1.
Willow
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Most species are known as willow, but some narrow-leaved shrub species are called osier, and some broader-leaved species are referred to as sallow. Some willows are low-growing or creeping shrubs, for example, the dwarf willow rarely exceeds 6 cm in height, though it spreads widely across the ground. Willows all have abundant watery bark sap, which is charged with salicylic acid, soft, usually pliant, tough wood, slender branches. The roots are remarkable for their toughness, size, and tenacity to life, the leaves are typically elongated, but may also be round to oval, frequently with serrated edges. Most species are deciduous, semievergreen willows with coriaceous leaves are rare, e. g. Salix micans, all the buds are lateral, no absolutely terminal bud is ever formed. The buds are covered by a single scale, usually, the bud scale is fused into a cap-like shape, but in some species it wraps around and the edges overlap. The leaves are simple, feather-veined, and typically linear-lanceolate, usually they are serrate, rounded at base, acute or acuminate. The leaf petioles are short, the often very conspicuous, resembling tiny, round leaves. On some species, however, they are small, inconspicuous, in color, the leaves show a great variety of greens, ranging from yellowish to bluish. Willows are dioecious, with male and female flowers appearing as catkins on separate plants and this scale is square, entire, and very hairy. The anthers are rose-colored in the bud, but orange or purple after the flower opens, they are two-celled, the filaments are threadlike, usually pale brown, and often bald. The ovary is one-celled, the style two-lobed, and the ovules numerous, almost all willows take root very readily from cuttings or where broken branches lie on the ground. The few exceptions include the willow and peachleaf willow. One famous example of such growth from cuttings involves the poet Alexander Pope and this twig was planted and thrived, and legend has it that all of Englands weeping willows are descended from this first one. Willows are often planted on the borders of streams so their interlacing roots may protect the bank against the action of the water, frequently, the roots are much larger than the stem which grows from them. Willows are very cross-compatible, and numerous hybrids occur, both naturally and in cultivation, a well-known ornamental example is the weeping willow, which is a hybrid of Peking willow from China and white willow from Europe. The hybrid cultivar Boydii has gained the Royal Horticultural Societys Award of Garden Merit, Willows are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species, such as the mourning cloak butterfly. Ants, such as ants, are common on willows inhabited by aphids, coming to collect aphid honeydew
2.
Pruning
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Pruning is a horticultural and silvicultural practice involving the selective removal of certain parts of a plant, such as branches, buds, or roots. The practice entails targeted removal of diseased, damaged, dead, non-productive, structurally unsound, or otherwise unwanted tissue from crop and landscape plants. In general, the smaller the branch that is cut, the easier it is for a plant to compartmentalize the wound and thus limit the potential for pathogen intrusion. It is therefore preferable to any necessary formative structural pruning cuts to young plants, rather than removing large. Specialized pruning practices may be applied to plants, such as roses, fruit trees. It is important when pruning that the limbs are kept intact. Different pruning techniques may be deployed on herbaceous plants than those used on perennial woody plants, hedges, by design, are usually maintained by hedge trimming, rather than by pruning. In nature, meteorological conditions such as wind, ice and snow and this natural shedding is called abscission. For arboricultural purposes the unions of tree branches are placed in one of three types, collared, collarless or codominant and this is often referred to by arborists as target cutting. Branches die off for a number of reasons including light deficiency, pest and disease damage, a dead branch will at some point decay back to the parent stem and fall off. This is normally a slow process but can be quickened by high winds or extreme temperature, the main reason deadwooding is performed is safety. Situations that usually demand removal of deadwood is trees that overhang public roads, houses, public areas, trees located in wooded areas are usually assessed as lower risk but assessments consider the amount of visitors. Usually, trees adjacent to footpaths and access roads are considered for deadwood removal, another reason for deadwooding is amenity value, i. e. a tree with a large amount of deadwood throughout the crown looks more aesthetically pleasing with the deadwood removed. The physical practice of deadwooding can be carried out most of the year though not when the tree is coming into leaf, the deadwooding process speeds up the trees natural abscission process. It also reduces unwanted weight and wind resistance and can help overall balance, crown and canopy thinning increases light and reduces wind resistance by selective removal of branches throughout the canopy of the tree. This is a practice which improves the trees strength against adverse weather conditions as the wind can pass through the tree resulting in less load being placed on the tree. The shape is vital for the survival of the tree and lopping off the wrong sections of a tree if it has surpassed its height limit can actually be extremely damaging and this can hinder its growth or cause an overbalance. Crown lifting involves the removal of the branches to a given height
3.
Ancient Rome
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In its many centuries of existence, the Roman state evolved from a monarchy to a classical republic and then to an increasingly autocratic empire. Through conquest and assimilation, it came to dominate the Mediterranean region and then Western Europe, Asia Minor, North Africa and it is often grouped into classical antiquity together with ancient Greece, and their similar cultures and societies are known as the Greco-Roman world. Ancient Roman civilisation has contributed to modern government, law, politics, engineering, art, literature, architecture, technology, warfare, religion, language and society. Rome professionalised and expanded its military and created a system of government called res publica, the inspiration for modern republics such as the United States and France. By the end of the Republic, Rome had conquered the lands around the Mediterranean and beyond, its domain extended from the Atlantic to Arabia, the Roman Empire emerged with the end of the Republic and the dictatorship of Augustus Caesar. 721 years of Roman-Persian Wars started in 92 BC with their first war against Parthia and it would become the longest conflict in human history, and have major lasting effects and consequences for both empires. Under Trajan, the Empire reached its territorial peak, Republican mores and traditions started to decline during the imperial period, with civil wars becoming a prelude common to the rise of a new emperor. Splinter states, such as the Palmyrene Empire, would divide the Empire during the crisis of the 3rd century. Plagued by internal instability and attacked by various migrating peoples, the part of the empire broke up into independent kingdoms in the 5th century. This splintering is a landmark historians use to divide the ancient period of history from the pre-medieval Dark Ages of Europe. King Numitor was deposed from his throne by his brother, Amulius, while Numitors daughter, Rhea Silvia, because Rhea Silvia was raped and impregnated by Mars, the Roman god of war, the twins were considered half-divine. The new king, Amulius, feared Romulus and Remus would take back the throne, a she-wolf saved and raised them, and when they were old enough, they returned the throne of Alba Longa to Numitor. Romulus became the source of the citys name, in order to attract people to the city, Rome became a sanctuary for the indigent, exiled, and unwanted. This caused a problem for Rome, which had a large workforce but was bereft of women, Romulus traveled to the neighboring towns and tribes and attempted to secure marriage rights, but as Rome was so full of undesirables they all refused. Legend says that the Latins invited the Sabines to a festival and stole their unmarried maidens, leading to the integration of the Latins, after a long time in rough seas, they landed at the banks of the Tiber River. Not long after they landed, the men wanted to take to the sea again, one woman, named Roma, suggested that the women burn the ships out at sea to prevent them from leaving. At first, the men were angry with Roma, but they realized that they were in the ideal place to settle. They named the settlement after the woman who torched their ships, the Roman poet Virgil recounted this legend in his classical epic poem the Aeneid
4.
Propertius
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Sextus Propertius was a Latin elegiac poet of the Augustan age. He was born around 50–45 BC in Assisium and died shortly after 15 BC, Propertius surviving work comprises four books of Elegies. He was a friend of the poets Gallus and Virgil and, with them, had as his patron Maecenas and, through Maecenas, although Propertius was not as renowned in his own time as other Latin elegists, he is today regarded by scholars as a major poet. Very little information is known about Propertius outside of his own writing and his praenomen Sextus is mentioned by Aelius Donatus, a few manuscripts list him as Sextus Propertius, but the rest of his name is unknown. From numerous references in his poetry it is clear he was born and raised in Umbria, modern Assisi claims for itself the honor of his birthplace. As a boy his father died and the family lost land as part of a confiscation, combining this with cryptic references in Ovid implying he was younger than his contemporary Tibullus, a birthdate after 55 BC seems appropriate. It was during this time that he met Cynthia, the woman who would inspire him to express his poetic genius. Propertius published a first book of elegies in 25 BC, with Cynthia herself as the main theme. The Monobiblos must have attracted the attention of Maecenas, a patron of the arts who took Propertius into his circle of court poets. A second, larger book of elegies was published perhaps a later, one that includes poems addressed directly to his patron. Propertius most recent and best editor, Paul Fedeli, accepts this hypothesis, gould, editor of the Loeb edition. The publication of a book came sometime after 23 BC. Its content shows the beginning to move beyond simple love themes. The book also shows the poet growing tired of the demanding yet fickle Cynthia, Book IV, published sometime after 16 BC, displays more of the poets ambitious agenda, and includes several aetiological poems explaining the origin of various Roman rites and landmarks. Book IV, the last Propertius wrote, has half the number of poems as Book I. It is also possible that Propertius had children, either with Cynthia or a later liaison, an elegy of Ovid dated to 2 BC makes it clear that Propertius was dead by this time. Propertius fame rests on his four books of elegies, totaling around 92 poems, all his poems are written using the elegiac couplet, a form in vogue among the Roman social set during the late 1st century BC. Like nearly all the elegists, Propertius work is dominated by the figure of a single woman, scholars guess that she was probably a courtesan
5.
Fodder
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A crop is any cultivated plant, fungus, or alga that is harvested for food, clothing, livestock, fodder, biofuel, medicine, or other uses. In contrast, animals that are raised by humans are called livestock, microbes, such as bacteria or viruses, are referred to as cultures. Microbes are not typically grown for food, but are used to alter food. For example, bacteria are used to ferment milk to produce yogurt, major crops include sugarcane, pumpkin, maize, wheat, rice, cassava, soybeans, hay, potatoes, and cotton. Sleper, David A. Poehlman, John M. Breeding Field Crops
6.
Livestock
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Livestock are domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to produce commodities such as food, fiber, and labor. The term is used to refer solely to those raised for food. In recent years, some organizations have also raised livestock to promote the survival of rare breeds, animal husbandry practices have varied widely across cultures and time periods. Originally, livestock were not confined by fences or enclosures, but these practices have largely shifted to intensive animal farming and these practices increase yield of the various commercial outputs, but have led to increased concerns about animal welfare and environmental impact. Livestock production continues to play an economic and cultural role in numerous rural communities. Livestock as a word was first used between 1650 and 1660, as a merger between the live and stock. Older English sources, such as the King James Version of the Bible, the word cattle is derived from Old North French catel, which meant all kinds of movable personal property, including livestock, which was differentiated from immovable real estate. In later English, sometimes smaller livestock such as chickens and pigs were referred to as small cattle, today, the modern meaning of cattle, without a modifier, usually refers to domesticated bovines, but sometimes livestock refers only to this subgroup. Legal definition United States federal legislation sometimes more narrowly defines the term to make specified agricultural commodities either eligible or ineligible for a program or activity, for example, the Livestock Mandatory Reporting Act of 1999 defines livestock only as cattle, swine, and sheep. Animal-rearing originated during the transition to settled farming communities from hunter-gatherer lifestyles. Animals are domesticated when their breeding and living conditions are controlled by humans, over time, the collective behaviour, lifecycle and physiology of livestock have changed radically. Many modern farm animals are unsuited to life in the wild, dogs were domesticated in East Asia about 15,000 years ago. Goats and sheep were domesticated around 8000 BC in Asia, swine or pigs were domesticated by 7000 BC in the Middle East and China. The earliest evidence of horse domestication dates to around 4000 BC, the term livestock is nebulous and may be defined narrowly or broadly. Broadly, livestock refers to any breed or population of animal kept by humans for a useful and this can mean domestic animals, semidomestic animals, or captive wild animals. Semidomesticated refers to animals which are only lightly domesticated or of disputed status and these populations may also be in the process of domestication. Some people may use the term livestock to refer to only used for red meat. Livestock are used by humans for a variety of purposes, many of which have an economic value, Livestock products include, Meat A useful form of dietary protein and energy, meat is the edible tissue of the animal carcass
7.
Wood
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Wood is a porous and fibrous structural tissue found in the stems and roots of trees, and other woody plants. It is a material, a natural composite of cellulose fibers which are strong in tension embedded in a matrix of lignin which resists compression. Wood is sometimes defined as only the secondary xylem in the stems of trees, in a living tree it performs a support function, enabling woody plants to grow large or to stand up by themselves. It also conveys water and nutrients between the leaves, other growing tissues, and the roots, Wood may also refer to other plant materials with comparable properties, and to material engineered from wood, or wood chips or fiber. In 2005, the stock of forests worldwide was about 434 billion cubic meters. As an abundant, carbon-neutral renewable resource, woody materials have been of intense interest as a source of renewable energy, in 1991 approximately 3.5 billion cubic meters of wood were harvested. Dominant uses were for furniture and building construction, a 2011 discovery in the Canadian province of New Brunswick discovered the earliest known plants to have grown wood, approximately 395 to 400 million years ago. Wood can be dated by carbon dating and in species by dendrochronology to make inferences about when a wooden object was created. People have used wood for millennia for many purposes, primarily as a fuel or as a material for making houses, tools, weapons, furniture, packaging, artworks. Constructions using wood date back ten thousand years, buildings like the European Neolithic long house were made primarily of wood. Recent use of wood has changed by the addition of steel. The year-to-year variation in tree-ring widths and isotopic abundances gives clues to the climate at that time. This process is known as growth, it is the result of cell division in the vascular cambium, a lateral meristem. These cells then go on to form thickened secondary cell walls, composed mainly of cellulose, hemicellulose, if the distinctiveness between seasons is annual, these growth rings are referred to as annual rings. Where there is little seasonal difference growth rings are likely to be indistinct or absent, if the bark of the tree has been removed in a particular area, the rings will likely be deformed as the plant overgrows the scar. It is usually lighter in color than that near the portion of the ring. The outer portion formed later in the season is known as the latewood or summerwood. However, there are differences, depending on the kind of wood
8.
Pergola
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The origin of the word is the Late Latin pergula, referring to a projecting eave. As a type of gazebo, it may also be an extension of a building or serve as protection for a terrace or a link between pavilions. They are different from green tunnels, pergolas are sometimes confused with arbours, and the terms are often used interchangeably. An arbour is generally regarded as a bench seat with a roof. A pergola, on the hand, is a much larger and more open structure. As a type of gazebo, it may also be an extension of a building or serve as protection for a terrace or a link between pavilions. Pergolas may link pavilions or extend from a door to an open garden feature such as an isolated terrace or pool. Freestanding pergolas, those not attached to a home or other structure, provide an area that allows for breeze and light sun. Pergolas also give climbing plants a structure on which to grow, at the Medici villa, La Petraia, inner and outer curving segments of such green walks, the forerunners of pergolas, give structure to the pattern, which can be viewed from the long terrace above it. The origin of the word is the Late Latin pergula, referring to a projecting eave, the English term was borrowed from Italian. The clearly artificial nature of the pergola made it fall from favor in the naturalistic gardening styles of the 18th and 19th centuries, a particularly extensive pergola features at the gardens of The Hill, Hampstead, designed by Thomas Mawson for his client W. H. Lever. Wooden pergolas are either made from a weather-resistant wood, such as western redcedar or, formerly, of coast redwood, are painted or stained, for a low maintenance alternative to wood, vinyl, fiberglass, aluminum and CPVC can be used. These materials do not require paint or stain like a wooden pergola and their manufacture can make them even stronger. Breezeway Brise soleil Latticework Patio Trellis Vine training systems
9.
Lagerstroemia
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It is a member of the family Lythraceae, which are also known as the loosestrife family. The genus is named after the Swedish merchant Magnus von Lagerström and these flowering trees are beautifully colored and are often planted both privately and commercially as ornamentals. Crepe myrtles are chiefly known for their colorful and long-lasting flowers which occur in summer, most species of Lagerstroemia have sinewy, fluted stems and branches with a mottled appearance that arises from having bark that sheds throughout the year. The leaves are opposite and simple, with entire margins, while all species are woody in nature, they can range in height from over 30 m to under 30 cm, most, however, are small to medium multiple-trunked trees and shrubs. The leaves of species provide autumn color. Flowers are borne in summer and autumn in panicles of crinkled flowers with a crepe-like texture, colors vary from deep purple to red to white, with almost every shade in between. Although no blue-flowered varieties exist, the trend toward the blue end of the spectrum with no orange or yellow except in stamens. The fruit is a capsule, green and succulent at first and it splits along six or seven lines, producing teeth much like those of the calyx, and releases numerous, small, winged seeds. In their respective climates, both subtropical and tropical species are common in domestic and commercial landscapes, Lagerstroemia species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Endoclita malabaricus. The leaves of L. parviflora are fed on by the Antheraea paphia moth which produces the tassar silk, certain species of crepe myrtle are used in landscaping and gardening as screens, lawn specimens, shrub borders, and container plants. The common crepe myrtle from China and Korea was introduced circa 1790 to Charleston, South Carolina, in the wild, the species is most often found as a multistemmed large shrub, but 200 years of cultivation have resulted in a huge number of cultivars of widely varying characteristics. In Europe, crepe myrtle is common in the south of France, the Iberian Peninsula and this species is distinctly tree-like, with colorful deciduous bark and dark green leaves which are more resistant to fungal diseases than are those of its more popular relative. The Japanese name for tree is saru suberi which refers to the smooth. Flowers are as large as those of L. indica, but are white with only the slightest pink flush appearing in some individuals, Japanese crepe myrtle is hardier to cold than many strains of L. indica, a characteristic that makes it valuable as genetic material for hybridization. Cultivars available include Kiowa, Fantasy, and Townhouse, L. speciosa, known as queen crepe myrtle, giant crepe myrtle, or banabá, originates in subtropical and tropical India. It can be grown in any climate, but in the United States is suitable only for Florida, southernmost Texas, coastal southern California. Australian Plant Name Index, IBIS database, centre for Plant Biodiversity Research, Australian Government. Flora of China, Lagerstroemia species list Flora, The Gardeners Bible, ABC Publishing, Ultimo, NSW, Australia,2006 Lagerstromia
10.
Sluis
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Sluis is the name of both a municipality and a town located in the west of Zeelandic Flanders, in the south-western part of the Netherlands. The current incarnation of the municipality exists since on 1 January 2003, the former municipalities of Oostburg and Sluis-Aardenburg merged on that date. The latter of two municipalities was formed from a merger between the previous municipality named Sluis and the former municipality of Aardenburg. The town received city rights in 1290, in 1340 the Battle of Sluys was fought nearby at sea. From 2006 until its closure in 2013, Oud Sluis was one of only two Michelin three-starred restaurants in the entire country, the population of the city is 2,040. A ferry connection across the Westerschelde exists between Breskens and Vlissingen, after the opening of the Westerschelde tunnel near Terneuzen in 2003, the ferry now carries only pedestrian and bicycle traffic. Seventeenth-century painter Jacob van Loo was from Sluis, johan Hendrik van Dale, the creator of the Dutch Van Dale dictionary, Ernst Oppler, German painter, lived some years in Sluis Zwin Media related to Sluis at Wikimedia Commons Official website
11.
Aardenburg
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Aardenburg is a small city close to the Dutch border with Belgium. It is part of the Sluis Municipality, located in the province of Zeeland in the Netherlands, in the Sint-Baafskerk, Aardenburg houses the most complete example of the Scheldegotiek, the characteristic Gothic architecture of the Scheldt. It is also still possible today to see remains of some of the fortifications used to enclose the city. Archeologists have found proof of settlement as early as 4500 BC, the site was a small Roman vicus, flourishing in the second and third centuries AD, where the foundations have been uncovered of a small Celto-Roman temple. The most significant find, however, was that of a Roman building with a foundation of 18 by 10 meters, the Roman Castellum was in use from 175 to 270 AD. On top of the foundations of this Roman building there were the remains of a Medieval building, rodenburgh was granted city rights in 1127 and is thus one of the oldest cities in the Netherlands and is the oldest city in Zealand. Until July 1,1966, Aardenburg was a separate municipality, until January 1,2003, it was then in the municipality of Sluis-Aardenburg. In 2003 Sluis-Aardenburg and nearby Oostburg were combined into an enlarged Sluis municipality, Aardenburg was walled at the end of the thirteenth century, the present Kaaipoort at the old towns western entrance dates only from the sixteenth century. The name of the gate recalls Aardenburgs former harbour, the site of which is now dominated by a bank, the blue banner decorating the Kaaipoort in this picture is a temporary embellishment, celebrating the carnival that precedes Lent. Frans Dieleman, Dutch geographer Ate de Jong, Dutch film director, map of the former municipality in 1868
12.
Zeeland
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Zeeland is the westernmost province of the Netherlands. The province, located in the south-west of the country, consists of a number of islands and peninsulas and its area is about 2,930 square kilometres, of which almost 1,140 square kilometres is water, and it has a population of about 380,000. Large parts of Zeeland are below sea level, the last great flooding of the area was in 1953. Tourism is an important economic activity, in the summer, its beaches make it a popular destination for tourists, especially German tourists. In some areas, the population can be two to four times higher during the summer season. The coat of arms of Zeeland shows a lion half-emerged from water, the country of New Zealand is named after Zeeland - not Zealand in Denmark, as sometimes claimed. Nehalennia is a goddess of the ancient religion known around the province of Zeeland and her worship dates back at least to the 2nd century BC, and flourished in the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD. She was possibly a goddess, either Celtic or pre-Germanic – sources differ on the culture that first worshipped her. During the Roman Era, her main function appeared to be the protection of travelers, most of what is known about her comes from the remains of over 160 carved stone offerings which have been dredged up from the Eastern Scheldt since 1970. Two more Nehalennia offering stones have also found in Cologne. Zeeland was an area between the counts of Holland and Flanders until 1299, when the last count of Holland died. Followed by the counts of Bavaria, Burgundy and Habsburg, after 1585 Zeeland followed, as one of the 7 independent provinces, the fate of the Northern part of The Netherlands. In 1432 it became part of the Low Countries possessions of Philip the Good of Burgundy, through marriage, the Seventeen Provinces became the property of the Habsburgs in 1477. In the Eighty Years War, Zeeland was on the side of the Union of Utrecht, the area now called Zeeuws-Vlaanderen was not part of Zeeland, but a part of the county of Flanders that was conquered by the United Provinces, hence called Staats-Vlaanderen. After the French occupation and the formation of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands in 1815, during World War II, Zeeland was occupied by Nazi Germany between June 1940 and November 1944. In 1944, Zeeland was devastated by the Battle of the Scheldt, the catastrophic North Sea flood of 1953, which killed over 1800 people in Zeeland, led to the construction of the protective Delta Works. The province of Zeeland is a river delta situated at the mouth of several major rivers, namely Scheldt, Rhine. Most of the province lies below sea level and was reclaimed from the sea by inhabitants over time, what used to be a muddy landscape, flooding at high tide and reappearing at low tide, became a series of small man-made hills that stayed dry at all times
13.
Coppicing
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Coppicing is a traditional method of woodland management which takes advantage of the fact that many trees make new growth from the stump or roots if cut down. In a coppiced wood, which is called a copse, young stems are repeatedly cut down to near ground level. In subsequent growth years, many new shoots emerge, and, after a number of years the coppiced tree, or stool, is ready to be harvested. Pollarding is a process carried out at a higher level on the tree. Many forestry practices worldwide involve cutting and regrowth, and coppicing has been of significance in many parts of lowland temperate Europe, the widespread and long-term practice of coppicing as a landscape-scale industry is something that remains of special importance in southern England. For this reason many of the English-language terms referenced in this article are particularly relevant to historic, typically a coppiced woodland is harvested in sections or coups on a rotation. In this way, a crop is available each year somewhere in the woodland, coppicing has the effect of providing a rich variety of habitats, as the woodland always has a range of different-aged coppice growing in it, which is beneficial for biodiversity. The cycle length depends upon the species cut, the custom. Birch can be coppiced for faggots on a three- or four-year cycle, coppicing maintains trees at a juvenile stage, and a regularly coppiced tree will never die of old age — some coppice stools may therefore reach immense ages. The age of a stool may be estimated from its diameter, evidence suggests that coppicing has been continuously practiced since pre-history. Coppiced stems are characteristically curved at the base and this curve occurs as the competing stems grow out from the stool in the early stages of the cycle, then up towards the sky as the canopy closes. The curve may allow the identification of coppice timber in archaeological sites, timber in the Sweet Track in Somerset has been identified as coppiced lime. When it originated, the system now called coppicing was solely for small wood production. In German this is called Niederwald, which translates as low forest, later on in Mediaeval times farmers encouraged pigs to feed from acorns and so some trees were allowed to grow bigger. This different silvicultural system is called in English coppice with standards, in German this is called Mittelwald, which translates as middle forest. As modern forestry seeks to harvest timber mechanically, and pigs are generally no longer fed from acorns, in the days of charcoal iron production in England, most woods in ironmaking regions were managed as coppices, usually being cut on a cycle of about 16 years. In this way, fuel could be provided for industry, in principle indefinitely. This was regulated by a statute of 1544 of Henry VIII, coppice with standards has been commonly used throughout most of Europe as a means of giving greater flexibility in the resulting forest product from any one area
14.
Firewood
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Firewood is any wooden material that is gathered and used for fuel. Generally, firewood is not highly processed and is in some sort of recognizable log or branch form, Firewood can be seasoned or unseasoned. It can be classed as hardwood or softwood, however, demand for this fuel can outpace its ability to regenerate on a local or regional level. Good forestry practices and improvements in devices that use firewood can improve local wood supplies, harvesting or collecting firewood varies by the region and culture. Some places have specific areas for firewood collection, other places may integrate the collection of firewood in the cycle of preparing a plot of land to grow food as part of a field rotation process. Collection can be a group, family or an individual activity, the tools and methods for harvesting firewood are diverse. Some firewood is harvested in woodlots managed for that purpose, deadfall that has not started to rot is preferred, since it is already partly seasoned. Standing dead timber is considered better still, for it has less dirt on the trunk, allowing tools to stay sharper longer, harvesting this form of timber reduces the speed and intensity of bushfires, but it also reduces habitat for snag-nesting animals such as owls and some rodents. Harvesting timber for firewood is normally carried out by hand with chainsaws, thus, longer pieces - requiring less manual labour, and less chainsaw fuel - are less expensive and only limited by the size of the firebox. In most of the United States, the measure of firewood is a cord or 128 cubic feet, however. The BTU value can affect the price, prices also vary considerably with the distance from wood lots, and quality of the wood. Buying and burning firewood that was cut only a distance from its final destination prevents the accidental spread of invasive tree-killing insects. In most parts of the world, firewood is only prepared for transport at the time it is harvested, then it is moved closer to the place it will be used as fuel and prepared there. The process of making charcoal from firewood can take place at the place the firewood is harvested, most firewood also requires splitting, which also allows for faster seasoning by exposing more surface area. Today most splitting is done with a hydraulic splitting machine, another method is to use a kinetic log splitter, which uses a rack and pinion system powered by a small motor and a large flywheel used for energy storage. There are many ways to store firewood and these range from simple piles to free-standing stacks, to specialized structures. Usually the goal of storing wood is to keep away from it. Stacks, The simplest stack is where logs are placed next to and on top of each other, the height of the stack can vary, generally depending upon how the ends are constructed
15.
Common land
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A person who has a right in, or over, common land jointly with another or others is called a commoner. This article deals mainly with land in England, Wales. Common land or former common land is referred to as a common, for instance. This manorial system, founded on feudalism, granted rights of use to different classes. These would be appurtenant rights, that is the ownership of rights belonged to tenancies of particular plots of land held within a manor, a commoner would be the person who, for the time being, was the occupier of a particular plot of land. Some rights of common were said to be in gross, that is and this was more usual in regions where commons are more extensive, such as in the high ground of Northern England or on the Fens, but also included many village greens across England and Wales. Most land with appurtenant commons rights is adjacent to the common or even surrounded by it, example rights of common are, Pasture. Right to pasture cattle, horses, sheep or other animals on the common land, right to take sods of turf for fuel. Common in the Soil This is a term used for rights to extract minerals such as sands, gravels, marl, walling stone. Right to turn out pigs for a period in autumn to eat mast, right to take sufficient wood for the commoners house or holding, usually limited to smaller trees, bushes and fallen branches. On most commons, rights of pasture and pannage for each commoner are tightly defined by number and type of animal, on some commons, the rights are not limited by numbers, and instead a marking fee is paid each year for each animal turned out. However, if excessive use was made of the common, for example, in overgrazing, a common would be stinted, that is and these regulations were responsive to demographic and economic pressure. Thus rather than let a common become degraded, access was restricted even further, Pasture commons are those where the primary right is to pasture livestock. These habitats are often of high nature conservation value, because of their very long continuity of management extending in some cases over many hundreds of years. In the past, most pasture commons would have been grazed by mixtures of cattle, sheep, the modern survival of grazing on pasture commons over the past century is uneven. When not in use for those purposes, such commons were grazed, examples include the common arable fields around the village of Laxton in Nottinghamshire, and a common meadow at North Meadow, Cricklade. Lammas rights entitled commoners to pasture following the harvest, between Lammas day,12 August, to 6 April, even if they did not have rights to the land. Such rights sometimes had the effect of preventing enclosure and building development on agricultural land, most of the medieval common land of England was lost due to enclosure
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Royal forest
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A royal forest is an area of land with different definitions in England, Wales, and Scotland. There are also differing and contextual interpretations in Continental Europe derived from the Carolingian and Merovingian legal systems, in Anglo-Saxon England, though the kings were great huntsmen they never set aside areas declared to be outside the law of the land. Historians find no evidence of the Anglo-Saxon monarchs creating forests, however, under the Norman kings, by royal prerogative forest law was widely applied. The law was designed to protect the venison and the vert, the animals of the chase – notably red and fallow deer, the roe deer, and the wild boar –. Forests were designed as hunting areas reserved for the monarch or the aristocracy, the extent and intensity of hardship and of depopulation have been exaggerated, H. R. Loyn observed. During the Middle Ages, the practice of reserving areas of land for the use of the aristocracy was common throughout Europe. Royal forests usually included large areas of heath, grassland and wetland – anywhere that supported deer and other game, in addition, when an area was initially designated forest, any villages, towns and fields that lay within it were also subject to forest law. The areas that became Royal forests were already relatively wild and sparsely populated, prosperous, well-farmed areas were not generally chosen to be afforested, if they were, they tended to lose the status fairly rapidly. In the South West, forests extended across the Upper Jurassic Clay Vale, in the Midlands, the clay plain surrounding the River Severn was heavily wooded. Clay soils in Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Huntingdonshire and Northamptonshire formed another belt of woodlands, in Hampshire, Berkshire and Surrey, woodlands were established on sandy, gravelly acid soils. Upland moors too were chosen, such as Dartmoor and Exmoor in the South West, the North Yorkshire moors, a sandstone plateau, had a number of Royal forests. William the Conqueror, a lover of hunting, established the system of forest law. This operated outside the law, and served to protect game animals. In the year of his death,1087, a poem, The Rime of King William, inserted in the Peterborough Chronicle, offences in forest law were divided into two categories, trespass against the vert and the venison. The five animals of the forest protected by law were given by Manwood as the hart and hind, boar, hare and wolf. Protection was also said to be extended to the beasts of chase, the buck and doe, fox, marten, and roe deer, and the beasts and fowls of warren, the hare, coney, pheasant, and partridge. The rights of chase and of warren were granted to local nobility for a fee. Disafforested lands on the edge of the forest were known as purlieus, agriculture was permitted here, the kings rapidly discovered that abridging their rights in the royal forests could provide a useful source of income
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Epping Forest
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Epping Forest is an area of ancient woodland near Epping, straddling the border between Greater London and Essex. It is a royal forest, and is managed by the City of London Corporation. It covers 2,476 hectares and contains areas of woodland, grassland, heath, rivers, bogs and ponds, and most of it is a Site of Special Scientific Interest and a Special Area of Conservation. The forest lies on a ridge between the valleys of the rivers Lea and Roding, its elevation and thin gravelly soil historically made it unsuitable for agriculture and it gives its name to the Epping Forest local government district which covers part of it. The name Epping Forest was first recorded in the 17th century, the area which became known as Waltham, and then Epping Forest has been continuously forested since Neolithic times. The former lime/linden Tilia-dominated woodland was permanently altered during Saxon times by cutting of trees. Todays beech-birch and oak-hornbeam-dominated forest was the result of partial forest clearance in Saxon times, the forest is thought to have been given legal status as a royal forest by Henry II in the 12th century. This status allowed commoners to use the forest to gather wood and foodstuffs, and to graze livestock and turn out pigs for mast, but only the king was allowed to hunt there. Forest in the sense of royal forest meant an area of land reserved for royal hunting, where the forest laws applied. In Tudor times, Henry VIII and Queen Elizabeth I may have hunted in the forest, in 1543, Henry commissioned a building, known as Great Standing, from which to view the chase at Chingford. The building was renovated in 1589 for Queen Elizabeth I and can still be today in Chingford. The building is now known as Queen Elizabeths Hunting Lodge, and is open to the public, there is another hunt standing, which now forms the core of the Forest HQ at the Warren, Loughton. There were disputes between landowners and commoners, one group of commoners was led by Thomas Willingale who on behalf of the villagers of Loughton continued to lop the trees after the Lord of the Manor had enclosed 550 hectares of forest in Loughton. This led to an injunction against further enclosures, the Epping Forest Act 1878 was passed, saving the forest from enclosure, and halting the shrinkage of the forest that this had caused. Epping Forest ceased to be a royal forest and was placed in the care of the City of London Corporation who act as Conservators, in addition, the Crowns right to venison was terminated, and pollarding was no longer allowed, although grazing rights continued. This act laid down a stipulation that the Conservators shall at all times keep Epping Forest unenclosed and unbuilt on as a space for the recreation. In compensation for the loss of lopping rights, Lopping Hall in Loughton was built as a community building, the City of London Corporation still manages Epping Forest in strict conformity with the Epping Forest Act. This care is funded from Citys Cash, the funds of the Corporation rather than any money for its upkeep coming from local rates or taxes
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London
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London /ˈlʌndən/ is the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingdom. Standing on the River Thames in the south east of the island of Great Britain and it was founded by the Romans, who named it Londinium. Londons ancient core, the City of London, largely retains its 1. 12-square-mile medieval boundaries. London is a global city in the arts, commerce, education, entertainment, fashion, finance, healthcare, media, professional services, research and development, tourism. It is crowned as the worlds largest financial centre and has the fifth- or sixth-largest metropolitan area GDP in the world, London is a world cultural capital. It is the worlds most-visited city as measured by international arrivals and has the worlds largest city airport system measured by passenger traffic, London is the worlds leading investment destination, hosting more international retailers and ultra high-net-worth individuals than any other city. Londons universities form the largest concentration of education institutes in Europe. In 2012, London became the first city to have hosted the modern Summer Olympic Games three times, London has a diverse range of people and cultures, and more than 300 languages are spoken in the region. Its estimated mid-2015 municipal population was 8,673,713, the largest of any city in the European Union, Londons urban area is the second most populous in the EU, after Paris, with 9,787,426 inhabitants at the 2011 census. The citys metropolitan area is the most populous in the EU with 13,879,757 inhabitants, the city-region therefore has a similar land area and population to that of the New York metropolitan area. London was the worlds most populous city from around 1831 to 1925, Other famous landmarks include Buckingham Palace, the London Eye, Piccadilly Circus, St Pauls Cathedral, Tower Bridge, Trafalgar Square, and The Shard. The London Underground is the oldest underground railway network in the world, the etymology of London is uncertain. It is an ancient name, found in sources from the 2nd century and it is recorded c.121 as Londinium, which points to Romano-British origin, and hand-written Roman tablets recovered in the city originating from AD 65/70-80 include the word Londinio. The earliest attempted explanation, now disregarded, is attributed to Geoffrey of Monmouth in Historia Regum Britanniae and this had it that the name originated from a supposed King Lud, who had allegedly taken over the city and named it Kaerlud. From 1898, it was accepted that the name was of Celtic origin and meant place belonging to a man called *Londinos. The ultimate difficulty lies in reconciling the Latin form Londinium with the modern Welsh Llundain, which should demand a form *lōndinion, from earlier *loundiniom. The possibility cannot be ruled out that the Welsh name was borrowed back in from English at a later date, and thus cannot be used as a basis from which to reconstruct the original name. Until 1889, the name London officially applied only to the City of London, two recent discoveries indicate probable very early settlements near the Thames in the London area
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Essex
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Essex /ˈɛsᵻks/ is a county in England immediately north-east of London. It borders the counties of Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, the county town is Chelmsford, which is the only city in the county. Essex occupies the part of the old Kingdom of Essex, before this. As well as areas, the county also includes London Stansted Airport, the new towns of Basildon and Harlow, Lakeside Shopping Centre, the port of Tilbury. Originally recorded in AD527, Essex occupied territory to the north of the River Thames, incorporating all of what later became Middlesex and its territory was later restricted to lands east of the River Lea. In changes before the Norman conquest the East Saxons were subsumed into the Kingdom of England and, following the Norman conquest, Essex became a county. During the medieval period, much of the area was designated a Royal forest, including the county in a period to 1204. Gradually, the subject to forest law diminished, but at various times included the forests of Becontree, Chelmsford, Epping, Hatfield, Ongar. County-wide administration Essex County Council was formed in 1889, however County Boroughs of West Ham, Southend-on-Sea and East Ham formed part of the county but were unitary authorities. 12 boroughs and districts provide more localised services such as rubbish and recycling collections, leisure and planning, parish-level administration – changes A few Essex parishes have been transferred to other counties. Before 1889, small areas were transferred to Hertfordshire near Bishops Stortford, Essex became part of the East of England Government Office Region in 1994 and was statistically counted as part of that region from 1999, having previously been part of the South East England region. Two unitary authorities In 1998 the boroughs of Southend-on-Sea and Thurrock were granted autonomy from the county of Essex after successful requests to become unitary authorities. Essex Police covers the county and the two unitary authorities. The county council chamber and main headquarters is at the County Hall in Chelmsford, before 1938 the council regularly met in London near Moorgate, which with significant parts closer to that point and the dominance of railways had been more convenient than any place in the county. It currently has 75 elected councillors, before 1965, the number of councillors reached over 100. The highest point of the county of Essex is Chrishall Common near the village of Langley, close to the Hertfordshire border, the pattern of settlement in the county is diverse. Epping Forest also acts as a barrier to the further spread of London. Part of the southeast of the county, already containing the population centres of Basildon, Southend and Thurrock, is within the Thames Gateway
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United Kingdom
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The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom or Britain, is a sovereign country in western Europe. Lying off the north-western coast of the European mainland, the United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state—the Republic of Ireland. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland, with an area of 242,500 square kilometres, the United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world and the 11th-largest in Europe. It is also the 21st-most populous country, with an estimated 65.1 million inhabitants, together, this makes it the fourth-most densely populated country in the European Union. The United Kingdom is a monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. The monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who has reigned since 6 February 1952, other major urban areas in the United Kingdom include the regions of Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester. The United Kingdom consists of four countries—England, Scotland, Wales, the last three have devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in their capitals, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, respectively. The relationships among the countries of the UK have changed over time, Wales was annexed by the Kingdom of England under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. A treaty between England and Scotland resulted in 1707 in a unified Kingdom of Great Britain, which merged in 1801 with the Kingdom of Ireland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922, leaving the present formulation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, there are fourteen British Overseas Territories. These are the remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, British influence can be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former colonies. The United Kingdom is a country and has the worlds fifth-largest economy by nominal GDP. The UK is considered to have an economy and is categorised as very high in the Human Development Index. It was the worlds first industrialised country and the worlds foremost power during the 19th, the UK remains a great power with considerable economic, cultural, military, scientific and political influence internationally. It is a nuclear weapons state and its military expenditure ranks fourth or fifth in the world. The UK has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946 and it has been a leading member state of the EU and its predecessor, the European Economic Community, since 1973. However, on 23 June 2016, a referendum on the UKs membership of the EU resulted in a decision to leave. The Acts of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have devolved self-government
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Beech
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Beech is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia and North America. Recent classification systems of the genus recognize ten to thirteen species in two subgenera, Engleriana and Fagus. Further differentiating characteristics include the whitish bloom on the underside of the leaves, the visible tertiary leaf veins, Fagus japonica, Fagus engleriana, and the species F. okamotoi, proposed by the botanist Chung-Fu Shen in 1992, comprise this subgenus. The better known Fagus subgenus beeches are high-branching with tall, stout trunks and this group includes Fagus sylvatica, Fagus grandifolia, Fagus crenata, Fagus lucida, Fagus longipetiolata, and Fagus hayatae. The classification of the European beech, Fagus sylvatica is complex, research suggests that beeches in Eurasia differentiated fairly late in evolutionary history, during the Miocene. The populations in this area represent a range of often overlapping morphotypes, within its family, the Fagaceae, recent research has suggested that Fagus is the evolutionarily most basal group. The southern beeches previously thought closely related to beeches, are now treated as members of a separate family and they are found in Australia, New Zealand, New Guinea, New Caledonia, Argentina and Chile. The European beech is the most commonly cultivated, although there are few important differences between species aside from detail elements such as leaf shape, the leaves of beech trees are entire or sparsely toothed, from 5–15 cm long and 4–10 cm broad. Beeches are monoecious, bearing male and female flowers on the same plant. The small flowers are unisexual, the flowers borne in pairs. They are produced in spring shortly after the new leaves appear, the bark is smooth and light grey. The fruit is a small, sharply three–angled nut 10–15 mm long, borne singly or in pairs in soft-spined husks 1. 5–2.5 cm long, known as cupules. The husk can have a variety of spine- to scale-like appendages, the nuts are edible, though bitter with a high tannin content, and are called beechnuts or beechmast. The name of the tree is of Indo-European origin, and played an important role in debates on the geographical origins of the Indo-European people. Greek φηγός is from the root, but the word was transferred to the oak tree as a result of the absence of beech trees in Greece. Beech grows on a range of soil types, acidic or basic. The tree canopy casts dense shade, and carpets the ground thickly with leaf litter, in North America, they often form beech-maple climax forests by partnering with the sugar maple. The beech blight aphid is a common pest of American beech trees, Beeches are also used as food plants by some species of Lepidoptera
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England
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England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west, the Irish Sea lies northwest of England and the Celtic Sea lies to the southwest. England is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east, the country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain in its centre and south, and includes over 100 smaller islands such as the Isles of Scilly, and the Isle of Wight. England became a state in the 10th century, and since the Age of Discovery. The Industrial Revolution began in 18th-century England, transforming its society into the worlds first industrialised nation, Englands terrain mostly comprises low hills and plains, especially in central and southern England. However, there are uplands in the north and in the southwest, the capital is London, which is the largest metropolitan area in both the United Kingdom and the European Union. In 1801, Great Britain was united with the Kingdom of Ireland through another Act of Union to become the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1922 the Irish Free State seceded from the United Kingdom, leading to the latter being renamed the United Kingdom of Great Britain, the name England is derived from the Old English name Englaland, which means land of the Angles. The Angles were one of the Germanic tribes that settled in Great Britain during the Early Middle Ages, the Angles came from the Angeln peninsula in the Bay of Kiel area of the Baltic Sea. The earliest recorded use of the term, as Engla londe, is in the ninth century translation into Old English of Bedes Ecclesiastical History of the English People. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, its spelling was first used in 1538. The earliest attested reference to the Angles occurs in the 1st-century work by Tacitus, Germania, the etymology of the tribal name itself is disputed by scholars, it has been suggested that it derives from the shape of the Angeln peninsula, an angular shape. An alternative name for England is Albion, the name Albion originally referred to the entire island of Great Britain. The nominally earliest record of the name appears in the Aristotelian Corpus, specifically the 4th century BC De Mundo, in it are two very large islands called Britannia, these are Albion and Ierne. But modern scholarly consensus ascribes De Mundo not to Aristotle but to Pseudo-Aristotle, the word Albion or insula Albionum has two possible origins. Albion is now applied to England in a poetic capacity. Another romantic name for England is Loegria, related to the Welsh word for England, Lloegr, the earliest known evidence of human presence in the area now known as England was that of Homo antecessor, dating to approximately 780,000 years ago. The oldest proto-human bones discovered in England date from 500,000 years ago, Modern humans are known to have inhabited the area during the Upper Paleolithic period, though permanent settlements were only established within the last 6,000 years
