AlO-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, March 23,2002
iswana 1
OPINION
Carefully Nonpartisan
Early this week we received an e-mail from someone who is in a position to
run against an incumbent for a regional election.
The e-mail indicated the candidate was looking for help, and any informa
tion about how to go about it including a front-page story, perhaps would
be appreciated.
This is how we replied (names have been omitted to protect the individual’s
right to privacy):
Dear candidate:
As a dear friend, I wish you the best, of course, and good luck in your cam
paign. You are a wonderful person and would make a great leader!
I just wanted to let you know, though, that as Lancaster Farming editor, I
am under the eyes 0f50,000 readers, and there are several policies I must fol
low. (This is from the experience of my predecessors here at the Lancaster
Fanning.)
While I wish you personal success, there are several things I couldn’t do,
no matter who would run.
Lancaster Farming is nonpartisan. We have to be that way. We do not
own a “mirror” paper, similar to ours that could share different party status,
like some city dailies have.
As a result, we have to maintain that integrity of being balanced and fair
so if we endorse one candidate, we have to endorse them all. And where would
it end?
See what I mean?
Farmers aren’t foolish. They know when we come out in support. They
wonder about our motives. They wonder what’s happening behind the scenes,
and why we make the decisions we do.
For example, this past week I wrote the “governor” candidate story, and
the only reason I started with Rendell is because he was the only candidate
that showed up prior to Cornucopia, the annual state event. I tried to ensure
there was no first or preferential candidate throughout the story, on the front
page, and in the graphic we did on the candidate platforms.
You will see no endorsements at any time for any candidate from the editor
or writers during any election year. It’s a formula that has worked for many
years. We simply can’t do it any other way.
(Now, if candidates want to take out an ad, they can contact our advertis
ing director.)
Besides, we want to keep all our readers, of whatever party affiliation.
So, best of luck!
Andy Andrews
Editor, Lancaster Farming
In this election year, we’il provide that objective “balance” that every read
er has come to expect from us. It’s journalism in its proper form.
Monroe County Extension Safe
Drinking Water Clinic, Cool
baugh Twp. Building,
9:30-11:30 a.m.
Lake Erie Regional Grape Grow
ers’ Conference and Trade
Show, SUNY, Fredonia cam
pus, New York, (716)
672-5296.
Block and Bridle Club, Penn
State, Spring Judging Contest,
Ag Arena.
Pa. Brown Swiss Spring Meeting,
Shoney’s Restaurant, State
College, 11 a.m., (717)
933-8995.
NEPA Forest Landowners’ Con
ference, Luzerne Community
College Conference Center,
Nanticoke, 8:30 a.m.-3 p.m.,
(570) 825-1701.
Fruit Pruning Clinic, Lazybrook
Park east of Tunkhannock, 9
a.m.-noon, (717) 836-3196.
Susquehanna Beekeepers’ Asso
cation Spring Meeting, Jerry
Ely’s Apiary, Dimock.
Backyard Tree Fruit Clinic,
Wayside Farm, Luzerne
County Extension, 2 p.m.-S
p.m., (717) 602-0600.
Flower jind Garden Show, An
derson Horticulture Center,
Alfred, N.Y., Saturday 5 p.m.-
10 p.m., Sunday 10 a.m.-S
p.m.
Maple Sugar Camp Tour and
meeting, Lycoming County
and Tioga County Woodland
Owners Association, Raker
Farm at 1 p.m., (570)
546-8807.
Woodland Owners of Southern
Alleghenies Conference,
American Legion Hall, Bed
ford, 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m., (814)
458-2021.
Sunday, March 24
National Institute for Animal Ag
meeting, Palmer Home, Chi
cago, 111., thru March 28.
Monday, March 25
Berks County Pesticide Update,
Berks County Ag Center, 7
p.m.-9 p.m., (610) 378-1327.
Mercer County Sheep and Wool
Growers’ Meeting, Mercer
County Extension, 6:30 p.m.,
(724)662-3141.
Farmers’ Spring Thaw Meeting,
Snyder County Conservation
District, Kreamer, 9 a.m.-3
p.m., (570) 837-0007.
Adams County Conservation
District Well Water Work
shop, (717) 334-0636.
Dairy Farmers of America, Hyatt
Regency Hotel, Kansas City,
Mo., thru March 27.
Pesticide Permit Testing, Clarion
County Extension office, Ship
penville, 6 pjn.-9 p.m., (814)
782-0023.
Towson University Geographic
Information Sciences Confer
ence, Towson University,
Towson, Maryland, March
25-29.
Bucks County Pasture Mange
ment, Neshaminy Center,
Doylestown, 7 p.m.-9 p.m.
Phosphorus Index Training,
Myers Farm, Centre County,
(Turn to Page A 23)
To Prune Raspberries
And Blackberries
The Penn State Cooperative Ex
tension publication entitled “Small-
Scale Fruit Production” supplies the
following information on pruning
your brambles.
June-bearing red raspberries will
grow naturally in a hedgerow system.
The suckers, originating from the
root system, will fill in the entire
length of the row. March is the best
time to prune in Pennsylvania, be
cause any cane dieback from cold
will be apparent; however, raspber
ries can be dormant-pruned anytime
canes are fully dormant.
In the dormant season, remove
canes outside the 12-inch width of
the row, thin canes to 6 to 8 inches
between canes, and top remaining
canes to 48 to 60 inches in height, re
moving about one-fourth of the cane.
Be sure to retain those canes with the
largest diameter. No summer prun
ing (except for spent floricane remov
al) is necessary, although suckers
growing outside the 12-inch hedge
row may be removed at any time.
For dormant pruning of black and
purple raspberries, remove all dead,
damaged, and weak canes. Thin re
maining canes to 5 to 10 canes per
plant Lateral branches should be
headed back to 4 to 7 inches (for
JUST THE
BEGINNING
Background Scripture:
Romans S.
Devotional Reading:
Psalms 32:1-5.
Paul used legal analogies to speak
to the Christians in Rome on the sub
ject of salvation. He used the term
“justification,” which means the act
by which a person is held to be righ
teous in the eyes of the law.
In Romans 5:1, Paul says:
“Therefore, since we are justified by
faith, we have peace with God
through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Though we are deserving of condem
nation, by faith we grasp the gift of
justification which ushers us into a
new relationship with God.
Unfortunately, some of Paul’s in
terpreters have misunderstood him
and, instead of seeing justification as
an analogy, have essentially inter
preted justification in a very legalis
tic way. The offender breaks the law,
is apprehended and arrested, brought
before the judge and, like a Monopo
ly player with a “Get Out of Jail
Free” card, is declared innocent and
released.
Lancaster Farming
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• PACD Media Award 1996 • Berks Ag-Business Council 2000
• Recognized for photo excellence throughout the years by the
Northeast Farm Communicators
blacks) or 6 to 10 inches (for pur
ples). More vigorous plants can sup
port longer lateral branches. All
canes should be topped to 36 inches
if they were not topped earlier.
Black and purple raspberries re
quire summer topping throughout
the summer in addition to floricane
removal after harvest. Floricanes are
the stalks that bear fruit. Black and
purple raspberries should be topped
at 36 inches, removing 3 to 4 inches
of new growth. Do this two to three
times during the season to top all of
the canes as they grow. Topping en
courages the development of lateral
(fruiting) branches and increases the
strength of the cane. Black raspber
ries will tend to have a very prostrate
growth habit in the first year. If
canes are pruned back in the dor
mant season, they will attain a more
erect habit in subsequent years.
Everbearing red (or gold) raspber
ries should be mowed to a height of 1
to 2 inches in the dormant season.
Although some gardeners prune
them like June-bearing red raspber
ries to obtain the very small spring
crop (only about 10 percent of the
total crop for Heritage), it is more
practical to plant some of the June
bearers if one desires a spring and a
fall crop.
Erect blackberries do not require
trellising. They have, as the name
suggests, very strong upright canes.
They should be pruned similarly to
black and purple raspberries, with
laterals cut back to 12-18 inches and
canes thinned to 10 inches apart in
the hedgerow during the dormant
pruning. Erect blackberries should be
headed back to 36 inches in the sum
mer.
For dormant pruning of trailing
blackberries, select five to eight of the
sttongest canes, remove all laterals
originating on the lower 3 feet of the
canes, and tip back remaining later
als to 12-18 inches. Trailing blackber
ries should be summer-tipped at
about 6 inches above the highest trel
lis wire and tied to it during the sum
mer months.,
The publication, “Small-Scale
Fruit Production,” contains a wealth
of information on all the small fruits
and several tree fruits. This will as
sist you in everything from variety
selection to nutritional requirements
to controlling wildlife damage. It is
available from your local county ex
tension office for $9.
Thus regarded, salvation is seen as
a means of escaping the trouble into
which we have gotten ourselves.
There have been more than a few no
table sinners who have waited until
their last days to convert to Christ
and avoid the consequences of their
lives.
A Radical Change
That, however, is not what salva
tion means in the gospel of Jesus
Christ. It is not just escape from our
sins, but the doorway to a new life.
Justification is just the beginning of
salvation. Salvation is not a declara
tion of loyalty to Christ as much as it
is a whole new relationship with him.
Albert W. Palmer affirms this:
“Salvation is not something that is
done for you, but something that
happens within you. It is not the
clearing of a court record, but the
transformation of a life attitude.”
Theologian William Temple has
written of this need: “The worst
things that happen do not happen
because a few people are monstrously
wicked, but because most people are
like us. When we grasp that, we
begin to realize that our need is not
merely for moving quietly on in the
way that we are going; our need is for
radical change, to find a power that
is going to turn us into something
else. This is what the Gospel offers to
do.”
Salvation, therefore, does not
mean just that the charge against us
has been dropped, but that we have
offered our lives to be transformed.
Paul’s legal analogy is fine, so long as
we don’t think of salvation as a legal
transaction. It is really so much more
than that As Charles Clayton Mor
rison put it, “The love of God is no
mere sentimental feeling; it is re
demptive power.”
To Calibrate Your
Liquid Manure Spreader
Nutrient management plans are
written to account for a number of
important factors when determining
how much manure to apply to a
given field. These factors include the
nutrient requirements of the crop, the
time to incorporation, and carryover
of nutrients from previous manure
application and the soil fertility lev
els of the field.
These extensive calculations will
not do much good if the application
equipment is not calibrated properly
so that you know that the rate ap
plied is the one called for in the nu
trient management plan. For most
liquid manure equipment, getting the
proper application rate is a matter of
adjusting ground speed. There are a
number of methods one can use to
check the calibration of the applica
tion equipment.
Calibration can be done by simply
spreading a full load in a square or
rectangular pattern with the typical
amount of overlaps. Next measure
the length and width of the covered
area in feet. Do not include the out
side edges if there is a significantly
lower application rate. Calculate the
area covered in acres using the fol
lowing simple formula. Multiply the
length (in feet) and the width of the
covered area and divide the result by
43,560 square foot, which is the area
of an acre. The answer is the part of
an acre or acres covered by your
load. Next divide the number of gal
lons in your spreader load by the an
swer from the first calculation. This
answer will be the gallons per acre
that were applied at the speed used
in the calibration.
After you have determined the ap
plication rate for the first load, re
peat the procedure for different
ground speeds. This will give you a
good understanding of the spreading
rate over a range of operating condi
tions.
Quote Of The Week:
“Be more concerned with your
character than with your reputa
tion. Your character is what you
really are while your reputation is
merely what others think you are.”
John Wooden (Legendary UCLA
basketball coach who won a record
10 NCAA championships, including
a record seven straight champion
ships from 1967-1973.)
Fruits Of Salvation
So, salvation means “peace with
God” (5:1). God is not reconciled to
us, but we are reconciled to him be
cause we were the ones who broke off
our relationship with him. Salvation
also means our entrance into grace
“Through him we have obtained ac
cess to this grace” (5:2).
All life is a gift from God. Salva
tion also changes our attitudes to
ward suffering, which we now see as
an opportunity to grow in grace (5:3).
We also realize that salvation is of
fered to us at a time when we were
least worthy of receiving it (5:6-9).
Mqre than that, salvation signifies
that we shall be “saved by his life”
(5:10). What this means is that in this
new relationship we participate in
the present life of Christ as the risen
Lord. If we are “saved,” we will open
our lives to Christ so that he can live
in us and through us. Salvation, then,
is not just an adjustment of our legal
standing before God, it is something
that transforms our lives. What we
are saved from is not just condemna
tion before God the judge, but a life
that is fruitless and futile.
Sin is one of the most powerful
forces in the world, but God’s grace
is even more powerful. “ ... Where
sin increased, grace abounded all the
more.” (5:20). No life is beyond re
demption because, no matter how
powerful the grip of sin may be in us,
the transforming power of grace is
always that much more powerful.
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
Andy Andrews, Editor
Copyright 2002 by Lancaster Farming