AlO-LancMt*r Farming, Saturday, Auguat 12, 1995
OPINION
An Educational Experience
This year at Ag Progress Days you will be able to test drive
gew products and see many new ag technologies. Not only is
there a wealth of information available for large and small-scale
producers but for families and the average consumer.
New this year will be tractor ride and drive opportunities. In
addition, special attention will be given to bean planting and
harvesting, as well as many other machinery demonstrations.
The Pennsylvania Hay Show has been a long-time feature of
the event, and the 1995 judging will be held In the hay tent.
The equine exhibits and demonstrations will showcase Penn
State’s Quarter horse equine teaching programs.
Landscapes, lawns, and gardens get theirshare of attention too.
Especially noteworthy is the demonstration of a computer
assisted landscape design that shows you what to plant and then
projects what your grounds will look like in 10 years.
If you want to compare brands of farm equipment or see the lat
est in Penn State’s exhibits, a trip to the Russell E. Larson
research facility at Rockspring in Centre County next week will
be an educational experience.
Bucks County Field Day and Picn
ic, Tom Haldeman.
South Central Championship
Show, Shippensburg Fair
grounds, 9:30 a.m.
Pa. State Beekeepers Picnic,
Penn’s Cove, Centre County.
Md. Holstein Association Second
Annual Picnic, My Ladys Man
or Farm, Monkton, Md., 10
a.m.
Lancaster County 4-H Roundup,
Lampeter Fairgrounds, 10 a.m.
Harvest Festival, Walnut Acres
Organic Farms, Penns Creek,
10 a.m.-S p.m.
Tioga County Holstein Show,
Fairgrounds, Whitneyville, 9
a.m.
Old Time Plow boys Club Annual
Summer Planning Show, Ger
man Cultural Heritage Center
Farm, Kutztown University,
Huntingdon County Fair, Hunting
don, thru Aug. 19.
Washington County Fair,
Washington, thru Aug. 20.
Bullskin Township Fair, Mount
Pleasant, thru Aug. 19.
York County 4-H Swine and
Sheep Roundup, Weikert’s,
Thomasville, sheep show 2
Kutztown Fair Holstein Show,
Fairgrounds, Kutztown, 6 p.m.
McKean County Fair, Smethport,
thru Aug. 20.
Dayton Fair, Dayton, thru Aug. 19.
Venango County Fair, Franklin,
thru Aug. I°.
Lawrence County Fair, New
Castle, thru Aug. 19.
Montour-Delong Community
Fair, Washingtonville, thru
Aug. 19.
Gloucester County Board of Ag
Public Relations Tour and Picn
ic, 4-H Fairgrounds, Mullica
Hill, 5 p.m.
Forest Landowners Workshop and
Tour, Garrett and Kathleen
Smith residence, Mayberry
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Township, Montour County,
6:30 p.m.
York 4-H Swine Roundup,
Weikert’s, Thomasville, 9 a.m.
York 4-H Market Sheep and Swine
Sale, Weikert’s, Thomasville, 7
Ag Progress Days, Rockspring,
* thru Aug. 17.
Huntingdon County Holstein
Show, Fairgrounds, Hunting-
don, 9 a.m.
Kutztown Fair, Kutztown, thru
Aug. 19.
1995 Pa. Hay Show. Ag Progress
Days.
Pa. Plastic Pesticide Container
Recycling Program, Helena
Chemical Company, Biglervil
le, 9 a.m.-ll:30 a.m.
Pa. Plastic Pesticide Container
Recycling Program, Adams
County Nursery, Aspers, 12:30
Ml Nebo Fair. ML Nebo, thru
Aug. 19.
Accent On Plants: Annuals and
Perennials, Pittsburgh Civic
Garden Center, Pittsburgh, 8:45
a.m.-4 p.m.
Vegetable Growers’ Bus Tour To
Ag Progress, leaves Montgom-
Editor:
It was with a great deal of inter
est that I read the articles on devel
opment pressure on agricultural
land. This was a subject upon
which I spent a great deal of time,
effort and concern since about
1970, so much so that in 1992 my
wife and 1 donated our develop
ment rights to a local conservancy.
However, since then. I have
taken a different viewpoint on the
To Attend
Ag Progress Days
Penn State’s Ag Progress Days
will be held Aug. IS-17 at the Rus
sell E. Larson Agricultural
Research Center, nine miles south
west of State College on Route 45.
This is the largest agricultural
technology show in Pennsylvania.
Come see the latest in equipment
and cultural practices and take a
peek into the future.
Learn how Penn State research
on crops, soils, pests, dairy, and
livestock translates into farming
practices. There will be a tractor
ride and drive area this year.
Field machinery demonstra
tions include precision planting,
mowing, bailing and round bale
handling, primary and secondary
tillage, and composting. In addi
tion, there will be educational
activities, opportunities to ask
questions to researchers and exten
sion experts, activities for child
ren, and a variety of food booths.
More than 300 commercial and
noncommercial exhibitors will be
on the grounds. Admission and
parking are free.
The hours are 9 a.m. to S p.m.
Tuesday and Thursday and 9 a.m.
to 8 p.m. Wednesday.
To Prevent
Poisonings
I just received the 1994 Annual
Report of the Central Pennsylvania
Poison Center at the Penn State
Hershey Medical Center.
Some highlights of the report
include:
• Fifty-three percent of poison
exposures involved children under
the age of six. Medications repre
sented 36 percent of substances,
followed by cleaners (9 percent),
personal care items (8 percent),
and fumes (6 percent).
• Poisonings because of drug
ingestion most frequently
involved analgesics, specifically
aspirin, acetaminophen, and
ibuprofen.
In the past we have stressed the
subject. I no longer condemn
farmers for selling to developers.
My reasons ... prices paid to
fanners are on the decline while
the costs of fanning are keeping
up with inflation and taxes per
haps even exceeding the rate of in
flation.
Basically, there are two very
powerful forces which drive the
action of mankind, one of which is
(Turn to Pag«
importance of keeping people,
especially children, away from
pesticides and dairy sanitizers and
detergents. We need to continue
our efforts in those areas.
However, based on this report,
we need to be extra careful with
medications and household clean
ing compounds and keep them
away from children under six.
Now is the time to do a check of
your home and farm and make sure
poisonous compounds are proper
ly stored. Also, post the Poison
Control Center number next to all
telephones.
For central Pennsylvania, the
number is (800) 521-6110.
To Teach
School Bus Safety
It is hard to believe school will
be starting soon.
According to Pennsylvania
SAFE KIDS Coalition, an esti
mated 22 million students ride
school buses daily. In 1993, seven
school bus passengers were killed
BY IAWRENCt W AITHOUSE
"mum
GETTING THE SIGN
August 13, 1995
GETTING THE SIGN
August 13, 1995
Background Scripture:
Isaiah 7; II Kings 16
Devotional Reading:
Psalms 125:1-5
Put two persons in the same
situation and you may well get
two radically different interpreta
tions. One person may see it as a
dire threat, the other as a challeng
ing opportunity. Which person’s
perception is the right one? Ac
tually, both are right. If you inter
pret a situation as threatening,
then it is. If, instead, you interpret
it as a challenge, perhaps an op
portunity, then it is likely to be
just that
Stress research has indicated
that those who do most poorly in
stressful situations are those who
react with fear and anxiety; those
who see it as an obstacle to be
overcome will be the least affect
ed. In other words, the situation’s
effect upon us is largely determin
ed by the way we perceive and re
act to it
Medical researchers, Doctors
Jeanne Achterberg and G. Frank
Lawlis, did extensive studies with
cancer patients. Having the pa
tients draw pictures of their dis
ease and their therapy. Patients
whose drawings depicted their
disease markedly stronger than
their therapy, proved to be least
likely to survive the disease. The
drawings, represented their deep
est feelings about their chances, in
a sense, their faith.
LEARNED FAITH
Another researcher. Dr. Martin
E.P. Seligman, has found that peo
ple with an opdmistic perspective
on life are generally happier,
healthier and achieve more. Fur
thermore. says Dr. Seligman a
positive outlook on life is general
ly learned. Peopje become hopeful
by practicing dunking that way.
Correspondingly, helplessness is
also learned when people practice
a helpless outlook.
What these people are talking
about is basically what we have in
mind when we speak of faith.
Faith preserv es us from the tolls of
stress. With faith we 'end to be
and an estimated 5,000 children
ages 14 and under were injured in
school bus-related crashes.
Many injuries occur when child
ren are boarding or exiting because
a blind spot extends approximately
10 feet in front of the bus.
Some safety tips you should
consider are:
• When waiting for the bus,
children should stay out of the
street, avoid horseplay, wait for
parents on the same side of the
street as the school bus loading and
unloading zone, and cross at least
10 feet in front of the bus.
• While on the bus, children
should: 1. Remain seated at all
times and keep the aisles clear; 2.
Do not throw objects; 3. Do not
shout or distract the driver, 4. Keep
hands and arms inside the bus at all
times; and 5. Exit from in front of
the bus.
Feather Prof.’s Footnote:
“Excellence can be yours if you
know that the real danger in life is
doing nothing."
healthier, happier and achieve
more. And faith is essentially
learned. We can grow in faith if
we keep ever before us the prom-'
ises of God and practice living on
those promises. Similarly, unfaith
or distrust can also be learned.
sn
King Ahaz of Judah was a man
afflicted with learned cynicism.
He practiced his negative, hope
less attitude whenever he was con
fronted by a challenge. So when
Israel and Syria brought their arm
ies to attack Jerusalem, Ahaz pan
icked: “his heart and the heart of
his people shook as the trees of the
forest shake before the wind”
(7:2).
LEARNED HELPLESSNESS
Ahaz’s tragedy is not that he
was frightened of hij enemies, but
that he stayed frightened despite
all the signs God sent to assure
him. The first of these was the
sending of Isaiah with a message
of hope: “Take heed, be quiet, do
not fear, and do not let your heart
be faint . ..” (7:4). To reinforce
his message of hope, God tells Isa
iah to take along his son. Sheaija
shub, whose names means “A
remnant shall return.”
God also sends the'king a pro
phecy concerning the invasion by
his enemies: “It shall not stand,
and it shall not come to pass”
(7:7). And to these signs God adds
a magnanimous offer; “Ask a sign
of the Lord your God; let it be
deep as Sheol or high as heaven”
(7:10). But Ahaz’s mind was
steeped in practiced negativism
and he refused, not because he
didn’t want to test God but be
cause he didn’t want to test his
own faith.
So God gave him yet another
sign: “Behold a young woman
shall conceive and bear a son and
shall call his name Immanuel”
God with us. No matter what the
challenge or the danger, there is
ground for faith in the assurance
that God is with us.
So, there were signs aplenty for
Ahaz, but there was no room for
them in his mind. And, so there
are signs aplenty for us, too. Are
you getting them?
Lancaster Farming
Established 1955
Published Every Saturday
Ephrata Review Building
1 E. Main St
Ephrata, PA 17522
—by—
Lancaster Farming, Inc.
ASMnmanEntorprito
Robert a Campbell Oanaral Manager
Everett a Nawawangar Managing Cdttor
Copyright 1995 by LoncoMtor Farming