"Brian Sandle" wrote in message
...
In sci.med.nutrition Oz wrote:
Jim Webster writes

Some moron:
I am thinking that the surface area of roots in contact with soil is
greater than the area exposed to wind by ploughing.

Moron.
How do you grow a crop when the land is covered by trees?
The moisture loss from green grass, trees and open water is similar.
The aim is to get a top layer dry enough to work/drill.

If the soil is too fine - a clay - then water will not drain through it.

That is why we have field drains, some of them over a thousand years old.


If the soil is such that the water will drain through it, it may still be
stopped by excess water at lower levels. Tree roots go a bit deeper and
pump out the lower water, and lower nutrients.


Then the leaves
contact the wind. Also the trees could be a crop.

Not in the UK. Typically the value of small (say 1000T) of standing
timber is approximately zero. Most places the highest value sale is for
firewood.

You don't sell all the `crops' you plant. Some are like lupin to
nitrogenate the soil.

What I am talking about is `agroforestry'. On a small dairy farm you would
not have a huge tonnage of trees, they would be widely spaced, and where
they pumped out water it would make space for adjoining water to move.

Except that the trees are pretty well worthless in the UK.


You could plant several types of trees, each working better in
slightly
different conditions.

Trees are not rates for moisture loss.

Diversity is much better against troubles.

Sometimes it is, sometimes not.
In jims case alternatives to grass are problematic.

If you are gearing a farm up to sell having some specialist timber on it
might help to sell the farm. How about some spruce, pine or maple for
violin making? I don't know but maybe the growing rates would favour the
type of density of timber? I may be way off. But if you are far enough
from population can you burn your own timber for hot water &C?

total waste of time in UK, none of those trees will pay for the grass lost
in the area they stand.


Absolutely. I doubt they would grow very well given your location
anyway. If the wind didn't get them, the salt would.

In New Zealand we grow macrocarpa near the sea. That is a useful timber.
The roots can be long and not too deep. A shelter belt of a few rows
produces many single stemmed trees. If they are standing alone you might
need to prune them.

And this is relevant to lowland Cumbria exactly how? We have a crop that is
pretty well worthless in the UK and you expect me to prune it!

Jim Webster