Times Advocate, 1994-04-06, Page 10Page 10 Times -Advocate, April 6, 1994 R]� /( LJJ n �a T ,j:'4 B V I "" 1 1 L
Scieiice fair winners
Winners of Exeter Public School's science fair held last week were from left Julie Darling, with
a project called the battle of the brains; Kristin Brooks with her project called the wood race;
and Meaghan Straw with a project on gravity. Missing is Andrew Hann. The four will move on
to the county wide fair that will be held in Goderich on April 16.
One Foot in the Furrow
By Bob Trotter
It is easy to criticize farmers
Too many affluent city cou-
sins have a distorted idea of
what it means to be a farmer
these days.
My trade union friend thinks
that farmers trip over subsidy
cheques from the government
when they collect their mail at
the end of the lane every day.
My friend who works in a
drug store thinks farmers are a
loutish bunch who come into the
store in coveralls and dirty boots
leaving a distinct odor behind
when they leave.
A bank teller friends says he
sees farmers laughing all the
way to the bank with their subsi-
dized milk cheques or quota -
setting egg cheques.
Nothing could be farther from
the truth.
I know at least a dozen farm-
ers, personally, who had to
leave the farm in recent years
because they just did not make
enough money to remain viable.
A father -and -son team in the
beef business wept openly when
the bank foreclosed and an auc-
tion was held. The farm had
been in the family for five gen-
erations.
"I worked 60- and 70- and
sometimes 80 -hours a week for
years," said the father. "My son
worked part-time in town to
keep us going but it just did not
work out."
"I don't know what I'm going
to do," said the son. "Dad can
go up country to live with my
sister but, with the employment
picture so gloomy in town, I
don't know what will happen to
me."
He eventually secured em-
ployment in a hardware store
because of his great knowledge
of tools and his ability as a han-
dyman. But it was just a cut
above minimum wage and I am
sure he will never be as happy
as he was as a farmer.
I talked with a great many of
the farmers who attended the
auction sale two winters ago.
Almost to a man, they said they
needed off -farm income to stay
afloat.
Their admissions substantiate
statistics for this part of Canada
where 6,235 farmers had an av-
erage farm profit of $10,624 in
1991 but had off -farm income
of $17,245. Also in 1991 -- the
last year for which figures are
available -- even the biggest
farms with sales of more than
$500,000'a year, had to have an
off -farm income of more than
$11,800 to show a profit of
$40,000.
It is interesting to note, too,
that these people who have a
"full-time" job on the farm and
a part-time job or a part-time
business are also active in com-
munity organizations which
keep rural communities and
churches humming along.
Farmers and their supply man-
agement marketing boards have
been lambasted by the main-
stream media in recent months.
Even Canada's self-styled "na-
tional" magazine, Maclean's,
took a big pot-shot at the milk -
tobacco -and -feathers farmers in
January.
You have to wonder, don't
you, about the people who write
those magazine pieces? How
many of them have ever had
manure on their boots? How
many of them have worked 30
Got a news tip?
Call the T -A at 2354331
PIONEER.
Pioneer` Hi -Bred Production Ltd. is
currently looking for Soybean Growers in
the Huron, Middlesex, Oxford and Perth
Counties to produce soybeans
under contract.
For further information contact
Bnan or Stu at 1-800-265-0554
between 7:30 a.m. and 3.30 p.m..
Monday'to Friday
0,
hours at a stretch to get a crop in
before the rains came or sat
sleepily in a tractor to get the
seeding done before the weather
front hit? How many have
nursed a sick calf all night and
then put in a full -day's work?
How many of them have had a
crucial machine break down and
then argue with an ignorant
banker about enough cash to fix
it?
The list can go on and on and
on, ad infinitum, ad nauseum. It
is easy to criticize when you
have never walked a mile in an-
other person's shoes.
How many have had their glee
at a perfect crop turn to bile
when blight hits or army worms
or drought or floods or you
name it?
As a lover of farmers and the
land, I can still see my father,
dying of cancer, stopping to cra-
dle the first shoots of spring in
his gnarled but tender hand. It
was the last spring he lived to
see back in 1972.
He cherished the land and
green, growing things just as
most farmers do today.
Use of insect viruses
can help control pests
GUELPH - The use of insect vi-
ruses as a means of biocontrol
could help control the spread of
certain pests, says Peter Krell, an
insect virologist at the University
of Guelph.
"Insect viruses are naturally spe-
cific, naturally occurring and very
effective," says Krell, who is re-
searching an insect virus specific
for the spruce budworm, a major
forest pest. Insect viruses have al-
ready been approved by Forestry
Canada for controlling pests such
as the Douglas fir tussock moth
and the red-headed pine sawfly.
Chemical insecticides act quick-
ly on pest insects in plant crops,
but they have drawbacks. Environ-
mental and health concerns, as
well as the development of resis-
tance in insects, make them less
desirable than viruses, Krell says.
These insect viruses, known as
hioculoviruses, are natural isolates
hrought in from the field or forest
system. They're grown in insects
in large numbers, then sprayed on
affected areas. Baculoviruses are
protected from the environment by
a cement -like protein coating that
dissolves in an insect's gut after
ingestion. The virus is then re-
leased and infects the insect's gut
cells. After replication in the gut
cells, the virus spreads to other tis-
sues, eventually killing the insect.
At the end of the virus replication
cycle, up to 50 percent of the total
dry mass of the dead insect can be
virus. Other insect larvae then feed
on it, continuing the cycle.
Host specificity is important in
hiocontrol. Virus levels must be
high enough to destroy the offend-
ing insect, but not harm other spe-
cies, particularly beneficial ones.
this is where insect viruses are par-
ticularly attractive in hiocontrol.
Many are extremely host -specific
and will attack and kill only one or
a few specific insect species, leav-
ing the rest unaffected.
Because of concerns about po-
tential problems, microbial agents
such as insect viruses must under-
go rigorous testing before they are
approved for biocontrol by three
federal departments -- Agriculture
and Agri -Food Canada, Forestry
Canada, Health and Welfare Cana-
da.
Some insect viruses are more vir-
ulent than others, and alternative
approaches to biocontrol are being
studied. Five years ago, scientists
began looking at importing genes
to improve the effectiveness of ba-
culovirusese. Genes that affect vi-
ruses and therefore their effective-
ness as biocontrol agents.
Krell is now studying ways to
compare the virulence of a natural-
ly occurring spruce budworm in-
sect virus, which is currently being
studied in its native environment,
the forest. Although highly host
specific this particular virus does
not attack the spruce budworm ef-
fectively. Spruce budworm is an
expensive problem for Canada's
forestry industry, destroying more
trees than are lost due to disease or
fire combined.
CUSTOM CLOVER
SEED APPLICATION
• April is the time to apply clover because it will get a better
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With colleagues from the Forest
Pest -Management Institute in Sault
Ste. Marie, Krell is looking at the
basic biology of this virus. He
hopes to find ways to speed up the
replication time for the virus by
identifying and manipulating the
origins of viral DNA replication. In
the laboratory, he's looking at
DNA sequences to identify and
compare these origins in virulent
insect viruses, and the spruce bud -
worm virus.
Usborne 4-H
members
(earn to bake
THAMES ROAD - On March 24
the Batter Buddies held their third
meeting at Thames Road Church.
Melissa Prout handed out the
muffins she had made at home.
Then the members separated into
three groups.
Judith Parker's group made
brownies, and also learned the uses
of different pieces of baking equip-
ment. Melonie Miller's group
learned how to make muffins. Bev
Prout's group made butter cakes
and decorated them with white ic-
ing.
Everyone had a taste of the cake
made the previous week.
March 31 the Batter Buddies met
at Thames Road Church at 4:00.
They are starting three new topics:
pies, cookies, and cake decorating.
Some members went to the cook-
ie group. They made chocolate chip
cookies. After the cookies were
cooled, the group taste -tested them.
The title page was handed out
and the press report was given. The
roll call by the group was to de-
scribe 'the ultimate, best -ever cook-
ie - either one you have had or one
of your dreams'.
The next meeting will be held
April 7.
Usborne &
Hibbert Mutual
Fire Insurance
Company
Exeter, Ontario NOM 1 S 1
(Established in 1876)
Provides Full Insurance
Coverage
for Farm Properties
New Applications are
Welcomed
DIRECTORS & ADJUSTERS
Larry Gardiner, RR2. Staffa .345.2678
Lloyd Morrison, Mitchell 348-4660
Lome Feeney, Mitchell 348-6053
Jade Hodgert, RR1, Kirkton 229-6152
Joseph Chaffe, RR5 Mitchell .348-9705
Michael O'Shea RR3 Granton .225-2600
AGENTS
Ross Hodgen, Exeter.. 235-3250
John Moore, Dublin 345-2512
Joseph Uniac, Mitchell 348-9012
Bryan Lavis. Clinton 482-0310
Head Office. Exeter 235-0350
A refund from surplus was de-
clared for all policy holders
who qualify, are on record and
In good standing as at Decem-
ber 31, 1993.
CIBA Seeds
and
First Line Seeds
PICK UP
DAYS
Fri., April
Sat., April 9
9 a.m. - 4 p.m.
at
BORLAND
FARMS
41\1\RR 1 Woodham 235-0567
Ia
0111 lq is
A well prepared resume will help you
get the job you are looking for!
A resume detailing an applicant's work history and
education is extremely 'helpful to an employer who
is seeking a person for a specific job vacancy.
Your personal resume should accompany
your letter of application.
Here are some guidelines to follow in preparing your resume:
0 Make it clear, concise and easy to read - and no longer
than two pages
The resume should be typed on 8 1/2" x 11" white paper
with enough white space to prevent a cluttered look
0 Start with your name, address and phone number
0 Next under a sub -heading "Work History" detail the
previous jobs you've held - in reverse date order
- that is, last job first.
0 Use a separate paragraph for each position and
precede it with the dates you held that position.
0 State the job title, a brief description of the
responsibilities - and the results you achieved.
0 The next section of your resume should come under the
sub -heading of "Education". Start with the highest
degree obtained or grade completed, followed by the
name of the institution at which you studied. Follow
this with previous education attainments. At the end,
list any specific instructional courses you have
attended in conjunction with your work.
0 Under the sub -heading "Affiliations", list memberships
and/or offices held in professional or industry
associations.
0 Under the•sub-heading "Personal Interests" list any
activities which you feel will be of interest to the
employer - such as volunteer work, etc.
Your tetter of application and your resume will be the
factors that make the employer decide whether to short
list you for an interview. So make It as Impressive
as you can - but stick to the facts.
We can help you get an impressive and
professional -looking resume
Call Debbie Lord at
I' Eli4 a ot,ao
_
424 Main St. Exeter (519) 235-1331