The Seaforth News, 1957-01-03, Page 3• f
Farm Eveninks
N So (bile .
As the brief, autumn-discipin ed
sunset adorned the western sky,
I sat on a sharp rock and con-
templated. Doc. Rockwell, the
old Keith Circuit, quack, says if
you sit on a rook long enough it
Is bound to make an impression
on you, but Doc is a come -lately
In the philosophy of down -East
rocks. Grandfather, who preced-
ed Doc by an entire history book,
said nobody should ever sit on a
smooth rock Because he would
sit too long.
For short rests, consistent with
e farmer's time schedule, one
should select a sharp rock, in-
suring that dilatory periods will
be held to a minimum and that
sedentary inactivity will shortly
seem more arduous than labor.
This is a calculated compromise
with relaxation, and doubtless
shows the difference between
true rural philosophy and the
slapstick, or professional, kind -
the latter merely noting that
rocks are uncomfortable at best,
and neglecting to compose a use-.
ful conclusion.
I had therefore selected an
angular projectipn from the or-
chard wall and had lightly de-
posited myself thereon, intending
to edify myself briefly after fini-
shing up the carrot yanking and
then be on my way home for
supper. The sunset was pretty, in
the fallish manner. Purples con-
veying a touch of cold and pos-
sibly snow, predominated, with
the richer and warmer colors
muted. Purple is supposed to be
a rich color, but in an autumn
sunset it is not. And the change
from afternoon to dark was not
prolonged.
This is the time of year when
the crepuscular ipterlude, a term
I have never been able to work
into an essay, is scarcely a fleet-
ing instant. You can stoop down
to pick up the side of your wheel-
barrow and miss it completely,
I had hardly adjusted myself to
my hard and probing rock when
it was dark, and there I sat all
by myself in the orchard and
et etee._ nothing to see.
-" etelee undoubtedly includes the
ingredkkl.;, for an idyllic foray
into bucolic oueervations - the
DONKEY LIFT -A Paris, France,
shoe store, trying to get a don-
key into the shop for publicity
purposes, ran into difficulties.
The janitor of the establishment
wouldn't let "Cora,')' the burro,
walk up the two flights of shirty
stairs to the presentation room,
so it was decided to hoist Cora
up from the outside. With Pied
legs and blindfold, the dang-
ling donkey afforded spectators
much amusement, but didn't
get very for -the rope broke.
Luckily, the animal survived the
nine -foot fall, and eventually
reached her destination.
man, the place, the time, and hi
thoughts. And it was rather
shock to learn that this situation
in which I found ,myself was no
at all as quiet, withdrawn, and
secluded as I, and perhaps a
reader or two, would expect
You have no idea how noisy it
Was. •
Some`, of this was the still air
of the evening, hanging with the
preparations for frost. The light
breeze of the afternoon had sub-
sided with the sun, and there
was no rustling of the beech and
oak leaves. All sounds from all
directions came with equal in-
tensity, and they came from afar.
I could perceive the composite
vibrations of the entire periphery
with unimpeded clarity, to coin
a phrase.
Eight separate and distinct dogs
were barking, five of them to
the shouts of children winding up
their outdoor play. The other
dogs, neither separate nor dis-
tinct, were hounds over in the
Farrar swamp bugling a rabbit.
They would fade and re-emerge,
fade and come back, sometimes
together and sometimes not, their
contributions .ranging from the
whines of high grief to the low
rumbles of mutual despair.
Then two airplanes, went over,
flying low, and next some jets
went over, flying hig h. The lights
of the two first blinked pleasant-
ly, but the jets snarled their
hateful, ominous, blood -chilling
overnoise, which ought to be out-
lawed. This world was never
meant to be an echoboard for
jets.
Then came automobile horns,
the Squeal of brakes, the grind-
ing of diesels on the long hill,
and the rattle of truck bodies -
highway noises from two miles
away. Next, the digesters were
blown off at the mill -a rushing,
steam -escaping noise we hear
only when the air is right. A
train, away off on the main line,
whistled and then rumbled over
the big bridge,
And Mrs. Blais stepped to her
door, a mile away, and Iustily
summoned her copious brood,
lingering lastly on lung -sapping
exhortations which can be euph-
oniously represented by:"Tippy-
yire! Tippy - yirel V'en - seel
'Penh -twee!" This can be trans-
lated, more or less, by, "Little
Peter, come here, hurry!" But
none of the inflection of the
original was lost in the mileage,.
el my translation perforce dis-
inclugi the implied alternative
that if petii,.Pierre didn't 'pesh
himself with all'ceierity he would
everlastingly regret it. Then the
Blais door slammed, indicating
Peter had entered, and quiet pre-
vailed from thatquarter.
The fish horn the Garlands use
to advertise their meals now
split the evening and resounded.
Father Garland, answering
promptly, paused only to close
the rolling door on the barn,
raked and rasped and whined
on its unoiled track.
I hadn't been siting long, and
I was ready to unsit. I applauded
the new moon and the early -out
stars, and when I stood up I
could see the house lights over
the knoll -supper would be about
ready now. I smiled at the popu-
lar notion that the countryside
is traditionally calm and quiet
and peaceful. Give a Hollywood
director a cricket he can snap
and a frog to croak, and he thinks
he can make a rural scene. The
rustling leaves, the purling
stream, the twittering grosbeaks.
Just then a steel -rimmed trac-
tor went down the road by the
house, drawing what sounded like
a Nova Scotia hayrack with loose
slats, loaded with empty oil
drums, milk cans, and storm win-
dows, perhaps -a last touch be-
fore I went inside and closed the
door on the traquility of a lovely
country evening on the old farm.
- by John Gould in
"The Christian Science Monitor"
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7. Boxlne ring
CROSSWORD
PUZZLE
ACROSS
1. npcain
4. Co secretly
9. Dried grass
12. Manner
13. Tidal flood
14. Danish money, /
16, Climbing rine
17. Plural ending
18, Not molted
19. Isollne
120. Bury
22. Point
24. wee (Sent.) I
22. Standard.
28. Spoiled
19.P/tut-it
60. Roman
entr -nes
31. One
820 I,'educe ,the
amount
.84: hoar
X86, - celled Pe(er
67. Malt liquor
68. Individual
89. Medieval
X7/r. shields 1
00. Some
41. Schemes
12. Put into place
again .
k4. Scraps
10. Mass. cape
47. Comparative
ending
48. llusival
Instrument
01. Land meoaure
62. Long pencil
strokes
54.' Gazelle
85. By
26. Philippine
island
87. Purpose
Power
1. Vapor
2, Aspire:
3. Inquired the
9061
4, Location
0, Strain
0.. For example
(ab.)
8. For fear that
9. Terror
10. Macaw
11. Steer wild
16. Loose.
20. Inculcate
21. Grafted (her.)
23. Blind Sear
24. weaken
26. Laughing
07. Companions
39. Decimal
number
3f1Corroded
32, Amount of
ri, raisins
32. City in Minn.
30. Slay
33. Citrus fruit
10.E Bagle'e nest
41. Cuckoo
13. Vend
44. Church recess
43. Small
explosive
16. Unrefined
metal
4S. Collection
19. T2ternity
31. Urchin
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HE'S THE CHAMP OF CHAMPS -A 985 -pound roan Shorthorn
steer was judged the Grand Champion steer at the Interna-
tional Livestock Exhibition,
FARM FRONT
kaussell
Of all the plant species growing
ill Canada, one in five rates as
a weed. The annual weed cost
runs into many millions of dol-
lars, enough to warrant close
attention tp their control.
According to Dr. C. Frankton
of the Canada Department of
Agriculture, many a bad weed
has gained a foothold simply be-
cause it was not recognized for
what it was. Success in weed
control depends largely on a
proper understanding of these
plants. It is often difficult to
trace them down because most
of the weeds growing in Canada
have been introduced from some
other country. Frequently care-
ful search in -foreign literature,
particularly European and Asia-
tic, is required before a strange
plant can be identified.
Weed workers may consider
correct identification of weeds a
trivial matter but there is a defi-
nite practical application. Cer-
tainly some of the confusion as
to what weeds are controllable,
and to what extent control meas-
ures can be applied can be at-
tributed in part to misidentifica-
tion. An early report from the
United States claimed that field
bindweed could be controlled
readily by 2, 4-1): subsequently
it was found that the bindweed
controlled was one of the annual
species. An introduced plant,.
halogeton, poisonous to livestock,
now occupies some four million
acres in the western States and
this abundance may well be due
to the fact it was at first confused
with Russian Thistle and had be-
come well established before be-
ing recognized asa serious men-
ace.
An exact knowledge of the life
history, the series of changes
through which a plant passes in
the course of its development, is
essential to successful control.
the life histories of most of the
importantweeds in Canada are
under investigation and a good
deal of information is now avail-
able on germination behavior.
An important part of weed in-
vestigation is to ascertain where
different species occur in Canada.
From reconnaissance surveys em-
bracing all weeds encountered,
a remarkable amount of informa-
tion on distribution has been
compiled. More Intensive surveys
are carried out to answer specific
problems such as the milkweed
survey during World War II, as
a source of floss and rubber, rag-
weed surveys to establish where
hay fever sufferers might expect
relief, surveys for barberry and
buckthorn, intermediate hosts for
-
cereal rusts.
Such studies and other related
basic studies will in time serve
to improve the efficiency of
control methods. However, due
to the recent origin of these in-
vestigations it will be some years
before weed workers will have
compiled as valuable a mass of
information as that available in
the fields of plant pathology or
entomloogy.
• r •
Why the difference in temper-
ature registered by outside
household thermometers? Next-
door neighbors often find their
thermometers differ by five de-
grees or more. Are the thermo-
meters at fault or does the cause
lie elsewhere?
Trials at the Beaveriodge Ex-
perimental Farm, Alberta, during
winter nights have shown several
degrees differencebetween the
readings of accurate thermo-
meters set only a few paces
•apart. Dr. A. C. Carder reports
that one thermometer was placed
in a louvered box, technically
known as a Stevenson screen;
another on a north wall of an
insulated building. Both were
four feet above ground level.
Although these "thermometers
were known to vary less than a
degree under identical conditions
they came within this accuracy
only 35' per cent of the nights
when exposed as described. On
45' per cent of the nights they
showed a difference of two de-
grees or more; on 21 per cent a
difference of three degrees or
more and on 3 per cent a differ-
ence -of over five degrees. The
greatest difference was 7 degrees
F. and occurred on a calm, clear
night.
The explanation for these dif-
ferences is to be found in the
phenomenon of radiation, The
loss of heat by the mercury or
spirit in the bulb of a thermo-
meter to colder objects within
line of sight may, under certain
conditions, be considerable. The
reverse is also true, and the
recording liquid will take on heat
radiated from warmer objects.
These objects need not be close
at hand, Also, on clear nights
a thermometer openly exposed
to the sky will lose heat by
radiation and so register much
colder than a thermometer in a
shelter. Readings from such an
openly exposed thermometer may
be representative of the tempera-
ture of short vegetation on the
ground but will not correctly
indicate the temperature of the
higher air surrounding animals,
A householder cannot be ex-
pected to keep his thermometer
in a louvered box. However, ex-
posed thermometers will give
reasonably accurate performance
if certain precautions are taken.
Never face a thermometer direct-
ly towards the window of a warm
room nor towards an expanse of
sky. The former location will
cause it to register high, the
latter low. The instrument is
best suspended an inch or two
from the north wall which itself
faces a background of trees or
other buildings.
ON THE TARGET
The bandaged and haggard
looking ]husband was asking the
Court for a separation order.
"My wife's been throwing things
at me ever since we married,"
he said. 'I don't feel safe,"
"Yet only now, after twenty
years, you seek the Court's pro-
tection," said the magistrate,
sceptically.
"Well, sir, her aim's getting
better!" the man explained.
Pigs' Snuffles
Bring Home Truffles
Gourmets in France have been
complaining that it's been a
poor season for truffles, those
delicacies which grow under the
soil and are located by their
strong smell by dogs or pigs.
These curious fungi -some no
' larger than walnuts, others four
or five times as big -taste some-
thing like mushrooms, but are
much dearer to buy. Though
some may be found only just
under the surface of the ground,
most grow four or more inches
down. Big truffles are sometimes
found as deep as two feet.
The world's finest truffles
come from Perigord, near Bor-
deaux, and their distinctive
flavour is greatly appreciated by
gourmets. Pigs there are spe-
cially trained to hunt for the
truffles, digging them up with
their snouts.
Lulu, a French pig which
worked every day for some
years in the forests of Gascony
hunting truffles, was so good
at the job that her owner in-
sured her for $10,000.
Her amazing snout "divined"
the delicacies at great speed and
she used, he said, "to bark like
a dog when she found them,"
Truffles were once valued so
highly in Italy that the areas
where they grew were guarded
day and night against poachers.
These men would sometimes
send their retriever dogs through
the guards to dig up the covered
fungi, the dogs being trained
to bring only large truffles with
the best market value,
It is under beech trees that
truffles are mostly likely to
grow. Epping Forest was once
famous for its truffles, but now
has none. Most of Britain's truf-
fles are now found in certain
districts of Hampshire, Dorset
and Wiltshire on chalky soils,
but those available in restaur-
ants are usually imported from
France,
Sixty years ago the cellar of
one., famous London restaurant
regularly housed some and
imported truffles valued at
$150,000.
SAFETY FIRST
A medical officer was testing
the camp water supply.
"What precautions do you take
against infection?" he asked the
sergeant in charge.
"We bail it first, sir," replied
the sergeant,
"Good."
"Then we filter it."
"Excellent."
"And then," said the sergeant,
"just for safety's sake we drink
beer."
SUCCESS!
"My son went away ten years
ago to make his fortune,"
"And what is 'he worth now?"
"I don't know for sure. But
the New York police are offering
twenty thousand dollars for
him."
fit SC11001
LESSON
BY REV R SARCI.AY
WARREN, B,A. B.D.
The Word Became Flesh
John 1:1-18
Memory Selection: The Wor4
became flesh, and dwelt amonf
us, (and we beheld his glory, til
glory as of the only begotten of
the Father,) full of grace and
truth. John 1:14.
The wonder of Christmas lies
in the fact that the God loved us
enough, that Christ, the Eternal
Son, came to us inthe likeness of
human flesh. The Babe of Beth-
lehere was God Incarnate. When
he was about to enter upon his
ministry at the age of thirty
years, John went forth to pre-
pare the way. Jolm did his work
humbly and well. He said, "He
,that cometh after me is prefer-
red before me: for he was before
me." Actually John was a few
months older than Jesus. Why
then did he say, "He was -before
me?" John knew that even be-
fore the world was created,
Christ, the Word, had been with
God and was God. Indeed, "All
things were made by him, and
without him was not anything
made that was made."
Jesus Christ is "the true light,
which lighteth every man that
cometh into the world." His own
nation officially rejected him and
asked their Roman overlords to
crucify him. On the third day be
spite of a Roman guard he arose
from the dead and emerged tri-
umphantly from the tomb. Indi-
viduals from nearly every nation
on earth are still receiving him.
To these he gives power to be-
come the sons of God. A miracle
takes place in the heart. Not only
are the sins of the past forgiven
but the person now hates the
sins which once he loved. Now
he loves God with all his heart
and his neighbour as himself.
With all the tinselry and trap-
pings that have accumulated in
the observance of Christmas let
us be sure to centralize our
thoughts upon the main truth.
Then we will wonder, worship
and obey.
May this Christmas season be
one of great blessing to you!
Upsidedown to Prevent Peeking
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"HEY, WATCH IT, BUDDY" -A steer in a Canadian feeding yard
gives forth a rumbling bellow, unwilling to accept his fate with
resignation. These fine, beefy specimens of livestock, dehorned
to prevent injuries, await delivery to farmers and breeders who
fatten them for market.
BRITISH VIEW OF ANGLO-AMERICAN RELATIONS -This cartoon which appeared in the Lon-
don Daily Express on Nov. 28 expresses one English view of current U.S.-British: relations.
The drawing depicts Soviet Communist Party leader Nikita Khrushchev saying to President
Eisenhower, "You reel Now you can understa fid what :t meads to have satellite trouble."
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