AlO-UncMMr Fanning, Saturday, Octobar 2t, 1995
itwMmiWaM
OPINION
Storekeepers?
Editor*! Note: The following excerpt! were written more
than a half-century ago. But they contain a certain reality
that can be felt by the farmer-at-heart even today.
■“ —a bond of tattered feverish American! poured in. And auch
was their hunger for land that they—guarded with guns Ac
land —.They put up houses and hams, they turned the earth and
planted props. And these things were possession, and possession
was ownership. —frantically—Americans -wanted land.
“Then with time—their children grew up and had children on
the land. And the hunger was gone from them, the feral hunger,
the gnawing, tearing hunger for land, for water and earth and the
good sky over it, for the green thrusting grass, for the swelling
roots. They had these things so completely that they did not know
about them any more. They had no more the stomach-tearing lust
for a rich acre and a shining blade to plow it, for seed and a wind
mill beating its wings in the air. They arose in the dark no more to
hear the sleepy birds’ first cluttering, and the morning wind
around the house while they waited, for the first light, to go out to
the dear acres.
These things were lost, and crops were reckoned in dollars, and
land was valued by principal plus interest, and crops were bought
and sold before thy were planted. Then crop failure, drought, and
flood were no longer little deaths within life, but simple losses of
money. And all their love was thinned with money, and all their
fierceness dribbled away in interest until they were no longer far
mers at all, but little shopkeepers of crops, little manufacturers
who must sell before they can make. Then those fanners who
were not good shopkeepers lost their land to good shopkeepers.
No matter how clever, how loving a man might be with earth and
growing things, he could not survive if he were also not a good
shopkeeper. And as time went on, the business men had the
fanns, and the farms grew larger, but there were fewer of them.
“ —And it came about that owners no longer worked on their
farms. They fanned on paper, and they forgot the land, the smell,
the feel of it, and remembered only that they owned it, remem
bered only what they gained and lost by it And some of the farms
grew so large that one man could not even conceive of them any
more, so large that it took batteries of bookkeepers to keep track
of interest and gain and loss; chemists to test the soil, to replenish;
straw bosses to see that the stooping men were moving along the
rows as swiftly as the material of their bodies could stand. Then
such a farmer really became a storekeeper, and kept a store. He
paid the men, sold them food, and took the money back. And after
a while he did not pay the men at all, and saved bookkeeping.
These farms gave food on credit. A man might work and feed
himself; and when the work was done, he might find that he owed
money to the company. And the owners not only did not work the
farms any more, many of them had never seen the farms they
owned.” —From The Grapes Of Wrath, by John Steinbeck.
Copyright 1939.
Md. Shorthorn Association Fall
Calf Sale, Federick Fair
grounds, Frederick, Md., 7 p.m.
HRM Discussion and Pasture
iop.
shop 1, 6 pm.-lO p.m., repeats
ComputenzedFk^
ing Workshop, Ridgway, 6
p.m.-10 p.m., repeats Nov. 14
and 21.
Penn Jersey Equine Short Course
For Bam Managers, Ramada
Inn, Delaware Water Gap, 9:30
❖ Farm Calendar*
ing Workshop, Ulysses, 6
p.m.-10 p.m., repeats Nov. IS
and 22.
Va. Cattle Health Conference,
Ingleside Hotel, Stanton, Va.
Lebanon Extension Annual Ban-
quet, Schaefferstown Fire Hall,
7 p.m.
Penn Jersey Equine Short Course
For Bam Managers, Heritage
Family Restaurant, Franconia,
9:30 a.m.-4 p.m., also Nov. 8.
Annual Farmland Preservation
meeting, York County Vo-
Tech School, 7 p.m.
Beef Replacement, Heifer Man-
cator exam, Carroll County
Extension Office, 1 p.m.-3
p.m„ or 7 p.m.-9 p.m.
To Check
Smoke Detectors
This weekend marks the end of
Daylight Saving Time. At 2 a.m.
Sunday morning, we are supposed
to turn our clocks back one hour,
otherwise we will be at church one
hour early.
This Sunday also marks
“Change Your Clock, Change
Your Battery Day.” The Interna
tional Association of Fire Chiefs
sponsors this day to encourage
homeowners to change the batte
ries in their smoke detectors the
same time they turn back their
clocks. This helps to insure all bat
tery operated smoke detectors are
kept operational.
If you do not have smoke detec
tors installed in your home, now
would be a could time to do it If
you have smoke detectors in your
home, change their batteries this
weekend and look to see if you
need to install additional smoke
detectors.
Property located and operation
al smoke detectors saves lives. So
check your smoke detectors and
change their batteries this
weekend.
To Produce
Healthy Calves
Healthy and vigorous calves
start with cows and heifers that are
healthy, properly fed, and well
cared for to calving, according to
Glenn Shirk, extension dairy
agent
To help reduce stress on the calf
and its dam at time of calving,
someone should be present to ren
der assistance if necessary.
As soon as the calf is bom, be
sure air passages are open and that
it is breathing. Another concern is
to protect the newborn calf from
exposure to infectious organisms.
This starts with providing the dam
with a clean maternity area.
One of the best places is a well
sodded pasture. Then separate the
calf from its dam immediately
after birth and move it to its own
ADADC Dist 13 meeting, Dibbles
Inn, Vernon, N.Y., 7:45 p.m.
Berks County Farm-City Banquet,
Riveiedge Restaurant, Green
field, dinner 7 p.m.
MAEF Annual Dinner. Turf Val
ley Country Club and Hotel,
EUicott City, dinner 7:15 p.m.
Erie County Cooperative Exten
sion annual meeting, Waterfall
Restaurant, Erie, dinner 7:30
p.m.
Wyoming County Cooperative
Extension annual meeting,
Nicholson Fire Hall, 7:30 p.m.
Farm-City Dinner, Centre County
Vo-Tech School, Pleasant Gap.
6 p.m.
Bradford County Extension meet
ing, Troy High School, 7:30
o.m.
(Turn to Pag* A3l)
individual pen or hutch. This
minimises the risk of the calf
ingesting any Johnes contami
nated fecal material from older
animals.
Do not even let the calf nurse its
dam. Instead, wash the dam’s
udder, milk out some colostrum,
and bottle feeditto the calf. Aim to
have at least 1 to 2 quarts of colo
strum into the calf within the first
hour of birth and about 4 quarts by
6 to 8 hours after birth.
The early feeding of colostrum
is key to die health and life of the
calf. It is the calf s first line of
defense. Also, dip the calfs naval
in tincture of iodine.
To Prevent
Accidents
Dr. Zoann Parker, extension
4-H agent, reminds us accidents
are the leading killer of children.
More children die from prevent
able injuries each year than from
all childhood diseases combined.
Last year, nearly 8,000 children
under 14 were killed and 50,000
were permanently disabled. This
year one child in four will suffer a
LETTING THE GLORY OUT
October 29, 1995
Background Scripture:
Acts 11:19-30; 12:24,25
Devotional Reading:
Acts 12:1-11
John Lahr, son. of Bert Lahr
who is best remembered as the
Cowardly Lion in The Wizard of
Oz, wrote of the seemingly end
less array of obstacles director
Victor Fleming faced in producing
that movie. “How do you get a
rusted Tin Woodsman off his
mound of earth and onto the road
for a dance? How will the Cow
ardly Lion wag the tail of his one
hundred pound lion suit? How do
you teach 350 Munchkins to sing
‘We Welcome You to MuncMdn
Land,’ when only a third of them
speak English?” The key, says
Lahr, was Fleming’s production
phiosophy: “Don't get excited
obstacles make a better picture."
I have been a long time in
beginning to leant that obstacles
also make a better life. I confess
that I’d rather not have it that way.
I would prefer that life be always
onward and upward, progress
steady on a 45-degree angle. I
would probably sacrifice a few big
victories for a steady procession
of little ones.
PAINS AND GAINS
Yet, I have personally exper
ienced that obstacles have often
provided me with some of my best
opportunities. And what I have
regarded initially as defeat has
often been seen in retrospect as an
opportunity for victory. The prob
lem is that I do not have the divine
intelligence and understanding to
know what is defeat and what is
victory. Some of the biggest gains
and growths in my life have come
to me in the midst of what seemed
like insurmountable obstacles.
Sometimes the experiences that
have saddened and depressed me
most have yielded the greatest
growth and understanding.
Unfortunately, at the moment I
faced those obstacles, it seemed
anything but a time of encourage
ment or hope. That’s the problem
confronted by an obstacle we
cannot see our situation clearly.
preventable injury aerious enough
to require medical attention.
The major risk areas for kids fall
into five groupings; motor vehicle
accidents, fires and bums, drown
ings, falls and poisonings and
choking!.
What can you do to prevent
these things? Some ways are:
• When children are passengers
in a car, they must wear seat belts.
• As children grow up they also
need instruction in safe bicycle rid
ing and crossing streets.
• Children need to learn what to
do if the smoke detector awakens
diem.
• They should foe taught to swim
as early as possible and to respect
water.
• Keep poisons, cleaning mater
ials, and medicines away from
children.
By always thinking and practic
ing safety, you could prevent a
very serious accident
Feather Prof.'s Footnote:
"Remember you have the power to
choose your direction in all
aspects of life!'
Someone once said, “Obstacles
are those frightening things you
see when you take your eyes off
your goal.”
This is obvious at least to us
in the earliest days of the life of
the Church. Stephen was stoned to
death and the terrible persecution
broke out against the church. A
black day for the cause of Christ?
Not necessarily. “Now those who
were scattered because of the per
secution ... traveled as far as Phoe
nicia and Cyprus and Antioch”
(11:10). The persecution actually
served a good purpose because it
ignited the spread of Christianity
from Jerusalem to other cities.
THE CHOICE
But it’s not automatic. The per
secuted Christians might have
decided to cease and desist from
practicing their new faith in their
places of refuge. If they had done
that there would have been no
spread of the gospel there. But the
refugees chose to seize their
opportunities and the gospel pros
pered as a result And because
news of the growth of the gospel
at Antioch got back to Jerusalem,
Barnabas was sent there. And Bar
nabas persuaded Paul to join him,
thus initiating one of the great
missionary movements of Christ
ian history. It is amazing what can
happen when we choose to regard
our obstacles as opportunities.
But after the good news from
Antioch, there was also some bad
news. A prophet there by the name
of Agabus foretold that there
would be a great famine over all
the world. Another obstacle but
also another opportunity. “And
the disciples determined, every
one according to his ability, to
send relief to the brethren who
lived in Judea...” (11:29). The
famine was an obstacle, but it was
also an opportunity for the church
to experience Christian love and
brotherhood.
As Edwin Markham has writ
ten: Defeat may serve as well as
victory to shake the soul and let
the glory out.
Lancaster Farming
Established 1955
Published Every Saturday
Ephrata Review Building
lE. Main St
Ephrata, PA 17522
—by—
Lancaster Fanning. Inc.
AStainman Enterprise
Robert 0. CampbaU Qanaial Manager
Evaratt R. Nawawangar Managing Editor
Copyright 1895 by Lancattor Farming