On 2010-11-04 23:16:02 -0400, Giles said:


Last night, I started reading Charles E. Little's "the Dying of the
Trees." Not exactly a cheerful title. Even less so when one
considers that it is an accurate capsule description of what is
happening not only here in the upper Great Lakes, but all across North
America. Not only all across North America, but all over the world.
Little's first chapter is devoted to the all but complete demise of
the flowering dogwood (Cornus florida) throughout its native range,
which includes most of the U.S. east of the Mississippi, as a result
of an infestation by a fungus commonly known as anthracnose.....never
mind the details, you can find them if you want to. Chapter two, he
promises, is about the red spruce of Vermont. Then we move on to
California's "X-disease", etc., etc. I believe I've already mentioned
that we are challenged by both chestnut blight and butternut blight
here at the tree farm. Dutch Elm disease is famous worldwide. Gypsy
moths. Acid rain. Thousand canker disease. Emerald ash borer. White
pine blister rust.....the list goes on and on and on and on.....and
grows ever larger. Trees, and the forests they comprise, are in
serious trouble pretty much everywhere in the world where trees exist
at all. And it's getting worse.....everywhere. And that's critically
important for reasons which, if they are not perfectly obvious, you
should be very much ashamed of yourself.

It's a hell of a time to be moving to a tree farm!

During the 40s and 50s, I can remember the Springfield, Mass. Park
Department cutting down deseased elm trees. They pulled up the stumps
and burned the wood/stumps in a land fill about a 1/2 from where I
lived. Almost all of the elm trees in America were destroyed. On
occasion I still see one that is healthy, but they are few.

Land that we own in Geogia has been denuded of pine trees thanks to the
Pine Bore Beetle. About 20 years ago there was a terrible drought in
Georgia. It weakened the pine trees and the beetle got a good start
wrecking its havoc. We still see dead pines in the area we now live.

The Asian long horn beetle has devastated hardwood trees in several
towns in Massachusetts. All the infected trees were on the tree-belt
lining streets in each town. To stop the spread, each tree was cut
down, its stump removed, and all the wood burned. It's deja vu all
over again; sixty years after the elms, these hardwoods are now
disappearing.

Flowering dogwoods, however, seem to be able to get by inspite of the
anthracnose. We have many on our property in both Massachusetts and
Georgia, and although we have lost one or two in both properties, they
seem to propagate enough to overcome any losses. The woods hereabout
are literally filled with healthy trees. Their blooms enchant in the
springtime, while their burgandy colored leaves brighten the most
dismal of autumn weather.

Joanne and I took great, if perverted, joy in making torches out of old
broom sticks and strips of rag and ridding trees of tent caterpillars.
Although the apple, maple and birch trees would survive these pests,
their "tents" were unsightly. Gypsy mouths have also invaded our
trees, but we found that if we sprayed them with a solution of just a
little dish washing fluid mixed with water in a spray bottle would kill
them without any colateral damage to the trees.

As you say, "It's a hell of a time to be moving to a tree farm!"

Good luck, and try not to freeze your ass off this winter.

Dave