Re: OT: Weather (was: Re: questions)

On 30 Oct, Barry Garcia wrote:


> CONLANG@LISTSERV.BROWN.EDU writes:
> >Or Israel.  :-)
> >I can still remember my 6th-through-8th grades Hebrew teacher talking
> >about _atzei ha-eikaliptus_ and how they are used _leyabeish et habitzot_
> >"to dry up swamps".
> >
>
> That was one of the intentions when they were brought to california, to
> dry up swamps to prevent malaria, and also to provide lumber and timber
> for the railroads (it was found the Eucalypts weren't a good wood for
> those purposes here). Eucalypts also ignite spectacularly too :).
    Actually, the powers-that-be here in Israel came to the conclusion that
drying out all the local swamps was a big ecological mistake (it screws up
the local water-recylcing process, which we found out too late that wetlands
are an important part of) and a big agricultural mistake (turns out that the
local
dried-out swamp bottoms are not the best of soils for growing crops: without
the fresh water flushing it out, the soil has turned more and more saline
over the years!).
    A large part of one of the swamps in the north of the country has been,
in fact,
reflooded. It is now a national park/wildlife refuge. I've been there ( a
very nice
hiking trail winds  through the place); I got to see a group of pelicans
touch down for a short rest
before continuing their seasonal migration. Very beautiful!

Roger Mills wrote:

They'd better be careful..... South Florida years ago imported a eucalyptus
type tree, Melaleuca, for just that purpose, and it worked altogether too
well.  Those "swamps", the Everglades, were the source of their drinking
water; it didn't occur to them that they were a finite resource...  Now
melaleucas are all over the place, and considered a pest.  The State is
trying to extirpate them on public lands, but it's a losing battle until (at
some point) private property owners are also _required_ to get rid of them.
They grow fast, and produce a jillion seeds which are spread by birds.
(bird-poop trees, we called them)  A beautiful tree, but.....


I don't know which kind of eucalyptus tree we have here, but it doesn't
seem to be the kind of pest you describe. (Then again, we don't have a whole
lot of free-standing water either! )  They were used, among other
reasons, to line the sides of  railroad right-of-ways in low-lying places
where water might collect during the winter rains. I can think of one
stretch that
I travel over fairly often: despite the eucalyptus trees, the road that ran
along the tracks
was always under water every winter! Things didn't improve until they tore
up the road, elevated it, and installed a modern drainage system.
No danger from water-sucking trees there! ;-)


Dan Sulani
-----------------------------------
likehsna rtem zuv tikuhnuh auag inuvuz vaka'a.

A word is an awesome thing.

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