AlO-Lincastef Farming, Saturday, April 16, 1994
OPINION
America Diverts To
Underdeveloped Nation
In an effort that threatens the health and safety of every Ameri
can, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced
a plan that calls for the eventual banning of chlorine. According
to the Putting People First March newsletter, EPA Administra
tor Carol M. Browner recently unveiled key elements of the Clin
ton Administration recommendations to reform the Clean Water
Act.
The stated intention of the new rule is to reduce water pollution
and one of the targeted “contaminants” is chlorine and chlori
nated compounds. In the recommendations for reauthorization of
the Clean Water Act, the EPA is advised to develop a national
strategy for substituting, reducing or prohibiting the use of chlor
ine and chlorinated compounds. The objective of those “environ
mentalists” behind this move is to ban all uses of chlorine, includ
ing chlorination of water and the use of chlorine to disinfect
treated sewage.
A report this week in the Wall Street Journal said that EPA
has acted to speed treatment of sewage that overflows in rains. Its
new procedure is aimed at expediting treatment of sewage that
flows into rivers, lakes and streams during heavy rains. The plan
addresses “combined sewer overflow,” a problem that often
occurs during rainstorms when sewer systems connected to
stormwater drains overflow and empty into waterways. Although
such overflow is illegal under the 1972 Clean Water Act, EPA
has been vague about how cities should deal with the problem.
According to the report, combined sewers are found in 1,100
communities around the nation. Under the new procedures, EPA
will not require “secondary” biological treatment of sewage
overflow in treatment plants, provided such overflows occur no
more than four times a year and provided cities perform “prim
ary” treatment, such as disinfecting the water and removing sol
ids on 85 percent of the overflow before it empties into
waterways.
Two revealing points should be noted from this report. First,
with all those towns and cities pouring untreated sewage into the
streams and lakes, agriculture is obviously not the only non-point
source of contamination in the water environment of our nation.
And two, the best way and maybe the only know way to “disin
fect” the water from sewage overflow is with chlorine.
Countless studies have shown the chlorination of water is one
of the major factors in the increase in life expectancy of the US
population since the turn of the century. Without chlorination,
many diseases, such as cholera, would quickly develop. For those
who hold animals sacred, it can be noted that a healthy water
supply benefits animals too.
To us, the attempted ban on chlorine looks like a move to
undermine the major health advantages we have had as Ameri
cans because of our advanced knowledge and technology. In
addition, to ban chlorine would likely cause the loss of the envi
ronment we so much want to save. Hopefully, clear thinking will
prevail before America diverts back to the status of an underdeve
loped nation.
Farm Calendar
Income Opportunities For Rural
Areas Workshop, Center for
Career and Technical Educa
tion, Cresaptown, Md.
McKcan-Potter Blueberry Produc
tion Workshop, Smethport
Extension Office, 10 a.m.
Blueberry Production Workshop,
McKean Extension Office,
Penn State Garden Recycling
Week, Springettsbury Town
ship Park, York, thru April 24.
Pa. State Grange Banquet, Shera
Lancaster County Bee Producers
meeting, Lancaster Friends
Meetinghouse, 7 p.m.
McKean-Potter pesticide applica
tion exam. Potter Extension
/ l ~ ->
/ 1
Office, Coudersport, 10 a.m.
Carroll County, Md. Extension
Workshop On Small-Scale
Fruit Production, 9 a.m.-3:30
p.m., concludes April 26.
EAYFA Ladies Night, Cloister
ent management strategy,
''ualf Ii South Willf
ig.
State Fairgrounds, Columbus,
Ohio.
Ohio Spring Dairy Spectacular,
Ohio Fairgrounds, Columbus,
Conference On
Artificial Insemination and
Reproduction, Grand Hotel,
Milwaukee, Wis., thru April 23.
Wool Handling School, Cliff Eng-
To Deworm
Pasture Heifers
According to Glenn Shirk,
extension dairy agent, heifers that
are plagued with parasites are
unthrifty and less profitable.
When young heifers are pas
tured, the risk of them acquiring
internal parasites is great, especial
ly if the pastures were grazed by
heifers the previous year.
To protect these heifers from
internal parasites, they should be
dewormed about three weeks after
the initial grazing. Equally impor
tant is a second deworming about
three to five weeks after the first
deworming.
This time interval depends on
label instructions of the deworm
ing material you are using. Select a
product that is effective against
adult worms.
Consult your veterinarian for
additional advice.
To Make Safety
A Priority
In a recent issue of Agricultural
Safety and Health News, Dennis
Murphy, Penn State agricultural
engineer, reminds us of the impor
tance of making safety a priority in
our farming operations.
He encourages us to take time to
land Farm, Rising Sun, Md., 9
a.m.-3:30 p.m.
Virginia Beef Expo, Rockingham
County Fairground, Harrison
burg, .Va., thru April 24.
Guernsey Breedefs Association
Ohio Spring Spectacular, Col-
umbus, Ohio.
Penn State Poultry Science Club
dinner and awards banquet.
Days Inn, State College, 7:30
Clever Cloven 4-H Central NJ.
Sheep Demonstration, Concor-
de Stud Farm, 10:30 a.m.-3
p.m.
Guernsey Breeders Association
Pennsylvania Blue Halter Sale,
Bedford.
Old Time Plow Boys Club Annual
Spring Plowing Show, Pa. Ger
man Heritage Center,. Kutz-
town University, 11 a.m.-5
p.m., thru April 24.
Llama and Aplaca Festival, Tol
land Agricultural Center, Ver-
non, Conn., 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
Penn State Dairy Expo, Ag Arena,
University Park.
Northwest All-Breed Calf Sale,
Crawford County Fairgrounds,
Meadville, 11:30 a.m.
Tractor and Truck Pull, Carroll
County Ag Center, Westmin-
(Turn to Page A 35)
determine what hazards exists on
your farm and then correct them.
Diseuss safely with family
members and anyone else who
works on your farm. If you have
children or.grandchildren, estab
lish rules about where they may
and may not play. Also, keep
dangerous chemicals and
machines beyond their reach.
Consider the health and safety
aspects of your work habits. Do
you use appropriate personal pro
tective equipment for dangerous
jobs? Do you treat farm machinery
with the respect it deserves, or do
you place yourself at risk by cut
ting comets?
Farming remains the nation’s
riskiest job. To change this, every
farmer needs to place a priority on
safety.
Never assume that an accident
cannot happen to you. Resolve to
be aware of farm safety throughout
the year and take appropriate
actions to protect yourself and
your loved ones.
BY LAWRENCE W ALEHOUSE
m. , „ „
MSILS
IS "SACRIFICE" A DIRTY
WORD?
April 17.1994
Background Scripture
Romans 12
Devotional Reading
Philippians 2:1-4, 14-16, 4:8,9
There was a time when “sacri
fice” was a perfectly good word
that was used in polite conversa
tion. I can even remember even
hearing it in church from time to
dme.
But not any more. Something
has happened to the word in the
last several decades. It is not only
unfashionable to speak in our so
ciety of making sacrifices, but
there is something positively ob
scene associated with it We live
in an age when people are primari
ly interested in asserting, affirm
ing and fulfilling themselves. The
thought of sacrificing one’s self
for the sake of someone else
seems to have gone out with the
double standard in sexual morali
ty-
When I was a youth, Romans
12:1-3 was one of the most popu
lar and frequently used texts at the
church camp 1 used to attend: “I
appeal to you therefore, brethren,
by the mercies of God. to present
your bodies as a living sacrifice,
holy and acceptable to God, which
is your spiritual worship.” What
being a disciple of Jesus Christ
was all about, we told each other,
was nothing less than offering
ourselves as living sacrifices to
the Lord. I don’t know how well
we lived that ideal, but we believ
ed it and thought that that was
what our lives should be. ’ ‘
SELF REALIZATION
I realize that what has happened
in the intervening years is not
necessarily bad or wrong. Some
people carried the concept of self
sacrifice into a morbid preoccupa
tion with martyrdom in an age that
rarely asked for it or even provid
ed an opportunity for it. Self-ac
ceptance and self-realization were
concepts that needed to become
part of our personal and public
consciousness. But, as so often
happens, we threw the baby out
with the bathwater, as the old say
ing goes. We have emphasized the
self to the exclusion of others
and that is not spiritually healthy
either.
To Keep Cows
Eating Properly
When cows go off feed and sud
denly lose a lot of flesh, they may
develop fatty livers. This may
further depress appetites, causing
drops in milk production and plac
ing cows at risk for ketosis.
Thus, it is very important to
keep cows eating well before and
after calving. Be sure their rations
are properly balanced for both the
dry period and early lactation.
Feed high quality feeds that are
fresh and palatable. Also, provide
easy access to good quality water.
Giving cows propylene glycal
may also help prevent fatty livers
and ketosis. Just as important is
minimizing stress on cows by
making the transition from dry per
iod to early lactation as smooth as
possible.
Feather Profs Footnote:
“Quality is never an accident. It is
always the result of high intention,
sincere effort, intelligent direc
tion, and skillful execution."
As in so many areas of life, the
key is balance: self and others, not
self vs. others. In fact, we can nev
er truly fulfill our own selves
without learning to give ourselves
for the sake of others. When we
live only for self, we find we can
never fulfill our own potential. In
George Bernard Shaw’s play, An
drades and the Lion, Lavinia, a
young Christian who is slated to
die a martyr, says to the Roman
captain: “... I have no doubt at all
that I must die for something
greater than dreams or stories.”
“But for what?” asks the Captain.
“I don’t know,” Lavinia replies,
“If it were for anything small
enough to know, it would be too
small to die for. 1 think I am going
to die for God. Nothing else is real
enough to die for.”
SELF-SACRIFICE
Just as anything other than God
is too little to die for, so anything
other than God is too little to live
for.
As Ellen Glasgow says, “Life
will yield up its hidden sweetness
. . . only when it is being sacrific
ed to something more precious
than life.” One cannot taste the
“hidden sweetness” of life until or
unless we are willing to offer our
lives for “something more pre
cious than life.”
Most of us hold back from sa
crificing ourselves because we are
certain self-sacrifice will diminish
us, will take something away from
our own fulfillment But in pre
senting yourself “as a living sacri
fice, holy and acceptable to God,”
you do not lose, not ultimately at
least You actually gain in the long
run, because, like Jesus Christ we
teach our highest potential only
when we are willing to give our
selves for “something more pre
cious than life.”
Yes. I know the world doesn’t
see it that way. But die world is
wrong. “Do not be conformed to
this world, but be transformed by
the renewal of your mind ...”
(12:2).
Self-sacrifice is not a dirty
word, but the way to the fulfill
ment that society promises, but
cannot deliver.
Lancaster Farming
Established 1955
Published Every Saturday
Ephrata Review Building
1 E. Main St
Ephrata, PA 17522
by
Lancaster Earning, Inc.
A SMmm Enliprim
Robert G. Campbell General Manager
Evers# R. Nawtwanger Managing Editor
Copyright IM4 by Lancaster Firming