After H.S. graduation I thought I wanted to attend Forestry School… so attended Stephen F. Austin State College in Nacogdoches, Tx, enrolled in Dendrology 101 as one of my freshman courses.
One of the lectures involved an example of “Why Hire a Forester?” … An example of which was 80 acres in Florida heavily timbered in Cottonwoods.
”LIFE” magazine paid premiums for cottonwood-pulp because it made “slick” paper which was also exceptionally lightweight….thereby making lovely paper for publishing photographs and reducing Postage Fees for mailing those magazines to subscribers.
The gentleman who owned the 80 acres was reluctant to hire a Degreed-Forester, so the story went, …. especially since it was a simple matter to check-out a book on the subject at the local Library…. which informed the man that CottonWood trees reproduce BEST when they are “Clear-Cut”….because the bulldozers, trucks, etc which harvest and then clear the land after the harvest …. leaves the ground thoroughly distrubed…… where the harvested trees seeds will have fallen on bare, mineral soil…. resulting in a hardy re-growth.
Realizing a hardy re-growth would likely produce another valuable cottonwood stand in 20 years….the man saved the fees a forester would have charged as-well….and allowed the timber company recommended by LIFE magazine to come in and Clear-Cut his 80 acres.
What was unfortunately overlooked in this lovely activity is….. the water table was only a few feet beneath the surface…. and a mature cottonwood can pump and dissipate about 120 gallons of water Daily.
Within a month of the harvest…. the man owned 80 acres of flooded Swamp-land…. and a class action lawsuit from his flooded neighbors.
Clay subsoil can add to water retention in low-lying areas and filling-in with loam, sand, and organic material may help reduce “soggy-bottom-land”.
PostScript: My parents thought they’d met my needs by sending me off to sleepy Nacogdoches, Tx for college…. resulting in a ”2-S” student-deferment from the Selective-Service Act…. as Viet Nam was quite the News in ‘67-‘68 …. and my numbnuts brother had already managed to get himself a place in the mess hall over at Fort Polk… (his plan that flunking-out of Texas A&I down in Kingsville would be no big-deal since Dad was an Appeals-Judge on the Selective Service Appeals Board).
That plan didn’t “pan-out” for him when Dad Recused-Himself from the case… and Mel ended up landing the following year in Quang-Tri during a mortar-attack.
I was equally ignorant at age 18 …. my first semester resulting in two “A”s, three ”B”s and a “C”….. but my second-semester discovering my new dormitory-room-mate held a Private Pilot’s certificate and that Nacogdoches, Tx had an Airport!
Being as STOOPID as most other boys at that age…making the Most Important Decisions of their Lives…. I stopped attending classes … spending my days at the airport washing airplanes for flight-lessons…. and trading my dormitory meal-tickets for a borrowed-car to drive to Apple Springs (across the county-line where beer could be purchased)…. and …not being smart-enough to simply “Drop” the classes at the Registrar’s Office…. my ”Plans” were interrupted when my parents received my Grades….. Five “F”s….. and yanked my young azz out of school and brought back home to Houston… where I could be better-supervised….and was enrolled at the local junior-college for 14-hours of uninteresting courses of their selection.
My student-performance did not improve (San Jacinto Jr. College also had an aviation-curriculum of which my parents were ignorant)…. next, Uncle “Sam” promptly violated me with a “Pre-Induction-Physical Examination”…. but Congressman Pirnie drew number 354 for my birthdate…so immediately “dropped” the Gov’t 101 course so-as to keep my 1-A classification (and the 354 status)…basically meaning I’d not be “drafted” unless we actually ”Declared” that we were at War with those folks who now make the tires and appliance-dolly I own.
Never did become a “Forester”…. which wasn’t the Adult-Version of Boy Scouting I had thought it’d be anyway.
Ended up messing with airplanes after-all…. continued with my “lucky-streak”….taking every wrong-turn at every Fork-in-the-career-path I could muster …. and everything turned out wonderful despite my usual inclinations.
