[Prev][Next][Index][Thread]
Re: Christmas Trees
In article <32965588.5469@hotmail.com>, Howard <pantry@hotmail.com>
writes:
>>Jim McNelly wrote:
>>
>>
>>2. Soil erosion
>>Nearly all Christmas trees are grown by people in rural communities on
>>marginal land that is subject to erosion or was the victim of erosion.
>>Christmas tree farming is a method of subsidizing the cost of planting a
>>sustainable wood lot that prevents erosion.
>>
>>
>
>Are there not other types of trees that could be grown on marginal land
that
>wouldn't need to be harvested at all? And wouldn't having a non-harvested
>"wood lot" be more ecological and economical? As far as that goes, if you
>can grow a great looking christmas tree, you should be able to grow other
>types (fruit, nuts, lumber?).
>
>If the land is marginal, how do they manage to grow such great trees? Let
>me guess--by the input of large amounts of energy and chemicals.
>Wouldn't that tend to cancel some of the other bennies you pointed out?
>
>Howard
>
>
I am a farmer. That means that I am one of those fools that tries to
scratch his living out of the soil. I do not have a job off of the farm.
I must get income from the land or lose it, my home, my job, and almost
everything I have. Our land is sand. Some of it is "blow" sand.
Christmas trees grow fine in this soil. They are given very little
fertilizer. Research shows that Scotch pine does not benefit from
fertilizer. They are mowed once a year. In "blow" sand, even weeds do
not grow well. The only year that was an exception to that was 1983, when
it would not quit raining. The trees are sheared each year to shape them.
This work is done by hand. We have always hired high school and college
students to shear. In the past two years, there has been a shortage of
students to do this work. There are too many other jobs in the area now
>from McDonald's, Burger King, etc.
Sand country is a world of its own. Sand must be treated with respect or
it will break you. My father first planted Christmas trees here 40 years
ago. The sand has treated us well and I have no complaints about it. It
is in the market place that I have been beaten up in recent years. It is
too bad that there is no market for sand burs.
Bruce Tammen