AlO-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, December 2, 2000
OPINION
Generational Continuance
We often find farmland preservation to be a politically cor
rect misnomer for open space preservation. Not so with the
Lancaster Farmland Trust. What a delight to see a private or
ganization without the threat of government interference real
ly work to preserve the generational continuance of these
many beautifiil homesteads in Lancaster County.
As you know, behind every beautiful farm scene the human
side of farming reaches back to the inheritance received from
parents, grandparents, and great grandparents. And from
these roots, an eternal hope propels the heart-felt desire to see
children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren take up the
creative work known as farming.
While the unequaled success of saving 117 farms since 1988
is magnificent, the professional efforts in land transfer and
support of agriculture in general on behalf of these farm fami
lies is the heart and soul of the Lancaster Farmland Trust.
The goal here is not just to preserve farmland, but to support
good stewardship of the land and encourage a thriving agri
cultural economy. No wonder this Trust is the envy of other
programs in the nation and also the most copied.
And while you would think preserving farmland is an agri
cultural pursuit, the truly informed realize that our farm heri
tage enriches the lives of all citizens. That’s why many urban
and city people are members of and support the Lancaster
Farmland Trust.
As the Trust’s Harvest Appeal is under way, it would be a
good time to make an investment in the noble effort to save
the farms of Lancaster County.
FufijreoTourFoo
Radisson, Philadelphia, thru
Dec. 3.
4-H Dairy Judging, John
George Farm, New York, 8:45
a.m.
Pon?R)9?TieeungY^
High Quality, Consistent
Pork Products in Ohio,
Animal Sciences Building,
Ohio State University College
Campus, thru Dec. 5.
New York Farm Bureau State
Annual Meeting, Adam’s
Mark Hotel, Buffalo, thru
Dec. 7.
Octorara Young Farmer Meet
ing, Pesticide Update Certifi
cation, Vo-Tech Dept., 7:30
p.m.
Christmas Event, Ephrata
Middle School, 7:30 p.m.
First National Conference On
Grazing Lands, Bally’s Las
Vegas, Las Vegas, Nev., thru
Dec. 8.
Western Pa. Vegetable and
Berry Growers’ Seminar,
Days Inn, Butler.
Lebanon Valley Farm-City Ban
quet, Lebanon Valley Expo
Center, 7 p.m.
Delaware State Grange Session,
Capital Grange Hall, Dover,
Del., 9:30 a.m., also Feb. 6.
Nutrient Management for Horse
Owners, Kent County Public
Works Complex, Chester
town, Md., 6 p.m.-8 p.m.
Lancaster DHIA annual meet
ing, Good and Plenty Restau
rant. Smoketown, 11:30 a.nL_
AmmarsoutiiJersey Landscape
Conference and Trade Show,
w.;. <p:
<¥
♦ Farm Calendar ♦
's. s *--
Masso’s Crystal Manor,
Glassboro, N.J.
Delaware State Grange Annual
Banquet, Cheswold Volunteer
Fire Company Hall,
Cheswold, Del., 6:30 p.m.
Ag Business Breakfast, Bee-
man’s Restaurant, Athens,
7:30 a.m.
Computer Workshop (farm
management), Lancaster
Farm and Home Center, 9:30
{jjmj-^jjnij^hnLDec^^^^
Susquehanna River Basin Com
mission and Chesapeake Bay
Commission Sediment Sym
posium, Hershey Lodge and
Convention Center, Hershey,
thru Dec. 8.
Maryland and Virginia Milk
Producers’ District Meeting,
Fulton Grange Hall, Wake
field, noon.
Agriculture In the New Century,
Site Specific Agriculture
2000, Tidewater Inn, Easton,
9 a.m.-3 p.m.
American Seed Trade Associa-
tion, Hyatt Regency, Chicago,
111., thru Dec. 10.
Northampton County DHIA
and Holstein Association
Meeting and Banquet, Christ
EivangelicaK^hurdii^Jjm^^
LackawarmaDHlA Banquet,
Green Grove Grange, 7:45
p.m.
ZOW^Nanona^AualiaSym^
sium, Las Vegas, Nev., thru
Dec. 12.
Pa!stateCouncirofFannOr-
ganizations Meeting, PDA
IJmldingjlfeiTisbjng^lajin.
TntroouctiontoSpreadshe
(Turn to Pago A 24)
As the lawn and garden season
ends, one important job remains
before winter sets in, noted Rob
ert Anderson, Lancaster County
extension agronomy agent.
All power equipment should
be prepared for winter storage. A
few important things to do before
winter include:
• First, drain the gasoline
from the tank and carburetor.
Gasoline, which remains in the
tank and carburetor, will cause a
vamish-like substance to devel
op. This deposit often causes ex
pensive repairs next season.
There are products on the mar
ket, which may be added to gaso
line, which prevents this buildup
without draining the gasoline.
You may want to try this ap
proach if draining the gasoline
creates a problem.
• Second, change the oil be-
* (tug.**
IfK
S3**
Did it ever occur to you that
God wants something from you
for Christmas? That is a sobering
thought, isn’t it? So what do you
give to a person who has every
thing?
But maybe God doesn’t have
everything from us that he
wants. Maybe he, too, has a
Christmas list and there is some
thing on it that you could give to
him. I think I’ve found that
“list” in Luke 3. John the Baptist
copied it down for us. So what
can we give God for Christmas?
John’s first suggestion is that
God wants us to repent so that
we “Prepare the way of the
Lord.” (3:4). Perhaps that comes
as a shock because many of us
don’t think of ourselves as need
ing repentance not right now,
anyway. We live pretty respecta
ble lives, keep out of trouble with
the law, and don’t have any ene
mies to speak of. Repentance is
for sinners and that doesn’t real
ly apply to us.
That must have been what
people thought when they heard
John’s challenge. They were de
cent, God-fearing people. While
they might have realized they
were not perfect, neither did they
think of themselves as sinners.
Surely, he was not speaking to
them!
ieets,
To Winterize
Lawn Power Equipment
CD’S CHRISTMAS
LIST?
Background Scripture:
Luke 1:15-25; 3:1-18.
Devotional Reading:
Isaiah 40:1-5.
Brood Of Vipers!
John, however, made his chal-
fore winter. Oil may become
acidic through use and, when left
in the engine, will cause corro
sion.
• Third, clean the air filter
and replace it if needed.
• Fourth, clean and replace
the spark plug.
• Fifth, clean the top and un
derside of the deck.
• Sixth, check for missing or
broken parts and order them
now.
• Seventh, have repairs that
you cannot do yourself done dur
ing the winter in anticipation of
the spring rush.
To Control Yard
And Garden Diseases
Plan to use warm weather
spells this winter to reduce the
chance of plant disease problems
in your yard next year.
According to Dr. Tim Elkner,
Lancaster County extension hor
ticultural agent, fungi have spe
cialized structures that allow
them to survive the winter and
cause most of the infectious dis
eases that occur on landscape
and garden plants. As warmer
spring temperatures occur, these
fungi seek the assistance of wind
and rain to find their plant host
and continue their life cycle.
Sanitation or cleaning up is
important to break this over win
tering disease cycle. Sanitation
consists of activities aimed at re
moving or reducing disease or
ganisms. Practices such as tilling,
removing infected leaves, and
cutting out sick or dead branches
will help reduce the amount of
disease that may develop.
Sanitation involves removing
stems and leaves before new
growth appears in the spring.
Sanitation measures are not only
important for flowering perenni
als, but also are important for
lenge to everyone in the crowd.
And he is pretty outspoken:
“You brood of vipers! Who
warned you to flee from the
wrath to come.” (3:7). Notice he
didn’t say that this applied to
just some of the crowd. These
words were addressed to all.
I had a high school classmate
who would startle us with a sud
den confrontation and a demand
to know: “Are you saved?” One
of my friends replied indignant
ly: “Of course I am. I’m a Lu
theran.”
“But that wasn’t what I
asked,” the other replied.
I have often thought about
both the question asked and the
reply. There was a certain logic
in the answer. Being Lutheran,
he thought that salvation from
sin was part of the package deal.
And I can also understand the
other student’s reply. The con
fession God requires of us is not
the faith of a particular church,
but a confession of sin.
As John spells it out: “... Do
not begin to say to yourselves,
‘We have Abraham (John Cal
vin, Menno Simons, John Wes
ley, and Martin Luther) as our
father...’”
The deadliest sins, said Thom
as Carlyle, are “the conscious
ness of no sin.” St. Augustine
said that “All sin is a kind of
lying.” If when confronted by
God we are not burdened with
the weight of our sins, we are de
ceiving ourselves first and then
the Lord.
In the Biblical sense, sin is not
concerned with respectability,
but with our own failures to live
the lives God calls us to. Others
may be unaware of our moral
failures, but we must not be.
Someone has suggested that our
sense of sin is in proportion to
our nearness to God. If we are
not conscious of our sins, per
haps we are just not close
enough to God.
How Many Coats?
If you are still unable to find
woody plants such as trees and
shrubs. It is often easiest to
prune deciduous woody plants
after leaves have fallen when
symptoms are more visible.
Remember, when pruning dis
eased portions of plants, always
make cuts in healthy tissue below
the infected area to ensure that
aU the diseased tissue has been
removed.
To Check Com
Harvest Losses
Reducing harvesting losses is
one sure way to improve profits,
reminds Robert Anderson, Lan
caster County extension agrono
my agent.
Putting the highest percentage
of the crop in the bin should be
the number one management ob
jective at harvest. Many factors
affect field losses including crop
not ready to harvest, preharvest
losses, improper combine adjust
ment, improper ground speed,
improper operator practice, or
combine leakage. Most of these
factors may be corrected if losses
are identified during harvest.
After the harvest is over, the
only check that may be done is to
determine if the harvesting job
was a good one. Now is the time
to take a walk through some of
your cornfields to determine
what the average number of ker
nels per square foot is. This
should be determined across the
entire width of one combine pass
at several locations in the field.
On average, I.S kernels per
square foot will equal one bushel
loss per acre. Once the decision is
made that field losses were too
high, it is important to remember
to do something about it next
year.
Feather Profs Footnote:
“ Worse than not being able to
see is being able to see and
have no vision. ”
something in your life of which
to repent, read further “He who
has two coats, let him share with
him .who has none; and he who
has food, let him do likewise.”
(3:10,11). Even if I live the most
exemplary life and there is no
one to condemn me for anything,
still there are those to whom I
have failed to do as God com
mands.
You don’t have to travel far to
find people who are ill-clothed
and homeless, hungry, children,
derelicts, and the downtrodden.
If you have two coats and
enough to eat, is it not sin to pass
them by?
John also tells tax collectors
not to collect more than is due
and soldiers to “Rob no one by
violence or false accusations..
John is speaking not only to tax
collectors and soldiers, but all of
us. In our daily work, God wants
us to avoid lying, cheating, and
deception. Martin Luther says
that “The recognition of sin is
the beginning of salvation.”
The reason many of us find
nothing of which to repent is that
we have allowed ourselves to be
come rent and unmindful of it in
our very midst.
But, as Carlyle said, “the
greatest security against sin is to
be shocked at its presence.”
Maybe the best gift we could give
to the Lord this Christmas is a
renewed sense of shock and
shame for the sin that is within
our sight.
Lancaster Farming
Established 1955
Published Every Saturday
Ephrata Review Building
1 E. Main St.
Ephrata, PA 17522
—by—
Lancaster Farming, Inc.
A Stemman Enterprise
William J Burgess General Manager
Everett R. Newswanger Editor
Copyright 2000 by Lancaster Farming