From Lumberjills to Wooden Wonders

0 From Lumberjills to Wooden Wonders A miscellany of interesting facts about trees, wood, forests and their connection to everything else By Mikael Grut Wimbledon, England, 2017 1 List of Contents Acknowledgements 1 Abbreviations and Terms 1 Preface by Professor Jeffery Burley, CBE 2 Introduction 3 Alphabetic entries 3 Bibliography 152 Acknowledgements This book would not have seen the light of day if my daughter Vicky Grut had not helped me knock its far-flung material into shape, and assisted me throughout with valuable advice; she also suggested the title. My wife’s enthusiasm for my task spurred me on. Many friends contributed interesting information, often on subjects on which there are no written sources: Shelton Davis, Harry Haigh, Nancy and Don Johnson, Christian Keil, Robert Leffingwell, Ralph Pemberton, Joanne Petrie and Simon Rietbergen. I also wish to thank Methuen Drama, an imprint of A&C Black Publishers Ltd, for allowing me to quote from Anton Chekhov’s ‘Uncle Vanya’, translated by Michael Frayn; and Dr Alison Sheridan at the National Museum of Scotland for providing me with information on the Ballachulish figure. Abbreviations and Terms * (asterisk) ‘see that entry’ billion thousand million cf. compare CO2 carbon dioxide EU European Union FAO Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations ha hectare (10,000 m2; 2.471 acres) m metre (3.28 ft.) m2 square metre (m2; 10.76 sq.ft.) m3 cubic metre (m3; 35.3 cubic feet) NE, NW, SE, SW etc. north-east, north-west, south-east, south-west etc. NGO non-governmental organisation spp. species (plural) sq. km square kilometre (km2; 100 ha, 0.386 sq. miles) ton = tonne = metric ton = 1,000 kg = 2,205 lb conifer = softwood broadleaved = hardwood = non-conifer deciduous = leaf-shedding 2 Preface This book could hardly be more timely. In 2009 the world’s politicians, negotiators and administrators prepared for the Copenhagen Conference in December of that year to develop an international agreement replacing the Kyoto Protocol and seeking ways of reducing the threats of climate change. At the same time the politicians, the non-governmental organizations, the media and the public at large have come to recognize the significant role that forests, woodlands and trees play in the processes of macro- and micro-climatic stabilization. In addition these forests, both natural and planted, contribute to the supply and quality of water for humans, livestock and wildlife; the maintenance and improvement of soils, and the conservation of the biological diversity of countless plant and animal species. These ecological benefits are additional to the commonly recognized socio-economic values of employment and income generation from the production of wood, fuels, food and pharmaceuticals. The increasing awareness of forest-related issues in the last decade has prompted the publication of many books, scientific papers and official reports that deal with individual or collective aspects of these roles of forests and trees. However, Mikael Grut’s contribution is not simply another one of these publications. It is a collection of descriptions and definitions of more than five hundred terms and subjects selected by the author as interesting to himself but clearly of global interest. It covers truly a miscellany of facts and for most of them it includes historically fascinating facts and relationships. To take just two subjects from the first letter of the alphabetical arrangement, did you know, for example, that the alder tree provided the red-paint used by Lapp people or that the former capital of Kazakhstan was named Almaty or ‘Father of apples’ after the many apple trees there? These and the hundreds of other facts in this book make fascinating reading for a wide audience; it is the sort of book that can be dipped into at random for simple enjoyment or searched systematically for hard information on specific topics. I have known the author of this book, Mikael Grut, for many years as a professional colleague working with national and international agencies in many developing countries. He has always brought his wide knowledge, experience and interest to the task of forest management in a wide range of forest types and socio-political conditions. His gentle approach to politicians, managers and local communities alike has been a fundamental asset in the preparation and conduct of projects of different types. His writing is always immaculate as demonstrated in this book; overall it shows his total dedication to the management of our natural resources and to his desire to share historical facts and traditions in a highly readable manner. Professor Jeffery Burley, CBE Director-emeritus, Oxford Forestry Institute 2011 3 Introduction This was published as a book in 2012 (ISBN 978-1-907741-10-4), but it is now out of print. For an explanation of the title, see the entries on ‘Lumberjills’ and ‘Mosquito’ below. The book was written for entertainment. Alphabetic Entries Acid rain Sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide produced by burning oil and coal react with gases in the atmosphere to produce sulphuric acid and nitric acid which come down as acid rain, often in another country. As the soils of both the northern coniferous forests and the moist tropical forests are generally acid already, i.e. have a pH below 7, the result of acid rain is to reduce the productivity of such forests, besides harming the fish in the lakes. On the other hand, alkaline soils, often derived from limestone, may be improved by acid rain making their pH more neutral. The acid rain problem of the 1970s has been largely overcome by reducing the emission of the offending gases. Acoustic properties of trees Trees can reduce noise in two ways: 1. By their sound-absorbing or muffling capacity; and 2. By the fact that ‘white noise’ like the rustling of tree leaves, e.g. of species like poplars, masks other sounds. Adirondack Forest Preserve Created in 1892. These 810,000 ha of spruce, hemlock, pine and hardwoods in the Adirondack Mountains in northern State of New York are today thought of as pristine wilderness, but this area was in fact largely deforested during the 19th century for farming and to produce charcoal for the steel industry. This shows two things: how resilient forests 4 can be, and how the so-called virgin forests have in fact often been influenced by man, even early man. Cf. Amerindian forestry and Shenandoah National Park. Aeneas of Troy Before the Trojan hero Aeneas, reputed ancestor of the Romans, cut trees to build the fleet that carried him to Italy, he obtained permission from the goddess Cybele, a nature goddess of Phrygia* in Asia Minor. Afforestation ‘Afforestation’ means the establishment of a forest on an area from which forest has for a long time, or always, been absent. The more unusual term ‘arborisation’ means increasing the number of trees in an area, but not necessarily in the form of forest: it could also be in the form of windbreaks or single trees. Afforestation and arborisation can be by means of natural or artificial regeneration, and the latter can be by planting or sowing. Afromontane forest Closed temperate rain forest occurring from sea level (so the suffix ‘-montane’ is sometimes a misnomer) near the towns of George and Knysna* in the Western Cape Province, South Africa, to an elevation of up to 3,000 m in East Africa. Agent Orange A variant of the herbicide 2-4-5T. Used as a defoliant during the Vietnam war. According to a 1995 report by the World Bank, ‘Bombs, herbicides, and the use of heavy machinery destroyed about 4.5 million ha of forest’ in Vietnam during the 1961-75 war. Agent Orange formed the bulk of the more than 55,000 tons of chemical defoliants dropped on the states of former Indochina during this war. Its use led to many birth defects in Vietnam. A study in 2003 showed that Agent Orange still contaminates livestock and fish eaten by Vietnamese. It was an early example of chemical warfare. The use of Agent Orange is contrary to the international law of war which stipulates that weapons whose effects outlast the conflict should not be used. See also the entry Warfare and trees. 5 ‘Age of Wood’ The centuries before 1750 are sometimes called the ‘Age of Wood’, as the 19th century is called the ‘Age of Coal’ and the 20th century is called the ‘Age of Oil’. In all three cases it is the main source of energy which has given rise to the appellation. In Europe and North America it was especially the smelting and forging of iron for which huge quantities of wood were consumed, and this led to a virtual wood famine in some countries, including Britain. When, in the second half of the 18th century, people learnt how to use coal instead of wood and charcoal in the furnaces and the forges, the pressure on the forests was alleviated, and the Age of Wood passed into the Age of Coal. The Stone Age, too, could justifiably be called the ‘Age of Wood’, because wood was then not only the main source of energy, but also the main material for building and tool handles, although it is the stone implements which have survived. See also Iceman. Agony shoots Suppressed beeches, before they die, cover themselves over and over again with epicormic shoots (shoots which emerge from dormant buds on the surface of a tree), sometimes called ‘agony shoots’ because they give the impression that the tree in its death agony tries to save itself by means of such substitute shoots. Agroforestry, agro-silvo-pastoralism and silvo-pastoralism These terms mean a combination of forestry with agriculture and/or grazing on the same piece of land.

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