OT: - Interesting Facts (history, geography, science, etc.) | Page 7 | The Boneyard

OT: Interesting Facts (history, geography, science, etc.)

AZHuskiePop said:
The forrests in Connecticut are 10 times thicker than when I grew up .
Im not sure what trees are dominating
but I call it the wild East. It’s become a wildlife preserve I saw 3 bear on my last visit. skunks squirrels,rabbits, chipmunks, and maybe an occasional raccoon or possum were the most I ever saw.
Sorry to hear about Ash as it was used to make baseball bats.
One of my HS teammates actually made his own bat on a lathe in wood shop. Great bat I’m not sure it was legal though . I was impressed as I was not allowed to touch any power tools.
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Connecticut had more forrest land in 1974 than it had had in 1874.

This was an anomaly, driven by the post WW 2 economy.

The small Connecticut farms were no longer economically viable, as more "agribusiness" focused farming drove crop prices downward. And logistics of moving crops dropped down in cost, making proximity a less important price driver.

Also, as a peculiar, unintended consequence, the various farm orchards went fallow, which encouraged a resurgence in the Connecticut bear population. Lots of apples were growing, with few being harvested. Lots of good browse for Yogi and Boo Boo.
 
Conndog said:
Have you ever wondered why cashews are always sold already shelled?
That’s because the shell itself is poisonous, so growers have it removed prior to sale to public.
It’s the only nut with a poisonous shell.
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Wow...great fun fact about the true King of the Nut Family
 
ClifSpliffy said:
while i agree with the overall purpose of that article, some of the arguments within are flat out wrong. to wit;
'this tree was truly the emperor of the eastern forests,'
'It also was our most economically important tree,'
'the most highly esteemed of all native lumbers.'
no. rather than words to defend my opinion, i'll leave this logo for the storrs agricultural school, which when began, found our forests full of chestnut trees, giving them the full range of choices to pick from.

uconn-logo-png-transparent.png


that would be the mighty white oak. nothing seems to bother it, and it makes a great boat, or floor, or many other things, and today in the timber markets, has mostly blown past the value of cherry. i guess folks have 'soured' on that cherry kitchen cabinet mania. and oh, when the first real act of our revolution happened (the ct river/hartford area loggers tellin the king's tree police to pizz off in the 1600s), the predominant log in the harvest at hand was oak. mebbe i have that quote wrong. prolly moar like 'pizz off ye! take ur tax thoughts and shove 'em up ur ye ole arse.' lol.
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Oak certainly did fill the void left by the American Chestnut. It is the wood of choice for a lot of things today.
 
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AZHuskiePop said:
The forrests in Connecticut are 10 times thicker than when I grew up .
Im not sure what trees are dominating
but I call it the wild East. It’s become a wildlife preserve I saw 3 bear on my last visit. skunks squirrels,rabbits, chipmunks, and maybe an occasional raccoon or possum were the most I ever saw.
Sorry to hear about Ash as it was used to make baseball bats.
One of my HS teammates actually made his own bat on a lathe in wood shop. Great bat I’m not sure it was legal though . I was impressed as I was not allowed to touch any power tools.
Expand ...
The trees that are dominating right now are the Maples. The Red Maple and the Sugar Maple make up 34% of Connecticut’s trees. The Sycamore which can grow into some huge specimens dominates in the western half of the state. Red Oak, Black Birch, Eastern White Pine, Eastern Hemlock, a couple Hickory’s, rrrrand Beech round out the rest.
 
ClifSpliffy said:
while i agree with the overall purpose of that article, some of the arguments within are flat out wrong. to wit;
'this tree was truly the emperor of the eastern forests,'
'It also was our most economically important tree,'
'the most highly esteemed of all native lumbers.'
no. rather than words to defend my opinion, i'll leave this logo for the storrs agricultural school, which when began, found our forests full of chestnut trees, giving them the full range of choices to pick from.

uconn-logo-png-transparent.png


that would be the mighty white oak. nothing seems to bother it, and it makes a great boat, or floor, or many other things, and today in the timber markets, has mostly blown past the value of cherry. i guess folks have 'soured' on that cherry kitchen cabinet mania. and oh, when the first real act of our revolution happened (the ct river/hartford area loggers tellin the king's tree police to pizz off in the 1600s), the predominant log in the harvest at hand was oak. mebbe i have that quote wrong. prolly moar like 'pizz off ye! take ur tax thoughts and shove 'em up ur ye ole arse.' lol.
Expand ...
Not sure where your bias to not give the American Chestnut it’s due comes from, but yes you are wrong. Oak was a very valuable shipbuilding wood, as it was the only species of plentiful wood that one could build a large ocean going ship out of back in colonial days. Of the large trees in the New World eastern forests, white oak was the hardest and most stable that could take and hold shipbuilding pegs, large boards, deck planking, etc. and keep everything together and withstand all the stresses of an ocean going voyage. Aside from shipbuilding and a few other specialized uses, American Chestnut was the building wood of choice from about 1820 on for everything from barns, homes, railroad ties, etc. Oak was also used if a specialized load beam, or expensive rock hard flooring was required. A problem that the very first American colonists had with using American Chestnut for building was it’s sheer size made very difficult to chop down and get the gigantic logs to the mill. Oak being a smaller tree was easier to fell and bring to the saw mill. Carley’s article which you dispute is not argumentative as you say, but is just stating historical facts, and is spot on once lumber harvesting became a little more mechanized and the huge trees could be economically brought to the saw mill.
 
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American chestnut was a significant food source, pre- blight.

Throughout Appalachia, it was the primary food source for the domesticated swine populations, to say nothing of all the wild animal populations.

Post blight, the farmers' ability to keep their herds fed dropped considerably.
 
prankster said:
Connecticut had more forrest land in 1974 than it had had in 1874.

This was an anomaly, driven by the post WW 2 economy.

The small Connecticut farms were no longer economically viable, as more "agribusiness" focused farming drove crop prices downward. And logistics of moving crops dropped down in cost, making proximity a less important price driver.

Also, as a peculiar, unintended consequence, the various farm orchards went fallow, which encouraged a resurgence in the Connecticut bear population. Lots of apples were growing, with few being harvested. Lots of good browse for Yogi and Boo Boo.
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I grew up in Connecticut adjacent to a wooded area where much of my youth was spent .
i had a brother 7 years older than me who unfortunately for him was required to often watch me . Since his friends also had younger brothers the group was a large variety and our adventures contain many stories for another time. This woods was privately owned and for some reason was kept undeveloped and being the Post War they had no problem with a bunch of kids claiming it as theirs.
On one occasion we ran into the owners actually multiple generations
the oldest was 85 which would but his birth about 1865.
i was to young to understand the entire conversation but my 14 year bother did and we discussed this meeting until his passing..
The old man recounted how the the area we call the “Woods“ was pasture lands except for a strip that had a railway that lead to a quarry ,further up Only the tree covered mounds supporting the track were still visible. Since the woods was dotted with stonewalls we knew that it was once a farm but getting a first hand account of what everything looked like just 60-70 years earlier was fascinating .
His family not only owned that land but all the land adjacent including
my house. In fact my grandparents house next door was given to his Sister/ Cousin as a wedding present in 1899. It was state of the art with gas lighting.
The strange thing is when I was little the 19th century seemed like ancient history. The reality is it was a lot closer than today is to the early 1950’s when I grew up.
 
temery said:
'Most Wood floats.
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OK, then....

There is only one piece of wood on a US nuclear sub. And it don't float (that little factoid is a very big hint).

Can anyone here (without googling) name the type of wood and where it is used on the boat?
 

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