AlO-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, November 1, 1997
OPINION
Homestead Exemption:
Vote On Tuesday
In the primary election this coming week, November 4, far
mers have a real reason to vote. The stage is set for property tax
reform, which is of special significance to farmers who have a
great part of their equity tied up in their farmstead.
The Homestead Exemption will appear on Pennsylvania bal
lots as “Joint Resolution 1997-1,” and according to Guy Donald
son, president of the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau, property tax
reform will be a dead issue for a long time to come if this resolu
tion is turned down.
If passed, it will amend the state constitution to permit enact
ment of legislation exempting a portion of a home’s assessed
property value from taxation. It would pave the way for town
ships, boroughs and cities, school districts, and counties, to
reduce taxes on residential property. The exemption would not
change a home’s market value.
For farmers, passage of the Homestead Exemption is especial
ly critical. It has been documented that farmers pay a dispropor
tionate share of property taxes because of the land and buildings
needed to operate their businesses. To make matters worse, prop
erty taxes keep increasing. They shot up an average of 108 per
cent in Pennsylvania from 1984 to 1994. While the proposed
exemption would apply only to a taxpayer’s home, we strongly
believe it should be and will be expanded by the General Assemb
ly to include buildings on the home farm. That would bring a
large measure of tax relief to farmers.
If you want to see the opportunity for your property taxes to be
lowered, you will need to go to the polls on Tuesday and vote.
Without a “yes” vote, tax reform in Pennsylvania cannot begin.
The issue is now up to you.
Identifying Trees In Winter Work
shop, Pa. College of Technolo
gy Earth Science Center, Mont
gomery, 10 a.m.-3:30 p.m.
Estate Planning Workshop For
Farmers, Back Mountain Reg
ional Land Trust, Shavertown,
Logs to Lumber Workshop, Scaun
Wayne County Cooperative
Extension Meeting, Joey C’s,
Meadville.
Dairy-MAP Consultant Work
shop, Leola Family Restaurant,
Leola, 10a.m.-4p.m..alsoNov.
24.
Wednesday. N<n ember 5
Dairy Practices Council 1997
Annual Conference, Harrisburg
East Holiday Inn, thru Nov. 7.
Farm Construction and Facilities
Symposium, Rockingham
County Fairgrounds Exhibition
Hall, 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
Annual Meeting of Pa. Assocation
of County Agricultural Agents,
Atherton, State College.
Md. and Va. Milk Producers
Cooperative local district meet-
Sheraton Berkshire, 6 p.m.
Bradford County Cooperative
Extension meeting. East Smith
field Fire Hall. 7:45 p.m,
S' i * S
❖ Farm Calendars
Lancaster Farmland Trust Ban
quet, Country Table Restaur
ant, Mount Joy, 6:30 p.m.
Wayne County Holstein Annual
Meeting, Belmont Comers Fire
Hall. Belmont, 7:45 p.m.
(Turn to Pago A3S)
Editor:
I recently read an article in the
October 11, 1997 issue of your
paper, written by Joyce Bupp. The
article pertained to the “Steam-O-
Rama” show held near Windsor,
Pa. The lady stated that the “Shep
pard” diesel tractor was the only
one ever manufactured in York
county. To start with, only about
half of the tractor was actually
built by Sheppard, mainly the
engine, frame and maybe the
steering mechanism. Other com
ponents were bought from compa
nies located outside of York coun
ty. In the past the following com
panies built their entire tractor in
York county: C.H.A. Dissinger &
Bros. Co., Wrightsvillc, Pa.; A.B.
Farquhar Co., York, Pa.; Flin
chbaugh Mfg. Co., York, Pa.;
Henry, Millard & Henry Co.,
York, Pa.
The readers of your fine paper
are entitled to accurate informa-
To Check Corn Harvest-
Reducing harvesting losses is
one sure way to improve profits,
according to Robert Anderson,
Lancaster County Extension
Agronomy Agent Experts agree
that no matter how well the com
bine is adjusted or operated, field
losses will occur
An acceptable loss is consid
ered to be three per cent An aver
age of 5 kernels per square foot
with a 120 bushel per acre yield or
8 kernels per square foot with a
175 bushel per acre yield would be
equal to a three per cent field loss.
On average, 1 5 kernels per square
foot is equal to one bushel per
acre loss
Take a walk through your
fields now and determine what the
average kernels per square foot is
This should be done across the en
tire width of one combine pass at
several locations in the field Then
determine the reason for the losses
and make corrections for next
year
y. X.
Robert Anderson, Lancaster
County Extension Agronomy
Agent, reminds us mice and other
rodents take a heavy toll on com
stored as ear corn in wooden and
metal corn cribs
The corn crib provides an ideal
habitat for these rodents It pro
vides sheltered nesting areas out of
the cold winter weather along with
an endless food supply. The con
trol of mice and rats under these
conditions is very difficult How-
❖ Farm Forum ♦
tion. By doing some research by
the writer, this mistake would
have been averted. I would hope
that sometime soon, that you
would publish a corrected article. I
would appreciate a letter some
time from your office.
The writer also failed to men
tion original toy “Sheppard”
Diesel tractors which were on dis
play. I showed one of my own,
which was purchased at the Pen
nsylvania Farm Show in 1949 or
SO. It is in almost original condi
tion and is quite valuable.
I look forward to reading your
paper which represents a lot of
work.
Oscar Streaker, Jr.
Sykesvillc, Md.
P.S. The source of my information
concerning the tractor manufac
turers is the “Encyclopedia of
American Farm Tractors” by C.H.
Wcndel.
*l*l
ing Losses
To Control Rodents
ever, there are several things you
can do to help keep rodent popula
tions down
First, traps may be used to
monitor the extent of the prob
lem Trapping alone will do little
to eliminate the problem
Second, screening where ever
possible to exclude rodents will
also help to keep numbers m con
trol. When a severe problems ex
ists. the commercial use of track
ing powder has been the most ef
fective means of eradication. Make
sure you read and follow all the
label directions when using pesti
cides
To Care For Older
Horses
If you own older horses, make
sure they are in good physical
condition before winter sets in,
according to Chester Hughes,
Lancaster County Extension Live
stock Agent Older horses are not
efficient as they once were in di
gesting food During cold weather,
these horses need extra energy to
WHAT, ME CELEBRATE?
November 2, 1997
WHAT, ME CELEBRATE?
November 2, 1997
Background Scripture:
Ezra 6
Devotional Reading:
Psalms 126:1-6
I truly regret that, with all that I
have learned about following Je
sus Christ over these many years, I
have still not learned to celebrate
as much or as deeply as is justified
by God’s providence and neces
sary for my own well-being. I’m
learning, but it is not easy for me.
I understand the reasons for my
difficulty in learning to celebrate.
In my childhood and youth, the
concept of “celebration’’ was rare
ly, if ever, mentioned in con
nection with worship. Worship
tended to be somber and serious.
Even if we sang celebratory
hymns, we often managed to sing
them with as little joy as possible.
Somehow or other I got the idea
that sobriety was worshipful; joy
was not no matter what the
Bible said.
I was also raised in a culture
where people practiced a tight
control over their emotions, parti
cularly the most positive ones. I
hope I am not unfairly depicting
the Pennsylvania “Dutch” (Ger
mans) as essentially somber peo
ple. It was as if they permitted
themselves too much joy, life
would come and snatch it away. A
hearty laugh seemed an invitation
to disaster.
EXCESS/OVERCONTROL
Later, when I saw some people
give themselves over to abandon
during their services, I was utterly
frightened and revolted. I remem
ber hearing people speak of these
people as “getting happy” and the'
suggestion was that we couldn’t
have that. Their emotional excess
es seemed to justify my emotional
overcontrol.
All of this talk about my strug
gle with celebration is for the pur
pose of encouraging you to take a
good look at your own life. Is joy
ous celebration a part of your spir
ituality? If so. good for you! And,
if not or if not and much as you
keep warm. So, have them gam
weight and get in good condition
before winter.
A horse is in good condition
when you cannot see its ribs and
have to apply slight pressure to
feel the ribs as you move your
hand over them.
Older horses need high quality
soft hay Legume hays are better
than grass hays because they pro
vide more energy, protein, vita
mins and minerals. If your older
horse is not in good condition
feed it three to six pounds of gram
or commercial feed daily.
If the horse is too thin, yon
may need to feed it greater
amounts If you feed more than
six pounds of gram, feed twice a
day A pellet feed may help if the
horse has a chewing problem A
vitamin and mineral supplement
also may help an aged horse
Feather Prof, 's Footnote
"Obstacles are those frightful
things you see when you take
your mind off your goals."
think it ought to be, then why not;
And that brings me to another
reason why some of us do not
celebrate very much in our Chris
tian discipleship. Lack of celebra
tion, I have come to believe, is the
result of a wrong focus of our
spiritual consciousness. When we
focus on ourselves exclusively,
we cannot help but become som
ber in the light of our failures,
sins, disappointments and ob
stacles. But, when we spend a suf
ficient amount of our attention,
not on our problems but God’s
graces what God is doing in
and around us we cannot help
but celebrate. I would celebrate
more often and more deeply if I
concentrated less on my own
needs and wants and more on the
love and mercy of God. How
about you?
TIME TO CELEBRATE
The exiled people of Judah had
a terrible experience. Carried far
away from their homeland, their
monarchy destroyed and their
temple in ruins, the people were
aliens in a strange land. One could
understand if the predominant key
of their religion had become a
somber one. But, now the temple
was rebuilt; everything had come
together to fulfill the prophecies
that had seemed so fanciful. It was
a time for a celebration and the
celebration needed to be no less
deep and wide as the sorrow had
been.
“And the people of Israel, the
priests and the Levites, and the
rest of the returned exiles, cele
brated the dedication of the house
of God with joy” (6:16). The time
of sad songs and desperate prayers
was over. Even their observance
of the Passover was a celebration.
“And they kept the feast of un
leavened bread seven days with
joy; for the Lord had made them
joyful ~ .” (6:22).
Life is an experience of both the
solemn and the joyful. Like every
thing else, our spiritual lives and
particularly our worship must
strike a healthy balance. For me,
that means taking more time to
celebrate.
And you?
Lancaster Farming
Established 1955
Published Every Saturday
Ephrata Review Building
1 E. Main St
Ephrata, PA 17522
-by-
Lancaster Farming, Inc.
A Stemman Enterprise
Robert G. Campbell General Manager
Everett R. Newswanger Managing Edltoi
Copyright 1997 by Lancaster Farming