Dear Marion, Last night it snowed, and when we awoke this morning, the hemlock hedge was decked for Christmas. A summer and a winter vcacation combined. Two for the price of one! But by now the snow has melted. With the true flowers of the purple lilac and the false flowering of the dogwood spring is beginning to reassert itself. The weather prophets predict that by the end of the week, the daytime temperature should once more be in the sixties. Thank you very much for your comments on the corn vs. maple syrup. It's an interesting and important topic. I discern three important facets: What can we know? What must we do? What does our dilemma tell us about who we are? You write: _ "There's probably an element of current convention in the _ passionate rejection of Corn Syrup. Maple Syrup is highly _ prized, while Corn Syrup has become this decade's scapegoat _ for what's wrong with American eating habits and American _ agriculture. It's true that the American government subsidizes _ row crops (including corn) with taxpayer money, thus making _ corn products artificially cheap. This encourages food _ manufacturers to sweeten their products with abandon, thus _ catering to (and re-enforcing) the national predilection for _ sweets. There's been a lot of loose talk about how this excess _ sweetening of our food leads to Diabetes and Obesity, but I _ doubt this connection has much validity. At any rate, _ subsidizing row crops encourages farmers to grow more of them, _ resulting in increased use of fertilizers and pesticides, and _ more erosion. Considering the big picture then, resisting the _ puchase of corn-syrup-containing products is helpful to the _ environment and to our health in tiny ways, though joining _ a campaign to stop the large subsidies of row-crops would _ be more useful." ================ Since the concept "row crop" is new to me, I decided, before planting and cultivating my own ideology, to find out how the term "row crop" is currently used. Marooned here in Konnarock, I had no choice but to "google" "row crop", and here's what I harvested: A) Warning! The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased. Row Crops (in Russian, propashnye kultury), crops whose normal growth and development require large feeding areas and interrow tillage: Row crops include (1) grains (corn, buckwheat, millet, beans), (2) commercial crops (sugar beets, cotton, sunflowers, tobacco), (3) vegetables (cabbage, tomatoes, cucumbers, beets, carrots), and (4) forage crops (root crops, feed cabbage, potatoes). Row crops are sown or seedlings are set out by the widerow, square, or checkrow planting method, with 60-90 cm between the rows. Row-crop farming is intensive; in order to obtain high yields, organic and mineral fertilizers are applied in quantities greater than for ordinary drill seeding. Row crops are generally grown on irrigated land, and some, such as cotton, can be grown only under irrigation. During the growing season, the interrow spaces are hoed two to four times and the rows are weeded to conserve moisture and improve aeration. As a result, the soil's microbiological activity increases and mobilization of nutrients is intensified. Row crops are valuable precursors of spring grain crops, flax, and hemp. The beneficial effect of row crops extends to the second crop. ======================= B) Intercropping is the practice of growing two or more crops in proximity. The most common goal of intercropping is to produce a greater yield on a given piece of land by making use of resources that would otherwise not be utilized by a single crop. Careful planning is required, taking into account the soil, climate, crops, and varieties. It is particularly important not to have crops competing with each other for physical space, nutrients, water, or sunlight. Examples of intercropping strategies are planting a deep-rooted crop with a shallow-rooted crop, or planting a tall crop with a shorter crop that requires partial shade. Inga alley cropping has been proposed as an alternative to the ecological destruction of Slash-and-burn farming.[1] When crops are carefully selected, other agronomic benefits are also achieved. Lodging-prone plants, those that are prone to tip over in wind or heavy rain, may be given structural support by their companion crop (Trenbath 1976). Creepers can also benefit from structural support. Some plants are used to suppress weeds or provide nutrients.[2] Delicate or light sensitive plants may be given shade or protection, or otherwise wasted space can be utilized. An example is the tropical multi-tier system where coconut occupies the upper tier, banana the middle tier, and pineapple, ginger, or leguminous fodder, medicinal or aromatic plants occupy the lowest tier. Intercropping of compatible plants also encourages biodiversity, by providing a habitat for a variety of insects and soil organisms that would not be present in a single-crop environment. This biodiversity can in turn help to limit outbreaks of crop pests (Altieri 1994) by increasing the diversity or abundance of natural enemies, such as spiders or parasitic wasps. Increasing the complexity of the crop environment through intercropping also limits the places where pests can find optimal foraging or reproductive conditions.[citation needed] The degree of spatial and temporal overlap in the two crops can vary somewhat, but both requirements must be met for a cropping system to be an intercrop. Numerous types of intercropping, all of which vary the temporal and spatial mixture to some degree, have been identified (Andrews & Kassam 1976). These are some of the more significant types: * Mixed intercropping, as the name implies, is the most basic form in which the component crops are totally mixed in the available space. * Row cropping involves the component crops arranged in alternate rows. Variations include alley cropping, where crops are grown in between rows of trees, and strip cropping, where multiple rows, or a strip, of one crop are alternated with multiple rows of another crop. * Intercropping also uses the practice of sowing a fast growing crop with a slow growing crop, so that the fast growing crop is harvested before the slow growing crop starts to mature. This obviously involves some temporal separation of the two crops. * Further temporal separation is found in relay cropping, where the second crop is sown during the growth, often near the onset of reproductive development or fruiting, of the first crop, so that the first crop is harvested to make room for the full development of the second. ========================= C) Wikipedia Row crops Information A row-crop tractor is a tractor designed to help cultivate crops after they have sprouted and before they are harvested. Other tractors were used mainly for breaking and tilling the ground before planting and for harvesting, but would do more damage than good in a field of growing crops. Row-crop tractors include the earliest International Harvester Farmalls and many Oliver tractors. Many Olivers had the words "ROW CROP" painted on them. Row crop itself refers to any farm crop that is cultivated in rows. The United States Environmental Protection Agency defines 'row crop' as an "Agricultural crop planted, usually with mechanical planting devices, in individual rows that are spaced to permit machine traffic during the early parts of the growing season" The first tractors designed for the ability to fit between rows of crops were made by International Harvester, with development beginning in the 1920s. The first row-crop tractors made by IH were called "Farmalls". The cultivator mounted in the front so it was easily visible. Additionally, the tractor had a narrow front end; the front tires were spaced very closely and angled in towards the bottom. The back wheels straddled two rows and it could cultivate four rows at once. Wikipedia, Row crops, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Row_crops (as of Apr 8, 2010) for the basic model.[15] Row-crop tractor An Oliver Row Crop 60 tractor A row-crop tractor is tailored specifically to the growing of crops grown in rows, as in truck farming, and most especially to cultivating. Cultivating can take place anytime from soon after the crop plants have sprouted until soon before they are harvested. Several rounds of cultivating may be done over the season. A row-crop tractor essentially brings together a farm tractor and its cultivator into one machine, in the same way motive power has been combined into other machinery (for example, horseless carriages combined the motive power into transport vehicles; self-propelled guns combined the artillery tractor and its gun into one machine). The earliest win from introducing tractors to mechanize agriculture was in reducing the heavy efforts of plowing and harrowing before planting, which could often be (almost literally) backbreaking tasks for humans and draft animals. Early tractors were used mainly to alleviate this drudgery, but they tended to be very big and heavy, so were not well-suited to getting into a field of already-planted row crops to do weed control. Row-crop tractor history A Farmall "Regular" The first tractors designed for the ability to fit between rows of crops were made by International Harvester (IH), with development beginning in the 1920s. The first row-crop tractors made by IH were called "Farmall" tractors. The cultivator was mounted in the front so it was easily visible. Additionally, the tractor had a narrow front end; the front tires were spaced very closely and angled in towards the bottom. The back wheels straddled two rows, and it could cultivate four rows at once. From 1924 until 1963, Farmalls were the largest selling row-crop tractors. To compete, John Deere designed the Model C, which had a wide front and could cultivate three rows at once. Only 112 prototypes were made, as Deere realized sales would be lost to Farmall if their model did less. In 1928, Deere released the Model C anyway, only as the Model GP (General Purpose) to avoid confusion with the Model D when ordered over the then unclear telephone.[16] Oliver refined its "Row Crop" model early in 1930.[17] Until 1935, the 18-27 was Oliver-Hart-Parr's only row-crop tractor.[18] Many Oliver row-crop models are referred to as "Oliver Row Crop 77", "Oliver Row Crop 88", etc. Row-crop tractor safety Many early row-crop tractors had a tricycle design with two closely spaced front tires, and some even had a single front tire. This made it dangerous to operate on the side of a steep hill; as a result, many farmers died from tractor rollovers. Also, early row-crop tractors had no rollover protection system (ROPS), meaning if the tractor flipped back, the operator could be crushed. Sweden was the first country which passed legislation requiring ROPS, in 1959. Over 50% of tractor related injuries and deaths are attributed to tractor rollover.[13] Modern row-crop tractors Modern row crop tractors have rollover protection systems in the form of a reinforced cab or a roll bar. ============================ Harvard Alumni/ae, Students and Friends from around the world will be joining together this April to make a difference. As Harvard celebrates its 375th anniversary, we are calling on you to help make the program's fourth year its most successful yet! Will you join us for the Global Month of Service? Thursday, April 26th Seeding Labs Saturday, April 28th Mass Audubon Society Saturday, May 5th Soldiers' Angels Ongoing Virtual Opportunity BookMentors Ongoing Soldiers' Angels Sponsored by: Harvard Club in Concord Date TBD Community Servings Sponsored by: Phillips Brooks House Association-Alumni Saturday, April 28th The Center for Teen Empowerment Ongoing Chinatown Cultural Center Reading Room Sponsored by: Signet Society Alumni 2012 Volunteer Orientation Meetings: July 17, October 16 Sierra Club Boston Inner City Outings Click here to learn more about Harvard Serves or to register for events in other cities.