
sn
THIS OFFER EXPIRES...
October 10,1993
Background Scripture:
Genesis 17
Devotional Reading:
Genesis 17:1-15
Put yourself in Abram’s place.
He was 99 years old. His life was
virtually over. Despite God’s
promise which he had trusted, he
still had no son and heir. Then
God comes to him and says again,
“Behold my covenant is with you,
and you shall be the father of a
multitude of nations” (17:4).
What would your reaction be?
Some people would be angry. Not
only had God not kept his prom
ise, but now he was heaping furth
er insult by reiterating it at a time
when it was obviously impossible
to keep. Not allowing themselves
the reaction of anger, others would
hear the promise and conclude
that all their faith had been for
nothing.
HE LAUGHS
So what did Abram do? He “fell
on his face and laughed” (17:17).
Actually, in dealing with God one
needs a sense of humor, as God
must need one in dealing with us.
The sheer absurdity of God’s
promise caused Abram to break
up. It is wjih amusement that he
asks, “Shall a child be bom to a
man who is a hundred years old?
Shall Sarah, who is ninety years
old, bear a child?” Come on, God.
you’re pulling my leg!
Actually, God’s promises to us
often seem equally absurd. When
we have lost the job in which
we’ve spent 30 years, the assur
ance that he will see us through
this experience begins to seem
empty if one after another pros
pective employer tells they have
no place for us. When it’s obvious
that nothing or no one is going to
be able to save our marriage,
what’s the good of trusting in
God? When our doctor tells us our
cancer is inoperable, and we’ve
<rot onlv a few weeks to live, hat
tiblc to mud or to line waterways
that cross cow lanes. The third
approach is die construction of a
soil cement pad using soil, stone
and cement Each of these proce
dures has been successful.
The muddy conditions often
found in these cow lanes have been
eliminated and the cows have been
givien a firm, dry surface to go to
and from the pasture.
To Install
SMV Sign
Accidents involving machinery
and vehicles continue to injure and
kill people, especially on rural
highways.
Farmers should make sure that
warning lights are installed and
functioning on all farm equipment
and horse drawn buggies. Also,
place a clearly visible slow
moving vehicle (SMV) emblem on
all farm tractors and implements.
When driving, always drive
defensively and anticipate slow
moving machinery over (he next
hill or around the next curve. By
properly lighting your slow
moving vehicles, you are taking a
big step in protecting your life!
Feather Profs Footnote: "If
you want the present to be different
from the past, study the past,"
good is our trust in God?
The answer to Abram’s faith
was not the birth of his son Isaac,
but that God had a purpose for
Abram and nothing could keep
that purpose from being fulfilled.
Cod promised to make Abram the
father of many nations, not for
Abram’s sake, but for his own. His
promise of inheriting Canaan was
not to make Abram to feel like a
winner in the cosmic lottery, but
because it served God’s plan.
Abram and Sarah would have a
child, not so that they could boast
of God’s favor, but so that Isaac
could serve God’s purpose too. r
WHAT GOD PROMISES
I’m sure there are couples every
bit as faithful, or more, who .
remain childless. That does not
mean they are loved any less by
God. Nor does it mean that he is
any less faithful in keeping his
promises. The specifics of our
lives whether we marry,
whether we keep this job or that,
whether we have children,
whether we live to a ripe old age
are generally not part of God’s
promise to us. What God does
promise each of us is that he has a
purpose for our lives, and he will
be with us no matter what happens
along the way to the fulfillment of
that purpose.
God established an everlasting
covenant with Abraham and his
descendents. “I shall establish my
covenant with him (Isaac) as an
everlasting covenant for his
descendants after him” (17:19). A
covenant is an agreement between
a superior and an inferior. It is
offered by the superior. The infer
ior can either accept it or reject,
but this is not a quid pro quo trans
action. God always offers so much
more than he requires of us. And
that is why, even when we break
the covenant, God does not call it
null and void. It is an offer that has
no expiration on it.
Lancaster Fanning
Established 1955
Published Every Saturday
Ephrata Review Building
1 E. Main St
Ephrata, PA 17522
by
Lancaster Farming, Inc.
A SMtman Crnttprim
Robert Q. Campbell General Manager
Evens R. Nemmangir Mending Ecßor
Cepyrlglit 1M by laneeeter Farming