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editorial Wrong Choice ' 'Those who believe one of Uncle flam’s chief foies is to protect the citizen, (in this case consumer) will undoubtedly lose a little more faith in their national government when they . learn the U S. Dept, of Agriculture (USDA) is Out to once again alter the official standards •for beef classification. If the government has its way. the familiar grades of USDA Prime, Choice Good, etc., will become ‘ven more meaningless, since the Ag. Departr rent wants to lower the fat content criteria of its various grades • As any good cook knows, the displersal of fat • in meat (called marbling) contributes to a cut’s flavor, tenderness and juiciness. The USDA actually admits the changes will allow leaner beef to qualify for Prime and f twice grades; although it claims it won t "significantly lower the palatabili y of either grade ’’ Hut beef graded Good Would mean meat that-even by USDA standa *ds is both leaner and “with lowered palatability." TIIK GOVERNMENT- DOES!' ’T EVEN BOTHER explaining why it has proposed the changes, other than to announce the proposal is "the result Of latest research findings and of • petitions for change that USDA has received in recent months " You can bet thqse petitions aren’t from consumers. If anythin] |, they want better, not lesser, quality. You can only wonder what the government is talking about by. research findings. s Fortunately'for consumers on the Jersey Cape especially those who iniust rely on labels to be their guide — Cong. Bill Hughes has caught the USDA cfuick-chang? and called It to the public’s attention. As the Ocean City attorney points out in a news-re ease in this week's paiper: The new regulations would result in consumers paying higher prices for beef and receiving a lower qualitj product for their money. . Congressman Hughes calls the whole charade "a lot of bull.’’ asserting that the last time USDA relaxed its standards in 1975, "consumers got tougher beef at higher prices." ■ Mr Hughes has called upon oonsumers to join him in a protest against these latest changes by complaining to the government. We second his motion. Write mday to the USDA and let them know in your own words what a,hunch of baloney they’re .rying to pull that you don't consider what hey’re up to very palatable ( , , : NOTICE T Letter Writers Opinions (or our Rrader n Forum shou d • Ho signed by the writer and include he writei' s address and phone number Letters (an be printed anonymously, but the newspaper mist have writer verification- • Deal with one topic or issue iH an accurate, nonlibelous manner • Be typew ritten or legibly handwritte», doublespaced on one side of the paper • Be received by the newspa^per prior (to Friday

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Htuld * Lantern 3 March tZ

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Weralft

The &ate We're In You Don’t Have to Spray To Control the Gypsies Winter is on the wane and soon spray advocates will, be heard once more across New Jersey, trying'to convince municipal governments and private property owners that they had better employ aerial spraying agHjnst the gypsy

moth.

New Jersey has been a pioneer in’using biological controls (various kinds of insects) to control gypfy moth larvae populations. It has also made available a nonchejnical. bactehal spray which attacks only larvae (worms, in layman’s language). But this spray is somewhat more expensive and is not totally selective! it kills the larvae of other kinds of moths and butterflies as

well as gypsy'moths.

So strong is the influence of the agri-chemical industry on your typical bureaucrat that they by and large remain inbued with the gospel that broad-based spray assaults , are the best way to control an insect pest. This despite the common knowledge that "shotgun" types of spray kill predators which control the target species, thus assuring

a continued need f6r mdre spraying.

rillMF.MRKK Tllfc HYSTERICAL aerial assault in California against the Mediterranean fruit fly? You can bet the fruit fty will survive to breed again! And when it docs, it will be more.resistant to sprays than it was before Here at the New Jersey. Conservation Foundation we are in complete agreement with selective sprpying of valued individual trees and other features of yards arid landscaping designs. But this business of dumping chemicals across woodlands is strictly for the birds (ex-

cept that it’s very bad for them, too)!

One of the most persuasive -.yet deceptive - arguments for spraying forests is the huge dollar amount claimed by spray pro|*ohents for the alleged economic loss represented by killed tre^s The trutji is that a tree in a New Jersey woodland has little tangible value And since most tree valuc is of the intangible kind, and not as lumber, dollar comparisons aren't useful at all. v AS WITH PREDATION OF ANY KIND, it is the weak trees that die. making the remaining population that much healthier. Not only tha), but the biggest problem is nr/t death, since defoliation seldom results in dirad trees. If people are willing to go to a little effort ..they can protect their vfrds agathst the gypsy moth without having to resort to any spray-at.all They cah daub turpentine, kerosene or some other petroleum product on the egg masses (clearly visible and usually clos'd to the ground) on limbs, twigs and rocks; they can buy and install small sex-attractant traps to inhibit breeding for the following season, and they can install gummy materials around tree

trunks to capture the crawling larvae

Those are just a Tew of the valuable tips available in a Gypsy Moth Information Pocket available from the Association of New Jersey Environmental Commissions. P.O. Box 157. Mendham. N.J. 07945 The costs is $5.50 and

WEEKS BEFORE i^leaves add to the springtime verdure of places like Mlckels Run. here, the flower of the skunk cabbage makes Its debut. nature & man First Flower

by R. Leslie Chrismer

The flowers that bloom In the spring. \Tra la. v Breothe nromise of merry Sunshine—

•‘ • - -TM>kflkado by Ollbt'l * Sulllwtn "Perhaps what most moves us in Winter." said Thoreau. "is some reminiscence of far-off summer...the cold is merely superficial: it is summer still at the core, far. far within." . Only someone with Thorea.u’s independent mind and imperturbable soul could regard as superficial this winter’s cold, when the lowest temperatures in nearly a century were recorded in various parts of,our country, including Cape May County. However, all of us in the chill antf darkness of winter have invencible hope for the warmth and splendor of spring, when, in Swinburne’s verse:

' Winter’s rains qnd rains are over. And all the season of snows add sins. The days dividing lover and lover.

The light that loses, the night that wins. And tibie remember'd is grief forgotten. And frosts are slain and flowers begoti-’n

And in green underwootf and cover Blossom by blossom the spring begins

If we judge the coming of spring.by the procession of its flowers, it has already begun - for the first spring flower hereabouts often blooms as early as Valentine’s Day. It is

- (horrid to say) - the Skunk Cabbage

The tough spear-like spathes of that plant are ttye first

winter As ££ handi^. s«,rce of info r n,a.(an on (his

cowl-like to protect a knob-shaped cluster of tiny purplish Subject I

flowers The leaves which follow the flowers grow to an »enormous.size, and. when crushed, have the disagreeable odor Of spoiled meat, and also an acrid taste Never-

theless. bears like them The first settlers in this general area were Swedes and they called the plant Bear-weed. There is a town na/ned Macungie, about 50 miles north of Philadelphia Skin Cabbage still abounds in all the nearby low and we| places not yet taken over by housing. Long, long ago when there . were no houses at all to interfere with Skunk Cabbage growth. Indians saw many bears enjoying their first spring greens and gave the place an appropriate name: for Macungie is the phohetic spelling of the Indian language for bear .swamp or where (he bears gather The botanical name of Skunk Cabbage is Symplocvrpus faetidus. and it is a member of the Arum family, which includes such flowers as tf\e dainty, white wild calla. a relative of the cultivated calla-lily R Leslie Chrismer. a retired pharmacist and editor,

lives in Ca^)r May.

John II. Andrus II WHHam J. Adams Bonnie Rrina Darrell Kopp

Editor •1(1*10# Director G neral Manager I’ulilishrr

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reader's forum Lauds Push To Curb Local Crime

by Carol Trolano I am a resident of the Rio Grande section of Middle Township I am concerned about our neighborhood and out - township It is*ho secret that crime is increasing at an alarming rate because of the economy, and it is a fause for. concern However. I could not help but notice the efforts being implemented'to curb crime in the township Committeeman Michael J Voll. who is our new director of Public Safety, has wasted no time in dealing, with the problem I have read with great interest his efforts to '.tart the Crime Stoppers Program and his initiation of a Police Station if) Rio Grande This is commendable and appreciated by my family Anything that can tx* done to disi^purage Breaking and Enterings. Assaults, and Robbery are important I have never beervactive politically, but I think the people of Middle Tow nship should be proud of Mike and his accomplishments His ideas and arth»n to solve problems are ,a new breath of fresh air for our township government.

e encountered.

LET HE LIST SOME OF THE USEFUL materials in. the kit; Wetting the Bugs Out A Guide to Sensible Pest Management in and Around the Home, published by thp National Audubon Society; a.’broohuro which describes the Chemical Substances Information Network, which makes available all kinds oh information about a multitude of specific chemicals, a.gypsy moth calendar, detailing the life cycles of the gypsy moth, homeowner measures and a month-by-mdnth report on'state and local

sprav programs, to mention a few.

Included afso are descriptions of two alternative control programs being used by some New Jersey municipalities, a copy of Gypsy Moth Control, containing professional, comments; guidelines for participating in New Jersey s voluntary suppression program, and a copy.of Frequently Ashed Questions About the Gypsy Moth and New Jersey

Control Programs.

There's even more, but I have to leave a few surprises David Moore is executive director of the N.J Conserva

lion Foundation. ,

Left in the Dark by A Trusty Fan Several writers have urged that Public Television’s Channel 12 be restored to this area. Week after week we are left in the dark with no MacNeil-Lehrer Report or Dick Cavett Show. We view Washington Week in Review in the late evening (or. this week, not at all). Television has so few programs that are well-spoken and enlightening. Why must we be deprived of some of the best? , /Won’t someone start rolling and get up a petition? Through what channels may we vdice our complaint? y Kindly publish in yourY»per the names and addresses to be reached with this problem. A Trusty Fan i* a Villas resident of LoWer Township (Editor's note: Viewers may express their feelings about programming by writing to »he general managers of these tv stations or networks: Channel 12 (WHYY). Independence Mall West. 150 N. 6th St.. Philadelphia. Pa. 19106 (tel. 215-351-1200). Channel 23 (WNJS), Independence Mall West, 150 N. 6th St.. Philadelphia. Pa. 19106 (tel. 215-351-1200.). Channel 23 (WNJS). 1573 Parkside Ave., Trenton. NJ. 08638 (tel. 9M-0395). Public Broadcasting Service. 475 L’Enfant Plaxa West. S.W. Washington. D.C. 20024)