n NfWS SUNDAY, J A N U A R Y 3, 1971 PAGE NINE

Agribusiness In S. L. CountyFarmers Decide Their Own Programs Under ASCS

CLISSON E. BROWNExecutive Director, ASCS

Pesticide SprayCauses Bitterness

. BY C. M. HOWLANDCanton - - A unique system

iy which farmers decide theirown programs is the FarmerCommittee System under the.gricultural Stabilization and

Conservation Service.Clisson E. Brown, St. Law-

•ence County executive direet-ir of ASCS, said, "We operate

on a committee system. Wehave a three-member countjcommittee composed of FrankNorton of Canton, Don Thomp-son of Gouverneur and BobMatthews of Mas'sena. In eachf 15 communities there is a

committee of three men."Listed as the administrative

duties of farmer committeesare the following programs:

Acreage allotments and mar-jeting quotas; the agricultural;onservation • program; conser-ation reserve of the soil bank;

;he cotton program; the crop-and adjustment program;cropland conversion program;;he disaster feed program; feedgrain program; price sup-lort loans- and purchases; sug-.r program,- the wheat pro-;ram; wool program; the CCCitorage facilities program.

"Any farmer or landowner iseligible for membership in theASCS program," Brown said."We have about 1,400. farmerseach year."

The farmer can have his sayin how farm programs are runocally through the ASCS. The

ASC committeemen have a du-

A bitter fight over pesticideshas spilled across a state line.

Ranchers in New Mexico saythey must spray to protect142-million dollar's worth ofgrazing lands, but their neigh-bors, downstream in Texas,say the chemicals threaten '/ocontaminate the water supplyof 375,000 people and to des-troy wildlife.

' - Charges and counter-chargesare detailed in an article, "TheGreat Caterpillar War and the

" "Geopolitics of Pesticides,"which appears in the Januaryissue of Audubon, the maga-

* zine of the National AudubonSociety. The authors are Peterand Katherine Montague, whorun the Southwest Researchand Information Center in Al-buquerque.

Although the National Audu-bon Socity has bn a militantcampaignr against overuse ofpesticides, and has asked that

."• some particularly dangeroustypes be banned entirely, it hasnever denied the need for in-

• 'set control, and the Audubon•article in no way minimizesthe plight of the ranchers.• The New Mexico range cater-

- pillar has been a problem, offand on, for many years. All

' sides agree that the situation•' has worsened over the past 10

• years,- and that it will get stillworse if unchecked.

Conservationists like to point' out that the problem is at least

partly the ranchers' own fault;.overgrazing in the past yearshas cut down the number ofspecies of grasses on the range

.'.'and has left it more prone to.., insect attack. The fact re-

mains, however, that the cat-' -erpillar lamage is occurring.

New Mexico ranchers in the. five northeastern counties of

the state last spring calculated', the caterpillar would cost them-. $675,000 through rangeland lost. for fattening cattle in the com-

ing year, so they requestedstate and federal aid for spray-

• ing with a pesticide called tox-'. aphene that is known to be, effective against the pests.

Conservationists, accordingto the Audubon article, retorted•that this plan was more thanunwise; it was illegal. Toxa-

• phene, one of the long-lasting' -pesticides the Audubon Society

• ^seeks to ban entirely, has not• -been authorized by the U.S.

Department of Agriculture for! use on the range caterpillar.

• Among other things, the au-. -thors report, five parts per

•billion of this chemical in wa-• ter will kill trout.

Within the five New Mexicocounties lie the headwaters ofthe Canadian River which inTexas feeds two lakes that pro-Vide, according to State offic-ials, fishing valued at almost$3 million a year. The river

' a'si supolies the drinking wa-ter for 11 Texas towns.

The idea of 500 tons of toxa-phene being sprayed in the up-

' " p e r Canadian River basin areaalarmed the Texans to the

; ;point that the State's Attorney:•_ General; Crawford C. Morton,

' went to court to enjoin the ac-" tion. The upshot was that the

Department of Agriculture re-fused funds for the illegalspraying, but some of theranchers went ahead, at their

unauthorized use is subject tocriminal penalties, although ad-mittedly it's a difficult law toprosecute.) How much damagemay have resulted from theprivate spraying is not known,according to the article.

At the moment the fight is ly-ing dormant, says the authors"like the caterpillar eggs whichnow lie by the billion in thegrasslands," but in the springthe eggs will hatch and the bat-tle will resume.

Meanwhile, Audubon has noeasy answers to suggest. Oneproposal is the use of a pesti-cide called Dibrom, which isfar more expensive, but whichbreaks down and becomesharmless in a relatively shortime. Many conservationistshowever, feel not enough is ye'known about

:al. Anotherthis newapproach

chem-would

be to introduce a natural enemyof the range caterpillar, buno specific plan has been of-fered.

The article leaves a clearlesson: chemical pesticidesare a dengerous tool for insectcontrol and we still have agreat deal to learn about them

Waddington ManRecognized ByU.S. Air ForceU. S. Air Forces. Guam —

Sergeant Robert W. Fairbridge.son of Mr. and Mrs. WilliamE. Fiarbridge of Maple StreetWaddington, N. Y., has beenrecognized for helping his for-mer unit earn the U. S. AirForce Outstanding Unit Awardwith the combat "V" devicefor valor.

Sergeant Fairbridge was amember of the Strategic AirCommand's (SAC) 3rd Air Di-vision (now Eighth Air Force)headquartered at Ander-son AFB, Guam.

The sergeant, now a fire pro-tection specialist with the 43rdStrategic Wing at Andersonwill wear the award ribbonwith "V" device as a perman-ent decoration.

The division, which was in-activated March 31 and replac-ed by Eighth Air Force, wascited for exceptionally meritor-ious service in support of military operations in SoutheastAsia from March 2, 1969 toMarch 31, 1970. 8

Eighth Air Force, the famedbomber command that wagecthe air offensive .against NaziGermany in World War II, is amajor component of SAC. TheEighth conducts all SAC opera-tions in Southeast Asia and theWestern Pacific.

Sergeant Fairbridge is a 1967graduate of Madrid - Wadding-ton Central School, Madrid, N.Y. His wife, Judy, is the daugh-ter of Mr. and Mrs. Lloyd Be-saw of Rt. 1, Chase Mills. N.Y.

al role - - serving as represen-tatives of the farmer in theseprograms;- and serving as therepresentative of the UnitedStates Department of Agricul-ture.

Farmers- choose both ASCcounty and community commit-teemen each year through el-ection. Community committee-men are elected by direct far-mer vote. County committee-men are elected by farmer-el-ected delegates to a county con-vention.

To hold office as a commit-teeman, a farmer must be eli-gible to vote in the committeeelections and must reside in thecounty or community, as thecase may -.be. He must meetcertain other requirements de-signed primarily to preventpartisan political activity incommittee decisions or opera-tions.

All ASC county committees ineach state are under the gen-eral supervision of ah ASC statecommittee, whicr, include fromthree to five farmer members.Siate committef.men are ap-pointed by the Secretary of a-griculture.

Among the programs admin-istered by th*-. county ASC isthe tree planting program.

"About one' million trees areplanted each year," Brownsaid. "It is a cost sharing pro-gram of woodland improve-ment. We work closely with

lharlie Nevin of the Conserva- Second, continue productiontion Department. We offer acost-sharing farm pond plan,make open ana undergroundditching systems where needed,pay a cost-sharing incentive foruse of lime where a field isgoing to be seeded for alfalfa.There is much interest in ourwildlife food plote and in im-proving wildlife cover. About 50farms participated in establish-ing wildlife habitat. They mostoften plant food in the summerfor fall and winter feeding - -such as corn, etc.

"In our office, also, for ouruse and the use of any farm-ers who wish, are complete co-verage aerial photos." Brownsaid.

As Brown and his staff fin-*ishand

up lastprepare

year's programsfor the comingpp g

year, he explained, "Our pro-grams must be written and ap.proved before being presentedto the farmers."

to'The

Accordingpublication

the nationalFarmer ComJ

mittee System" farm programson the books may need somechanges in the years ahead.Some new ones also may beneeded; however, there is gen-eral agreement on the goals ofthe farm programs for food andagriculture:

First, enable efficient .farmoperators to earn incomes e-quivalent to those earned' incomparable nonfarm occupa-tions.

of food and fiber at reasonableprices in quantities sufficient tomeet all needs.

Third, conserve and use wise-ly land and water resources.Increase the efficiency of useof resources through a speed-up in adopting systems of man-agement that help develop theeconomy and insure that re-sources will last.

Fourth, adjust and balancethe production of agriculturalcommodities whenever there isserious oversupply.

Fifth, hold down the govern-ment cost of farm programs.

In conclusion, the pamphletsays:

Farm programs administeredby ASC committees • beardirectly on farm prosperity.

Farm prosperity bears di-rectly on business prosperity a-long Main Street in rural trad-ing centers. As farm incomeimproves, retail sales improve.

Farmers use ' increased in-come to buy, more feed, farmmachinery, transportation it-ems, soil minerals and pesti-operation of buildings and newconstruction, and food, clothing,household furnishings andequipment.

Farm {prosperity -bears di-rectly on employment in a hostof farm related and other in-dustries. More than a third ofthe total work force in the Unit-ed States is affected by farmincome and production.

FIELD DAY — Farmers gathered in Clinton County for tipsand instruction on latest farming methods. Here, Silas Aikins,then: ASCS chairman of Hopkinton, speaks over loudspeaker.

WILDLIFE POND was built on the Richard Sibbitts farm inCanton. Near the buildings, the pond provides fire protection,and is stocked for fishing. It attracts geese as a resting areain the spring and fall and it is a nesting area for ducks.

Tree Planting Puts Land To Good UseSince 1880, when agricultural

land in New York State wasat its peak, there has been asteady reversion of farm landto forest land. As soon as landis no longer used for farming,Mother Nature starts the pro-cess, though it may take manyyears. First plants like golden-rod take over, followed by ber-ry bushes, thornapple and ev-entually timber - producingtrees. During this extended idleperiod, the main economic re-turn to the owner and commu-nity is in openland recreation-al value.

The main crop that most ofthis land can produce is timb-er, and in this man can givenature a real hand by reforest-ing land with appropriate typesof conifers. Properly done, thiswill also speed up and enhancethe recreational value of thepro-party at the same time.

The community will also ben-efit from the soil and waterquality of a .reforested area.During storms branches breakthe force of the rain so thatit drops gently to the ground.

There the mat of needles holdstumdty to soak into the soil, andit so it has the opportunity tosoak into the soil, and rootshold soil securely in place.

Less well understood is theirflood control value in earlyspring. Snow held under the ev-ergreen plantations does notmelt as fast, delaying its entryinto streams until other snowhas disappeared. Snow in openhardwoodb melts between opencountry snow and that in plan-tations. A ' watershed with agood mixture of open land,hardwood forest and brushlotand conifei plantations, is lesslikely to have floods than onewith extensive acreages of onetype of ground cover.

One fact often overlooked bypeople planting trees is thatthey must be gardened justlike other plants if they are toproduce their maximum. Weed-ing and thinning, instead of be-ing a weekly affair, however,must be done every decade orso. Your pine trees need livingroom to grow, just as do yourcarrots.

Evergreen plantations can

create good protective cover forwildlife from both winter andtheir enemies. Small plantingson unproductive parts of other-wise good farms are of particu-lar value, for under modern a-gricultural conditions, this typeof cover is often a limiting fac-tor in wildlife populations.

The rural resident whose landis not being actively farmedeconomic use by plaiting a fewcan put Ms land to goodacres to evergreens each year.

Though planting is a spring-time operation, planning andordering should be done now.Not every conifer will grow onevery site. To insure that pro-per trees are selected for thearea to be planted, a Depart-ment of E n v i r o n m e n t a lConservation forester should beconsulted. The landowner whohas not discussed his woodlandproblems with one of these pro-fessionals may find that the for-ester can give him a sur-prising amount of technical aidthrough the Forest Practice Actprogram.

Application for seedlings maybe obtained from any of the

Department's Forest District of-fices, or may be picked up lo-cally from the County Agricul-tural Extension Agents, CountySoil and Water ConservationServices office or County Agri-cultural Stabilization and' Con-servation Service office. Conif-ers, raised at State nurseries,are available in lots of 1,000for ?10. They are for use onlyas reforestation, includingChristmas tree production, andmay not be dug for later useas ornamentals. More than 15million were distributed lastyear.

The back-straining task ofplanting often discourages therural resident from undertakingreforestation. In most areasthere are competent tree plant-ers who will do the job on eon-tract. Department foresters canassist landowners in contact-ing reliable contractors. CountyAgricultural Stabilization andConservation Service programsare also available which canhelp defray fee cost of refor-estation plantings and later ma-nagement.

RobertBrattleboro,

M. Thompson

son Jr. Is Named For Dairy Awardand manageme' f practices.

The honor has been limited toof Ogdensburg, has qual- 719 Registered Holstein breed-

ified for the Holstein-Friesian ing establishments, including 86Association of America's high-:in New York. This is the sixthest recognition for dairy farm- time that Robert M. Thompsoners. The Progressive Breeders Jr. has been so recognized.Registry Award is made for! To qualify for the Progres-meeting requirements of execel-'sive Breeders award, a dairylent in dairy cattle breeding herd must meet standards for

The first systematic weatherreports in the United States areattributed to the Rev. JohnCampanius Holm, chaplain of asettlementWilmington,

nearDel..

present-daywho began

mi;k and butterfat production,body type improvement, h e r dhealth and the development ofhome-bred animals.

The Thompson herd complet-ed its-latest official testing yearwith a lactation average of 17,-645 lbs. of milk and 618 lbs.of butterfat, calculated on atwo-milkings-per-day, 305-day,

-BEFORE — Land that was too wet for use has standing pools

of water.

AFTER — Open drainage ditches under construction so fieldmay be planted in alfalfa.

Wildlife Feeding MayGive Meager Help

Wildlife biologists are often ing emergency conditions, fol-accused of being rather callous1 lowing heavy snow or ice snowbecause they don't believe in I or ice storms. By the time win-

Rensselaer Falls Library BooksRensselaer Falls - Rensse- Greil Marcus; Waikiki Beach-

laer Falls Library has the fol-lowing books on loan from theNorth Country Library System:

Adult Non - FictionPresidential Wit from Wash-

ington to Johnson, by Bill Ad-lef; Make the Most of yourHorse, by Jan Dickerson; TheGraphic Art of Winslow Hom-

bwn cost, and sprayed anyway, making regular observations Jer, by Winslow Homer; Dear(The authors of the article only 24 years after the Pilgrims Doctor, by Juliet Lowell; Tink-point out that the manufacturer landed at Plymouth Rock in erbelle, by Robert Manry;who supplies a pesticide for an 11620. iRoek and Roll Will Stand, by

nik, by Harry Allen Smith;Pope John, by Meriol Trevor.

Juvenile FictionSome of the Days of Everett

Anderson, by Lucille Clifton;The Witch's Magic Cloth, "by

Miyoko Matsutani; Smudge,by Clare Newberry.

Juvenile Non - FictionAlliance for Progress, by

Kathelen Seegers; Plants WeEat by Millicent Selsam; AllStars of the Outfield by Milton

Shapiro; Old Italian Tales byDomenico Vittorini.

Forty - one attended the Gu-sh family Christmas dinner

was held at the home of, and. Mrs. George LaRuethe River Road.

In the 15th century Leonardoda Vinci designed a parachute,planned model cities, and in-vented a submarine.

mature equivalent basis for 48individual records.

The herd is also above breedaverage in the national Associ-ation's official classification forbody type program. T h eThompson Holsteins have abreed age average of 102.2 percent - obtained by dividing theclassification score of each cowby the average score of all Re-gistered Holstein cows of thesame age.

Recognition as a ProgressiveBreeder includes receipt of acertificate from the Associa-tion, the largest dairy cattleregistry organization in theworld representing 44,400 mem-be. 5.

At a meeting of Holsteinbreeders from this area abronze year plate will be pre-sented to Mr. Thompson, to beadded to the cast bronzeplaque awarded when this herdfirst achieved the ProgressiveB-eeder honor.

winter feeding of wildlife. I nspite of our public stand againstwinter feeding, however, manyof us will operate our ownsmall-scale private feeding pro-grams. In these eases mostbiologists recognize that t h eanimal getting the most bene-fit is probably the operator, ra-ther than the wildlife. This Val-ue comes largely from the sat-isfaction of seeing wildlife closeat hand.

However, a statwide feedingprogram to save hungry wild-life is something else again. Be-cause of the staggering cost ofsuitable food, ana the impos-sible logistics of getting food tothe scattered wildlife popula-tions, a philosophy of discour-aging feeding and encouragingself-sustaining forms of wild-life has developed. In short, ifit can't survive New ork win-ters, it has no place among ourwildlife.

Winter feeding can backfire,causing more loss of wildlifethan it prevents. The prime ex-ample of this is deer. Whendeer are starving in their win*ter yards, it is Decause of thelack of natural browse f o rfood. If feeding these deer onewinter does save some deer, itmeans that next winter therewill be more deer in the yardwhere there is already a short-age of food, eeding them sim-ply postpones the starvationcrisis tiil another year.

It is impossible to get food tojust starving animals, t h estronger ones must be fed first."Mother-love" demonstrated bydefense of their young does notcarry into winter competitionfor food. It then becomesa matter of survival of the fit-

tes tThere

;er has set in, wildlife h a siready settled down in an

area that they will sweat out,and if you are going 'to feedthem, you must carry the foodto them, for they have no wayof knowing your good in-tentions. Emergency feedingthen must be pinpointed toknown concentration areas orit will not be utilized.

Healthy animals have an a-mazing reserve to fall back onduring these times of deepsnow and ice. Following suchstorms they may stay holed upfor several days in thick coverwhere they went to get. fromthe storm. Ring-necked phea-sants can go for 10 days with-out food with no ill effects, and

are two common haz-ards 1o wildlife from poorly op-erated feeding programs. Ifprotective cover in the vincin-ity of the feeder is not ade-quate to furnish escape coverfor all birds and animals at-tracted, it becomes an attrac-tractive feeding station forpredators. Any concentration ofwildlife such as this is boundto attract the attention of pre-dators in the neighborhood.MOP.E MORE MORE MORETAKE II SUN SUE AGRIBUSINESS PG WILDLIFE.MAY

Often feeders will concentratemore wildlife in an area thannatural food supplies would normally maintain. If feeding isstopped, even temporarily, ad-ditional travel and exposurec.iused by the short food sup-plj. can be dangerous.

The time that the publicshows greatest concern is dur-

some have been foundsnowbankswhere they

on gamehave been

underfarms

buriedover two weeks.

If you want to enjoy the be-nefits of feeding small animalsor birds, adhere to four sim-ple rules:

1; A feeding station should beclose to good escape and win-ter cover.

2. Several small feeders arebetter than one large one.-

3. Start feeding before t h eneeds arises. Wildlife establishfeeding patterns that they areslo\, to change. They shouldbe given ample time to locatefeeding stations so that theywill know where to goinseareb.of food after severe storms.

4. Once started, a feeding sta-tion should be continued untilthere is no further need for it.

Playwright DiesNEW YORK (AP) - William

Archibald, 53, playwright bestknown for the 1950 Broadway hit"The Innocents," died Sundayof infectious hepatitis. Archi-bald teamed with Truman Ca-pote to write the script for a1961 movie version of the dramawhich was based on a novel byHenry James.

EVANSTON, 111. (AP) -George F. Salerno, 61, presi-dent and chief executive officerof the Salerno-Megowen Bis-cuit Co., died Sunday. Since1952, he had headed the com-pany founded by his father in1933. Salerno also was vicechairman of the executive com-mittee of the Pabst 'BrewingCo.

To carve a sirloin steak,remove the bone by cutting allthe wav around it. Then cutsteak across the grain and at aslight angle.