Andy Rutledge wrote:

----- Original Message -----
From: "Craig Cowing"
Thanks for letting us know, Andy. It's amazing how quickly these junipers
were
stripped off the mountains. Can any comparison be drawn between this
story and the
collection of specimens out west? I already hear Jim Lewis emphatically
nodding
his head!
Craig Cowing
-----------------------

Perhaps, but the difference between a couple of mountains in a country the
size of California and a nation whose geography is many times the size of
Japan is significant. Certainly this is a matter of geographic volume only,
but I'd not be so rash as to suggest any significantly relevant parallels as
yet.

Kind regards,
Andy Rutledge
www.andyrutledge.com
zone 8, Texas


I think you can draw some parallels between the shimpaku craze described in the
article and the near-eradication of the buffalo in the West. These animals were
nearly wiped out, were slaughtered by the hundreds for amusement and for their
hides and tongues. It all happened in the matter of a few decades. This is in a
pretty large geographic area too.

It seems to me that the numbers of collectible trees won't be uniform in a large
region, but will be somewhat concentrated in areas where conditions are at least
somewhat hospitable. So, couldn't it be conceivable that a prime area could indeed
be stripped?

Jim's point about the arid climate in contrast to the climate of Japan (which
sounds more like the northeastern US, where I live) is not condusive to the rapid
replacement of plants.

Now, bear in mind that I am fully in favor of collecting trees in the wild, but I
do it in an area where there is an over-abundance of trees of all sorts, and the
ones that need to be protected are protected.

Craig Cowing
NY
Zone 5b/6a Sunset 37

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