ye HD AE er . » Poor Listening For Farmers - ---------- { Some years ago oné of the Blackstcnes came to town to get a haircut, and the barber : i in how many cows he was keeping. * 41 ain't" he 'said. "They're keeping me! : "No doubt," said the barber "But how many you got?" "Eight" 2 ' "Oh, that's all? I thought you: had thirty-forty!": "No," said Blackstone. "I ta- pered.off. Truth is, I got fed up with bounding out of bed every morning to be nursemaid to a ° flock of cattle, and I decided to whittle down and begin to take the ease and enjoyment due me. I ain't so young hs 1 was, and I like it better now. 'Stead of roll- ing out in the small hours the way I used to) I lay abed until four-thirty)" Now, isn't thet a nice little story? T'll tell you the~truth. I heard it, and it is just the way It "happened, except that it was ne of the Weaver boys and I thanged the name to protect the Innocent, and I rearranged the numerals to emphasize the point. He had been keeping ten cows, .and he cut it down to one, and ~ "he said he "laid abed" until five- thirty instead of four-thirty, This gratuitous explanation on my part is in the interests of truthful history, whereas my shanges in the story were to en- _hance the illustrative values. I am trying to make the point that farming is an early-rising profession, ~ I gather that city people think the farmer is the only fool who gets up before breakfast, and this must be why the farm radio progtams are always aired in he prologue, of the day. It seems" the the FCC insists, somewhat loosely perhaps, that a 'certain amount of broadcast time be de- voted ' to agricultural subjects, and the program director's an- swer is to feed 'the stuff out in the dawn, when nobody else would-be arourid. Phe whole trouble with this notion is largely that we have come to a public situation where the farmer is the last person who. needs to hear 'about farm ~ problems, He knows what they are. But we've got vast, concen- trated populations of nonfarm people who no longer have the slightest knowledge of farm af- fairs, and unless we get them thinking sympathetically fairly soon we're going to be in bad shape. It is an axiom of history, as - culture is neglected, the econ- .omy declines, Nowadays we have a Secretary of Agriculture, and 'a USDA, and experiment stations, and a policy, and big appropriations, and all manner of people who. think we are taking care of the farmers. ' When things decline, they'll" all wonder how-come, * ¢ Years ago there was a fellow on radio who used to regale. us about 5:30 a.m, with the cur- rent quotations 'on "agricultural 'commadities.," He had a - voice like a chain pump with a rim- racked gear, This fellow would tell .us how much to charge for kumquats, persimmons, malaga grapes, okra, pineapples, - and similar strange and fearsome foods, along with tomatoes, car- rots, broccoli and other things we had heard of, The radio station was getting some government listing which was pot edited for our locale, and without any thought of what the words said this fellow was stentoriating on the theory that a farmer wouldn't care, and it was good enough for him. He used to say ,"Tomatoes, so much a box; carrots, so much a box; asparagus, so much a box." I dropped him a card one day and asked what kind of a box he was using for his tomatoes, and instantly got a nice letter back, thanking me for my "interest" and enclosing a fat experiment station booklet about "agricul- " tural containers." ; This fellow would never be sell soap or electric shavers to the discerning and sensitive citizens who arise and listen de- cently, and-even if he were, he would not read anythirg about farming, I think the best time for a farm program is about eight-thirty in the evening, when: the farmer has finished his labors, removed his boots, and is sitting in a rocker relaxing, Perhaps the best message you could bring him would be some soft violin and flute music, But somehow, in the develop- ment of -radio farm programs, we have come up with this no- tion that a farmer listens only around six a.m. and he has no interests except the clank of tistical renditions of government reports, Music, interspersed in these programs, is either ear-splitting performances' of Semper Fidelis by a full band, or a predomin~ antly alto hill-billy number like Coming Round the Mountain. All conversational offerings are done by a refugee from the de- clamation classes. The other morning another bull-voiced despoiler of diction gave a speech on impending leg- islation designed to protect the farmer from nonfarm encroach- ments--such as having a non- access highway bisect your acres and leavei you forty miles from the lush meadow you can see across the street. This was a message deserving every art of the trained speaker, and should have been heard by. everybody else, least of all the farmer. He knows, but his salvation will come from the thoughtful rem- edy provided by nonfarm peo- old as historians, that when agri- - employed later in the day, to' tractor commercials and the sta- : worst storm in years. on --It's not even fit weather o doubt wishing they had should be to their HOME WAS NEVER LIKE THIS where' these specimens are n "winter, Although the snow Aquarium are huddling under what shelter is +4 EPP NT ti § out for penguins at Coney Island, stayed south--In Antarctica--for the liking, the residents of the Coney Island available as New York suffers through Its THEFARM FRONT | 24, ohn Russell The following analysis of the 1957 livestock market has been prepared by the Markets Infor- mation Section, Department of Agriculture, Ottawa, It is pre- liminary to the more detailed Livestock Market Review which is. released' later in the year. ® [J LJ Marketing: The output of cat- tle to public stockyards, shipped direct to pack plants and direct on export in 1957 totalled 2,570,- 801, an increase of 12.6 per cent; calves at 1,013,985, up 4.6 per cent; hogs 5,401,197, decrease 598,979, down 1.8 per cent. [J LJ] [ Quality: The average dressed weight of beef carcasses slaugh- tered in inspected plants was 505.6 1b. for the year, nearly eleven pounds more than a year earlier and the heaviest since 1962. Good pastures and, plentij- ful feed were evident in the heavier weights and better fin- ish of the cattle marketed. The percentage of Grade A and B carcasses in the total slaughtered was 38.5 compared with 37.1 in 1856. Slight improvement in hog quality for the third successive cent of marketings, the best since 1951, and grade BI 41.7 per cent, . . } "Prices: Livestock averaged higher in price in all depart- ments than a year earlier. The course of cattle prices was down- ward through _January-Febru- ary. At mid-March the market 9.4 per cent; sheep and lambs } -was year showed grade A as 28.7 per . the U.S. and dressed product equivalent to 244,620 live lambs was brought in from all coun- tries. Exports of fresh and cured million pounds in 1957, from 62 million pork declined to 36 pounds a year earlier, * LJ LJ Feeders: Feeder cattle 1956 was 25 per cent. August the total being 299,596. LJ] LJ LJ Meat Supply: Domestic disap- pearance of meats from com- mercial slaughterings was little changed in total. Beef increas = 68 per cent, veal'5 per cent, mut-s ton and lamb 6 per cent and pork decreased 8 per cent. All classes at 1,781 million pounds less than one per above 1956. [J L » Values: 'Commercial livestock .marketings in 1957 showed an Increase in total value of 13 per cent over 1956, aggregating $655 million. Per head values 1957 (1956 in brackets): Cattle $133 ($129), calves $45 ($41), hogs $47 ($39.25), sheep $16 ($15.50). * * LJ * The condition of peaches and of containers in rail transit from the Niagara and southwestern Ontario peach growing areas to went onto Canadian pastures in in- creasing numbers until the end of July when the increase over From onward U.S. demand drained off over 200,000 head and at the year-end 13 per cent fewer cattle had been shipped off stockyards to country points, 'tempt to cents Did DDT Do It? In the East Coast's Long Island Sound, a more curious relation- ship exists between the flddler crab, the mollusk-loving starfish, and the succulent oyster. The crabs feed on the starfish eggs, keeping the starfish population down and so saving the oyster for eating. For ten years, however, the oy- ster population has been decreas- ing. Recently, it suffered an un- usually sharp drop. The culprit, charged a group of Long Island residents in a New York Federal court, may well be the Depart- ment of Agriculture which sprayed nearly a million pounds of DDT over the area in an at- wipe out the leaf- chewing gypsy moth. ) By doing this, the plaintiff charged the UCDA had killed millions of crabs, thus allowing the starfish to multiply and kill off the oysters, The angry landowners wera led into court by Dr. Robert Cushman Murphy, curator eme- ritus of the American Museum of Natural History. They asked the court to decide it .the gov- ernment can be permanently en- joined from spraying insecticides on private property. The crops were only a small part of Dr. Murphy's case, In support of his cause, he cited additional alarming evidence: Birds keeled over or wandered around with DDT "palpitations." Honey-bees and ladybugs suc- cumbed. A crop of thoroughly soaked peas was analyzed and aa ny r SEAS i pr Cay ed £40 EAE E £2 2% EAE SrA SAR PEE rks found unsafe to eat by the gov- ernment's own standards, Even more ominous was some evidence submitted on the effects of DDT on the human system: Dr. Malcolm Hargraves, a * blood: specialist with Rochester's Mayo Clinic, testified that DDT may very likely cause leukemia and Hodgkin's disease. A New York geriatrics special- ist, Dr, W. C, Martin, warned that every American has quan- tities of DDT stored in his sys- tem. Particularly vulnerable, he "said, were the nervous system and liver. . Though charges of "hearsay" kept Murphy from introducing all his evidence, he "tooks for- ward cheerfully to the second week of the trial: "Wait until bring in laboratory analyses of the birds. They'll have to listen to Miat." -- From NEWSWEEK, er Shoes Americans are wearing fewer shoes, = So says the Boot and Shoe Workers Union which cites statistics: 3.5 pairs per person In 1956; 3.47 pairs per person in 1957; an estimated 3.8 pairs per person in 1958. (Anybody got a third of a pair of shoes kicking around anywhere?) A It's not surprising that the shoe workers are worried about this state of affairs, But shouldn't we all be concerned? It appears to us that Americans are wearing out fewer shoes be- cause they are less and less on their feet. The wear is all om the seat of the pants these days. It would be interesting if some- one could come up with statlstios on trousers sales. Seems to us it's time to get Americans back on thelr toes-- and not just for the sake of the shoe business. --Portland (Maine) Press Herald REAR HARD LUCK "My luck's right out. I lost a pot of money in a business deal; then I had my car stolen; now my wife is ill. How's that for "being dead out of luck?" "Not as bad as mine, old boy. The other day I bought a sult. with two pairs of trousers, and this moring I burned a hole in the coat." Upsidedown to Prevent Peeking n H NZ or Zz I< Jlrio [017] a [e)=](+] Zi<|C << |_| --~ OJON T!|-- VCE Olxjwin{ujulr|vn to By Rev. R. Barclay Warren B.A, B.D, The Church and Community. Evangelism Mark 5:18-20; Luke 10:1-8; Acts 5:42; 1 Thessalonians 1:6-10. Memory Selection: The hary- est truly is great, but the Ila- bourers are few: pan fore the Lord of the. that He would send forth I4. bourers into His Harvest, Three boys were born to Mr, and Mrs. Carman Bell at the{g farm home at Stayner, Ont, T day, one is a medical mission in Nigeria and the other two successful pastors in Ontario. asked one of them, "How do you account for the fact that all are in the full-time ministry? He paused and then replied, "I was Mother's prayers." Wh finer tribute could a boy pay te his mother? In our memory selection, Jesup " Indicates that prayer is the way to solve the present shortage % ministers, We need the vision the ripened harvest that stirs ug to prayer. Then the Lord will send forth the labourers. If the are not sent by Him they w not succeed In harvesting. When, one comes to. kno Jesus Christ as his Lord anf Saviour, first impulse §s to t others that they may know Hi too. The best place to start Is th home community among those we know best. The man In oug lesson when freed from thé tyranny of Saton, wanted to con- tinue In the presence of Jesua, But Jesus sald, "Go home to thy friends, and tell them how grea things the Lord hath done f\ thee." Jesus sent 70 out In pa to announce the kingdom an prepare the way for His visit the various towns. God ls suf depending on people to do work. How energetic were th¢ early Christians; "Daily in the temple, and in every house, th ceased not to teach and preac! Jesus Christ." Community evan- gellsm will take -us into the homes as well as into the churches. The lesson concludes with a tribute to the successful wit- nessing of the Christians In essalonica. From them sound. - ed out the word of the ford fad and wide. Their faith fiod-ward was spread abroad. They ha turned from their Idols "to serve the living and true God; and ta wait for His Son from heaven. Let us ask ourselves, "Do we sea the harvest? Do we pray? Are we going into the homes of our community, telling of Jesus Christ? Are we showing forth the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ by our daily living?" PLENTY OF LIFE IN OLD MAN WINTER markets east of Montreal and west of Sudbury, and the air car temperatures in transit, were the " objects of a study in 1956 and 1957 by the Transportation Stor- age and Retail Section and the Fruit and Vegetable Division of the Canada Department of Agri- culture in co-operation with the Canadian ratfroads. A tot of 40 carloads of peaches were examined at the time of loading. and unloading. Thermographs were used to ob- ple who are now, unthinkingly, allowing such absurdities to hap- pen. So it is, I'd take my portable radio up in the woods with me, for mid- afternoon music while I cut lum, ber, if there was anything to hear besides rock and roll and the soupy mouthings of the boy strengthened and through the April-August period good steers, Toronto, sfayed between $19 and $20. The U.S. market moved up sharply during this period and slaughter cattle commenced to "move southward in May, fol- lowed at mid-August by a heavy - movement of feeders. Good wonders who like it. Timber | | slaughter steers dropped to $17- --By John Gould in The Chris- $18 brackets in October-Novem- tian Science Monitor. ber when marketings were at 4 eak levels, but were upward The heaviest fall of snow in Washington in 22 years -- 14 inches--brought out the men with shovels to clear the steps of the Capitol and adjacent buildings, left. A mammoth storm crippled the - East Coast . from Maine to the Carolinas ~ but the scene below was an ex- ception In the cold, sunny Mid- west. Helen LaCuke wields a - LAST OF CONQUERORS--Eighty- five-year-old Olav Bjaaland, the last man alive of the five Nor- wegians 'who first reached the South Pole nearly a. half cen- tury ago, relaxes with a cigar- und during December and ] small broom against an impres- ette at his home in Morgedal, LOTS LIKE HIM finished the x near $20. Keen in) temperatures during od sive pile of the white stuff cov- Norway. With Roald Amund- "Why don't you like Watsons# | competition from U.S. buyers oading, transit and unloading sen and three others, Bjaaland reached the frozen bottom of the world on Dec. 14, 1911. Very much alert, despite his advanced age, he follows cur- rent Antarctic explorations with keen interest. ering a car in front of her Michigan City, Ind, home. A freak storm, dumping four feet? of snow on an area less than 20 miles square on the south- east shore of Lake Michigan, threw the city of 30,000 into a state of emergency. Chicago as well as surrounding towns sent help to the siricken city. kept feeder cattle at unusually period. * " . strong levels during the fall |---~Air temperatures within the period of heavy marketings and Cetrigerated cars before loading these kinds sold 60¢ cwt. higher averaged 45 degrees at the top than in the previous year, good and 44 Sostess ai the Potton An e eragin 16.75 for all average of 7, pounds of ice Jed Har 19181 you how to nA The PEA in and 662 pounds of salt were used ake 8 wad, stock calf prices was even more inthe initial icing and standard - . pronounced with the year's av- re-icing instructions were follow- erage at $17.15, up $1.65. The ed en route. The peaches were average of all cattle at eleven pre-cooled 'to an average tem- asked Jones of his companion at . the firm's annual dinner and dance, "Well, he's one of those fel- lows who, if you asked the time, CROSSWORD 7.8econd-hand 27. Rent ; 28. Estrange 8. Happen again oo. atran 9. Thin satire 33. The birds markets was up 40¢ at $14.65 perature of 45 degrees before - PUZZLE ; 1 fable 38 Support -ewt. The all markets' average pading I, , . Gone by . Capers > i aches exd - ; 11. Mountain 40. Derlsive grin for the nine per cent smaller ate purines of pany 5 examin , tor -- Sr jpABeat) a Barly Amer. hog output was $29.70 for grade = i) i sn s ihe - con- 'ROS D "English rive ndlan i i . Twe ar- 14S 1. 1Ave In a tent 19. Impel with 45 Palestine A, an increase of $4.50 cwt. Good ari lane iy a oar ® 5. 'Sullen 2. Butter spread force seaport lambs averaged $20.10, up 25¢. ots shipped to points in Quebec Fe TEE C01 I Fd province required an average of 12 Oppbang "course " Iisalley 43 Intimidate Foreign Trade: Cattle exports oe hours in transit. For thief, 5. Bureaus . 8prings 9 Color : ' f . 1 DitTonne in 6. Imhrieant 26. Rounders a0 Seaweed in' 1957 were the heaviest since the average temperature of the I Rerlod . peaches decreased three degrees 8 nimal foo 3 4 ' 1950 and fifth largest on record. Beef cattle shipments to the during transit. Thirteen carlots . N 16. Moving part US. at 278,770 compared with | were shipped to the Maritime R y 18. Permeable only 1,800 in 1956. Over 49 mil- prvoinces. in an average transit 0 20. big lion pounds of beef were ex- time of 61 hours. There was no ) "= between two ported to all countries making difference for these carlots in 4 2" ai) a total of live and dressed: exg, the loading and arrival tempera- v 23. Harvests ts equivalent to about 377,000 ture of the peaches. : EE Difier cattle, Calf exports were in- $e * } 30. Pace = creased to 11,823 from 4,490 a Thirty-six of the 40 carloads in Tos pain year earlier. Imports in 1957 in- the study arrived in good condi- : 7 84 Armpit cluded 4,441 cattle from the U.S, | tion. Three were infected with 35. Fall in drops and nearly 19 million 1b. of brown rot, and the remaining 31. Domestie & employees 39. Crystal gazers 41. Observed fresh and frozen beef, a total of carlot was slightly damaged by 42,000 head in terms of live cat- the shifting of the containers 42. Not any . tle, Exports of dairy and pure- during transit, / 4". Landed ' bred cattle at 37,603 head were i 38 ' RN a. Guardian : down from 45,348 in 1956. Sheep The time taken by loading amd and lambs moved south during unloading during the shipment "the fall to a total of 17,136, and 62. Three strikes of peaches is considerable. ' Ifi 53. Independent , treland the equivalent of nearly 11,000 this study, the loading took from Be 1 ikea rock lambs were shipped, as dressed two to six hours for most of the 8 Qrean nips product. Some 28,500 live sheep carloads, and unloading required there Answer e sewhere on this page. : | A) and lambs were imported from from eight to 48 hours or longer.