AlMmortcf Farming, Saturday, February 5, 2000
World’s Safest Drinking Water
Despite the tremendous surge in the popularity of bottled
water-with annual sales of $4.3 billion last year-America’s
tap water is still the safest in the world. Jon Capacasa writ
ing in EPA Environmental news says President Clinton’s
pledge that all Americans are entitled to clean, pure water
is one promise that has been kept. Nine out of 10 Americans
enjoy water from large public water systems that consis
tently meet the highest quality of health standards.
On December 16,1999, the U.S. Safe Drinking Water Act
is 25 years old. A quarter century after we made safe water
a priority, Americans are now getting an added
benefit-water companies are required to notify their
users-you and me-about the quality of the drinking water
that they are providing to us. They also have to let the pub
lic know where their water comes from-whether from a
lake, river or natural underground source- and how the
water is treated to meet health standards.
With all of this safe water available, one irony with this
craze for spending extra for bottled water is that 25% of the
bottled water sold in the United States is actually repack
aged tap water. Many of those little designer bottles of water
started life at someone’s spigot.
The United States has 54,000 community water systems
that provide water for more than 252 million people. One out
of five of these systems uses surface water, like lakes or
rivers, for its water source. The remainder of the population
is served by systems that pump water from underground.
America’s drinking water systems are the crown jewel of
the environmental protection we enjoy in this country. The
municipalities and companies that manage these systems
have much to be proud of. They spend $22 billion a year to
provide safe water. Their increasingly sophisticated efforts
help ensure that we are protected from new chemicals and
disease-causing contaminants that barely existed 25 years
ago.
In the past 25 years, the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency has set standards that water suppliers must meet to
reduce threats from 90 contaminants like lead, mercury and
PCBs. EPA estimates that nearly 75,000 outbreaks and
more than a half million cases of widespread disease have
been avoided in the past decade. For instance, epidemics of
cholera and typhus-once common in cities-have been near
ly eliminated in the United States. And exposure of children
to lead in drinking water is significantly reduced. Moreover,
improvements to our drinking water continue.
Despite America’s tremendous accomplishment of safe
water, new challenges to drinking water safety will emerge
from a growing population, acid rain and urban sprawl. We
will encounter new sources of contamination like runoff
from factory farms and fertilized lawns. These pressures
require that we remain vigilant and keep on protecting our
sources of drinking water.
That means cleaning up rivers and streams, preventing
pollution from spills and dumping, and learning where our
drinking water comes from and how safe it really is.
The new consumer confidence reports issued by water
companies are a good beginning. Continuing to earn the
public’s confidence in the drinking water safety network in
this country is a key challenge for the coming years.
Ephrata Area Young Farmers
Annual Banquet, Mt. Airy
Fire Hall, 7 p.m.
Pa. State Rabbit Convention,
Lebanon Area Fairgrounds,
thru Feb. 6.
Annual Shade Tree Symposium,
Lancaster Host Resort, Lan
caster, thru Feb. 8.
New York State Vegetable Con
ference, Holiday Inn-
Syracuse/Liverpool, thru Feb.
PINION
10.
Southeast Pa. Grazing Confer
ence, Solanco Fairgrounds,
Quarryville, thru Feb. 8.
Octorara Young Farmers Asso
ciation meeting, Hoober, Inc.,
Pennsylvania Corn and Soybean
Conference, Penn Harris Inn,
Camp Hill.
Pennsylvania Young Farmers
Winter Conference, Kutz
town Chapter, Kutztown
School District, thru Feb. 10.
(Turn to Page A3l)
To Consider Snowmobile
Damage to Alfalfa
Most winter activities do not
pose much of a threat to
agriculture, but the use of
snowmobiles may be devastating
to alfalfa, according to Robert
Anderson, Lancaster County
Extension Agronomy Agent.
Riding a snowmobile across the
snow will pack the snow down
into a very dense cover. This
dense cover on alfalfa fields
hinders alfalfa from respiration
and could result in the loss of
alfalfa plants during the following
season Riding a snowmobile
across an alfalfa field is a much
smoother ride and undoubtedly
more fun than ndmg across a corn
field
While riding your snowmobile
consider the potential damage you
are causing to the alfalfa and ride
only on com and other crops.
To Look At Horse's First
Shoes
The horse's foot continues to
increase in size until it is full
grown at five or six years of age.
According to Chester Hughes,
Lancaster County Extension
Livestock Agent, if the horse is
shod during the growing years,
shoes should be reset frequently
and progressively larger shoes
applied as needed. Ideally,
growing horses should be shod
only for short periods of time. It
would be beneficial for horses to
be shod all around during these
periods, especially if they are
doing any work that would cause
the feet to wear down faster than
they grow out. 4
Avoid waiting until the horse
is sore to shoe it. Generally, first
shoes should be light as well as
give the desired protection to the
foot. Aluminum shoes are often
used. A rocker-toe is most
desirable on young horses to ease
break over and prevent forging.
Forging is a fault of gait when the
toe of the hind shoe strikes the
bottom of the front shoe. Half
round shoes are also used on the
front feet to ease break over and
prevent limb interference.
To Consider Cold Weather Tips
In extremely cold weather it is
very important to keep the head
coveied and perhaps the face and
mouth to prevent heat loss from
the body
Robert Anderson, Lancaster
County Extension Agronomy
Agent, reminds us that the
extremities of the body will cool
faster than the rest of the body
and must be protected with
gloves, boots and ear flaps to
prevent frostbite. When you know
you will be out in the cold, always
overdress.
It is easier to remove unneeded
clothing than it is to get warm
when extra clothing is not
available. Eye protection from
glare of the sun can be very
important on bright days,
especially if the ground is snow
covered. Being aware of the affect
that the wind has on winter
temperatures is very important.
Blowing winds will make a cool
day feel very cold. Thirty degrees
will feel like minus two degrees
A FATAL
MISUNDERSTANDING
February 6, 2000
Background Scripture:
Matthew 21:1-17.
Devotional Reading:
Luke 19:29-44,
I have walked the traditional
way from Bethphage to what
was the Temple Mount in
Jerusalem. As I have proceeded
from the Mount of Olives down
into the Kidron Valley and up to
Mount Zion, I have pondered
just what was and is the mean
ing of Jesus’ Palm Sunday
entrance into Jerusalem.
Was this processing really a
“triumphal entry,” as it is usual
ly depicted? Or is this a moment
of cruel mockery? Those of us
who have the advantage of
knowing what the disciples and
the crowd could not have
known-that it all would end on
a cross-cannot enter comfort
ably into the spirit of joy that is
recorded here. Whether this was
an authentic moment of elation
or an episode of ludicrous let’s
pretend doesn’t matter, for the
cross of Calvary throws a deadly
dark shadow over the path of
the Palm Sunday procession.
What did Jesus make of all
this? Was he hoping to confront
the leaders of Jerusalem with
the claims of the kingdom of
God, forcing them either to
repent and accept the “good
news” or make the momentous
mistake of setting themselves
against it? Was it Jesus’ inten
tion to draw a sharp distinction
between his own understanding
of the messianic role and the
erroneous expectations of those
whose aims were more secular
than spiritual?
Sharp Contrast
We will never know just what
was in his heart and mind, but I
think that it is obvious that
Jesus was attempting to present
himself and his mission in sharp
contrast to the militant expecta
tions of many of his contempo
raries. His instructions to his
two disciples appears to be a con
scious, well-thought-out app
roach: “Go into the village oppo
site you, and immediately you
will find an ass tied, and a colt
with her; untie them and bring
them to me” (21:2). It even
appears to me that he had
already made arrangements
with the owner of the ass and
colt. “If anyone says anything to
you, you shall say, ‘The Lord has
need of them,’ and he will send
them immediately” (21:3).
Matthew sees in his action a
fulfillment of Zechariah 9:9,
“Rejoice greatly, 0 daughter of
Jerusalem! . . . Lo, your king
comes to you; triumphant and
victorious is he; humble and rid
ing on an ass, on a colt the foal of
an ass.” (Note: you will find that
Mark and Luke have Jesus ask
ing only for one animal, a colt,
when the wind is blowing 30
miles per hour. Always have extra
clothing in the car while driving
during winter. Winter can be fun
but a few precautions and some
planning will improve your
enjoyment of the outdoors.
Feather Prof, 's Footnote: "It is
impossible to learn what you
think you already know."
John calls the beast “a young
___ »
ass.
The best explanation of this
obvious disagreement between
singular and plural mounts, I
believe, a simple editing error on
the part of the writer of Mat
thew or a later editor.
I believe it very likely that
Jesus himself chose to enter
Jerusalem in this manner
because of the Zechariah 9:9
passage which is acknowledged
to present the “king” as a hum
ble man of peace, not of physical
or military power. Up to this
point Jesus has been very care
ful to avoid the identification of
‘messiah’ because there was a
world of difference between his
understanding of that role and
the expectations of most of the
people. It is as if he is saying, if
you want to see me as the
Messiah, know that it this kind
of Messiah that I come.
Most Dangerous Day
I believe Jesus knew full well
that this was the most danger
ous day of his life. He knew that
the messiahship that he offered
was not the messiahship that
was expected. I do not think that
he was carried away by the reac
tions of the crowds. Crowds are
fickle; one moment they want to
make you king; another they
want to crucify you. Jesus knew
that. Perhaps he hoped that,
nevertheless, his choice of the
role of the humble, peaceful
‘king’ would yet win them to his
message of spiritual rule. Or,
perhaps, he knew that nothing
would change their minds and
he simply proceeded with his
entry to hold true to mission.
Sometimes we have to do the
right thing, even if we know it
has little promise of convincing
those who oppose our mission.
We still have to make the wit
ness so that our faithfulness to
it is not in vain.
Whatever Jesus thought and
expected, whatever the crowds
thought and desired, the Palm
Sunday procession was never
theless a grand misunderstand
ing. It was not that Jesus had
not clearly presented his mes
sage, but that the people didn’t
listen to it because their minds
were occupied with their own
apocalyptic schemes. Despite his
careful plans, they turned this
humble procession into a mes
sianic demonstration. They tried
to use him for their own expec
tations.
Both for them and for him, it
was a fatal misunderstanding,
the same kind of willful misun
derstandings that are still all
too often our response to the
kingdom of God which he pro
claims and offers to us today
Lancaster Farming
Established 1955
Published Every Saturday
Ephrata Review Building
1 E. Main St.
Ephrata, PA 17522
—by—
Lancaster Farming, Inc.
A Stamman Enterprise
William J. Burgess General Manager
Everett R. Newswanger Editor
Copyright 2000 by Lancaster Farming