AlO-Lancastsr Fuming, Saturday, Fabmary 7, 1998
OPINION
Be Careful With Children
The pain and suffering a child experiences from an agricultural
injury is easy to appreciate. That’s one reason farmers should be
careful that their children who play and work around the farm arc
kept safe from animals and equipment that may harm them.
While a child may have developed the skills and mental knowl
dege to do many jobs around the farm, the physical strength often
has not been developed sufficiently. Sometimes we see a small
child driving a tractor cm- handling a team of mules or draft horses.
Because the child and the farm family are so close to the situation,
they often see no danger. However, if the tractor hits a hole, an
unexpected mound of dirt, or a stone, the child may not be heavy
or strong enough to keep the machine under control. If something
spooks die mules, they may take off on the run with the child in no
way able to reign in the runaway team.
After the child is hurt, it is too late. Now is the time to reassess
what jobs you allow your child to do. Give each situation the ben
efit of the doubt. It may be better if he or she grew a little more
before taking on this work.
There are many testamonies of families who wish they would
have done things differently after their child was permanently
maimed or killed in a farm accident. Do everything possible to
not let this happen in your farm family.
EAYF Banquet, ML Airy/Durlach
Fire Hall, 6:30 p.m.
Pa. State Rabbit Breeders Associa
tion Annual Convention, Leba
non County Fairgrounds, thru
Feb. 8.
Susquehanna County 4-H presen
tations and public speaking
workshop, Montrose govern
ment office building, Montrose,
9:30 a.m., also March 9, 7:30
p.m.
Field Crop Meeting for Producers,
hosted by Rutger’s Cooperative
Extension, Monmouth County
Extension, 9 a.m.-noon and
Hunterdon County Extension, 7
p.m.-10 p.m.
Southern Maryland Agriculture
Breakfast, Jaycees Community
Center, Waldorf, Md., 8
a.m.-10:30 a.m.
Northern Fruit Growers Meeting.
Ramada Inn at Chinchilla in
Lackawanna County, 9
ajn.-3:30 p.m.
Capitol Area Turf and Ornamental
Association annual meetings in
conjunction with the New York
State Vegetable Conference
and Trade Show, Four Points
ITT/Shcraton Convention Cen
ter, Liverpool, N.Y., thru Feb.
12.
Ephrata Area Young Farmers pes
ticide meeting. Family Time
Restaurant, 6:45 p.m.
Lancaster County Crops Day,
Farm and Home Center.
Southeast Fruit Meeting. Schuy
lkill County Ag Center, 9
a.m.-3:30 p.m.
New York Stale Vegetable Con
ference, Four Points Sheraton/
ITT, Liverpool, N.Y., thru Feb.
12.
Southwest Pa. Breeders Forum,
❖ Farm Calendars
Somerset Vo-Tech School,
Somerset, 10 ajn.
Soil Fertility School, Lebanon and
Dauphin Ag Centers, also Feb.
11. 17. and 18.
Pa. Allied and Industrial Nursery
Conference. Hershey Lodge
and Convention Center, 10
a.m.-3 p.m., thru Feb. 11.
Maryland/Delaware Peach
School, Wye REC, Queen-
stown, Md., 9 a.m.-3 p.m.
Pesticide Test, extension office,
E bens burg, 9 a.m.-noon.
Western Potato Meeting, Tata’s
Restaurant (formerly Bonan
za), Lyndora, 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m.
Empire State Potato Club Meeting,
Four Points ITT/Sheraton.
Reducing Risk On Farm, Morrison
Cove Memorial Park, 10 a.m.-3
p.m
Milking School, Berks County Ag
Center, also Feb. 17.
Soybean and Small Grain Meet
ing, Gettysburg High School, 7
p.m.
Crop Information Management
County Ag Center, Leesport
Regional Vegetable Grower’s Pro
duction Meeting, York County
4-H Center, Bair Station.
Keystone Pork Expo, Lebanon
Valley Expo Center.
Cambria-Somerset Potato Meet-
ing, Imperial Room-Mini Mall,
Ebensburg.
Johne’s Disease Meeting, PDA
Office, Tunkhannock, 1:30
p.m.
Northwest Pa. Livestock and
Grazing Management Work-
meeting, Farm and Home Cen
ter, 9 a.m.-3;30 p.m.
Venango County Crops Night,
Venango County Extension
Office, 7 p.m.-9 pjn.
Franklin County Crops and Soils
To Be Alert to Carbon
Monoxide
Whenever combustion takes
place without sufficient oxygen,
carbon monoxide is produced.
Since less fresh air is entering
homes due to conservation meas
ures, it is doubly important to be
alert to the dangers of improper
venting. Exposure to carbon
monoxide may cause any or all of
the following symptoms: head
ache, dizziness, ringing in the
ears, seeing spots, nausea, vio
lent coughing, irregular breathing
and ultimately, unconsciousness.
If you suspect carbon monox
ide poisoning, get into fresh air
quickly. Call an emergency squad
or ambulance and get medical
help. Give artificial respiration if
victim is not breathing. Loosen
clothing, keep victim warm and
place head lower than feet. Con
sider installing carbon monoxide
detectors in your homes, espe
cially near sleeping areas. They
could save your life!
To Prevent Winter Storm
Damage to Trees
The recent winter storms have
demonstrated the hazards they pre
sent to trees, according to Dr.
Timothy Elkner, Lancaster
County Extension Horticultural
Agent. Accumulation of ice and
snow may increase the branch
weight of trees by 30 times or
more. This causes breakage and
high winds during and after a
storm may cause even more dam
age. The amount of storm injury
that occurs depends on several fac
tors
First, different tree species
vary in their resistance to injury.
Generally, the fast growing spe
cies of trees such as silver maples,
willows and poplars seem to suf
fer the most damage because they
have soft, weak wood that will
not support much snow or ice.
The age and maintenance of
trees are other important factors.
Large, old trees are particularly
Day, Lemaster Community
Center.
Franklin-Cumberland Vegetable
Growers meeting, Penn Town-
ship Fire House, Huntsdale,
8:30 ajn.-3:30 pjn.
Start A Small Business Workshop,
Penn State Berks Campus,
Reading.
Milking Management Workshop,
Firth Learning Center, Mercer,
12:30 pjn.-4 p.m.
Dairy-MAP. Gutshall’s Corner
Restaurant, also Feb. 19.
Lancaster County 4-H Livestock
Clubs Annual Banquet, Coun
try Table Restaurant, Mount
Joy, 6:30 p.m.
Cenex Local Membership Meet
ing, Seven Valleys Fire Hall,
Seven Valleys, 10 a.m.
Milking School Lebanon Ag Cen
ter, 9:4S ajn.-3 pan., also Feb.
(Turn to Pag* A 43)
susceptible to damage. Trees that Trees deemed salvageable but
have been neglected or improperly with broken branches, jagged
pruned in the past also may sus- stubs or torn bark should be re
tain more injury than those care- paired immediately rather than
fully managed. waiting until spring. Since re-
Finally, improperly training moving large tree limbs may be
young trees may increase the dangerous, this work should be
probability of storm damage years left to trained arborists,
later. Consult a professional arborist
if: 1. the work requires climbing
or chain saws, 2. when cabling or
large branch removal is called for
and 3. if the injured tree or branch
is leaning on another tree or struc
ture.
To Clean Up Storm
Damage Trees
Dr. Timothy Elkner, Lancaster
County Extension Horticultural
Agent, reminds us that after a
storm, hazardous trees and
branches should be removed im
mediately to ensure safety and
prevent additional property dam
age. Trees that have lost more
than 50 per cent of their branches,
those with splits in the main
trunk or large trees with their tops
broken are generally poor risks
and should be removed from the
landscape.
?rsr; ''/;';•
\\'X\\\v., v \ //////v//
BY LAWRENCE W ALIHOUSE
ARE YOU A SLAVE?
February 8, 1998
Background Scripture:
II Peter 2
Devotional Reading:
Ephesians 4:7-16
One of the two main purposes
of n Peter is to warn the readers
against false teachers. “But false
prophets also arose among the
people, just as there will be false
teachers among you, who will se
cretly bring in destructive here
sies, even denying the Master who
bought them, bringing upon them
selves swift destruction” (2:1).
I have read a lot of religious
books and sermon titles in the past
40-plus years since I entered the
ministry, but I don’t remember
coming across one addressing the
problems of “false teachers” and
“heresy.” Is that because “false
teachers” and “heresy” are no lon
ger threatening to the Church? No,
I think not, but the terminology we
use today is different Further
more, II Peter may seem irrelevant
also because the “false teachers”
and the “heresies” they were con
cerned about are different than the
ones that plague us today.
So who are the “false teachers”
in the Church today? For what
shall we be cm the lookout in look
ing for and identifying them? II
Peter 2 gives us some guidelines.
For one thing, he says, the false
teachings are “destructive here
sies.” When we examine what he
read and hear today of preaching
and teaching in the Church, one
way we can spot that which is
false is to note teaching and
preaching that are destructive to
the Church. Heresy always wean
down the Church, never upbuilds
it.
DENYING THE MASTER
Some people today are nega
tively obsessed with those with
whom they do not agree. They
condemn them continually and
unmercifully because their con
ception of the Gospel is different
from their own. “From of old their
condemnation has not been idle,
and their destruction has not been
asleep” (2:3). Their orientation is
destructive and negative. For
them, condemnation of others has
become a way of life.
The writer also tells us that
these “false teachers” deny “die
Master who bought them.” When
ever you hear leaching or preach-
Any tree damage occurring
around power and communication
lines should always be handled by
the utility company. Proper tree
management including pruning on
a regular cycle will lower a tree's
susceptibility to winter storms.
Feather Prof, 's Footnote:
"Sometimes you must do the
thing you cannot do."
ing that persuades you to believe
or behave in a way that is contrary
to the way of Jesus Christ, that is
“false teaching.” Jesus was not
afraid to speak out against sin, but
he did not found his gospel on
condemning the sinners. Any
teaching that entices us to be less
compassionate, less forgiving, and
less loving is false teaching. Any
gospel that derides us for being the
peacemakers Jesus calls us to be is
not the good news of Jesus Christ
sn
The writer of II Peter also tells
us that the “false teachers” are li
centious people: “They are blots
and blemishes reveling in their
dissipation, carousing with you
... They entice unsteady souls.”
(2:13b, 14b). Anyone who teaches
you to live licentiously is a “false
teacher.”
LICENTIOUSNESS
We need to realize, however,
that that includes not only “pas
sions of the flesh” sexual li
centiousness. gluttony and
drunkenness but any kind of
behavior in which we are out of
control, where something else, not
the Lord, is in charge of us. An ad
diction to violence can be licen
tiousness. An obsession with ver
bal abuse can be living out of con
trol. Lying about other people,
demeaning their character can be
compulsive. Self-righteousness is
equally addictive and destructive.
What makes these “false teach
ers” and their “heresies” so dan
gerous is that they are so persua
sive, particularly when it comes to
using the Bible to support their de
structive teaching. Tlicy promise a
lot, but when people think for
themselves and are open to the
leading of God’s Spirit, they can
realize that they do not and can not
deliver what they promise.
These people finally, promise
“freedom, but they themselves arc
slaves of corruption; for whatever
overcomes a man, to that he is en
slaved.” Lots of people who think
they are free are really slaves to
persuasive charlatans and their
teachings which appeal, not to the
love of Christ, but to our most
selfish and destructive natures.
Are you a free person or is there
something or someone to whom
you are subtly, but surely en
slaved?
Lancaster Farming
Established 1955
Published Every Saturday
Ephrata Review Building
IE. Main St
Ephrata, PA 17522
-by-
Lancaster Farming, Inc.
A Stelnman Enterprise
Robert 0. Campbell General Manager
Everett B. Newewenger Managing Editor!
Copyright 199 C by Lanouur Fanning