This week I had the honor and pleasure of being invited to teach 7th graders about the dormancy of plants in their science class.  This was yet another rewarding experience as a Virginia Master Gardener.  After four sessions, my feet were tiring and my voice was cracking - "hats off" to school teachers.  I was standing in for a regular volunteer who had encountered a conflict.  This volunteer offered to bring "Erosion Boxes" as an interactive "show and tell" for the students in case I would run short on words.  My wife tells me this is a rarity.

    The discussion of dormancy in trees naturally leads to the function of tree roots.  Our local Rappahannock River had a great friend in the Friends Of The Rappahannock, or "FOR".  They not only educate the children in the schools, but they also take them into the field  - or the river in this case.

    The "erosion boxes" were wooden boxes about 12" wide, 24" long, and 4" deep.  The boxes are constructed on 4" wedges with a drain spout approximately 1-1/2" in diameter protruding from the lower end of the tilted box, centered in the 4" wide board.  One box contained only soil and the second box contained healthy turf with dense roots 2 or 3" long.  The idea is that a wooded river bank might have a similar root zone to that of the grassy box.  The box with only soil represents a river bank with no or few trees, thus having a minimal root structure within the soil adjoining the river bank.

    Using a sprinkling can, we gently watered the box with soil only until the liquid began to pour from the drain spout in to a glass jar held by a volunteer student.  The grassy box was watered for the same amount of time and at the same rate.   The results were that the soil filled box yielded about 8 ounces of murky water with an immediate accumulation of soil in the bottom of the jar.  The grassy box yielded about 2 ounces of reasonably clear water with containing very little sediment.   Based on these very pronounced results one can conclude that established trees provide a very effective buffer against sediment erosion.

    I also learned that the primary pollutant of streams and rivers is soil which fills the river basin, destroying the natural habitat of aquatic life.  The second greatest polluter is manure from animal and man.  Other "runoff" culprits are motor oil and antifreeze.  Tires and trash are examples of premeditated negligence.

    I made a point of defending agriculture.  Without sugar cane we would have no Pepsi.  Without wheat we would have no bread.  We need to practice agriculture in a responsible and educated manner.  Farmers don't like to waste money through over fertilization, so they do soil tests.  Homeowners are being educated about when and how to fertilize.  We are making progress.  We must establish buffer zones of wooded areas in order to protect our waterways, even if it means not cashing in on valuable real estate.

    Regarding the manure, I believe we had less problems 100 years ago because we only had a third of our current population.  Less people - less cows - less septic tanks.  The animals were scattered throughout the land more evenly because of lack of transportation.  Now we have large concentrations of farm animals, thus pockets of excessive manure, in a relatively small geographical area.  The point is that we all need to eat, be it plant or animal, lest we starve.  We have to educate ourselves and invest whatever is needed to take care of our sole environment.

   Please note:  We hope everyone had a wonderful Holiday Season.  Due to technical difficulties, we have been unable to update our column for the last few weeks.  For some of you, this will be a new article, and for others it will be an old one.  We have been assured that the technical difficulties have been solved.    Next Friday, January 18th,  a brand new article will be posted.   Thank you for your patience.

                                                                                            Andy Lynn