Was Truman's Engineering/Planning Flawed?

[MOPanfisher]

The spraying and clearing happened in a lot of places.  One of he results of over cropping and clearing was the massive gravel in in of streams and creeks.  I also remember my father talking about there not being any deer around in the 30s.  Everything is a tradeoff.  Want a nice reservoir to swim and boat in and produce power, gonna lose some creeks and rivers.  Water supply is becoming more of an issue as we increase in population.

[fishinwrench]

What did they spray with, and why?

There are a couple of places around here where 5-10 acres of trees are standing dead.   I always wonder what happened there.  

[Gavin]

Could be that dicamba junk, or extended flooding with active trees. This years flood is gonna kill a bunch of trees, and the grain farmers are gonna be lucky if they get a crop in and out this year.

[tjm]

Where was all this forest in 1818?  ( Schoolcraft's trip) ( and a thousand years after the erosion of the Ozark mountains)

They sprayed a lot of brush and new growth with airplanes after the war up into the '60s- I never heard of or saw any forest sprayed because there never was forest here. Tie logs  and firewood trees are young stuff. When hand cutting and hewing ties they only cut trees that were just barely big enough to square up tie size.

[fishinwrench]

2 hours ago, tjm said:

When hand cutting and hewing ties they only cut trees that were just barely big enough to square up tie size.

From all the pics I've seen of them rafting logs on the Osage back in the day I'd say you're right.  There are never pics of "giant" logs in the rafts, just pretty much all pole timber.  

[MickinMO]

8 hours ago, fishinwrench said:

What did they spray with, and why?

There are a couple of places around here where 5-10 acres of trees are standing dead.   I always wonder what happened there.  

That's probably oak wilt of some sort. I lost a 105-125 year old white oak in my yard a couple years ago. Went from looking perfectly fine to completely dead in less than a year. Doing some research I got in touch with MU Extension and DNR. They both got back to me. The severe droughts make them more susceptible to picking up a disease. There are also factors about elevation and terrain they can't explain yet.

[MickinMO]

6 hours ago, tjm said:

Where was all this forest in 1818?  ( Schoolcraft's trip) ( and a thousand years after the erosion of the Ozark mountains)

Two ideas on that. Schoolcraft was only in the Springfield area for about a week. What is now the south side of Springfield proper and points east near Rogersville. Up on the plateau it very well could have been mainly grasslands. Springfield is relatively flat compared to points all around . Also, he may have been lying. He was trying to become a miner and find new claims/sources of lead. Last thing he would want to do is have a bunch of loggers from the east come trapsing all over it. 

[MickinMO]

We are all a little right. There were certainly forests in the Ozarks, just not as dense as what we see today in some spots. 

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.srs.fs.usda.gov/pubs/gtr/gtr_srs108/gtr_srs108-001.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwjx-9Hnq9ziAhUBaq0KHa_3CxEQFjAKegQIBhAC&usg=AOvVaw0bMRhmfE2WCU14Z6hL_oEP&cshid=1560081548979

[oneshot]

Not sure what they was spraying with but they was spraying thousands of acres of large Log Timber. It had something in it to help break down the wood and weren’t to use it for Lumber but I knew some that did cut them for Lumber.

Some went right in and Dozed it and put it in Fescue. Some would take their time put Goats in. They might burn it then put Turkeys in it.

Everyone burned their Timber before then.

Us kids would always pick rock off the fields to be planted. Back then would pick Corn by hand or just turn Cattle and Hogs in it.

Had to be careful out in the woods because Mama Sow would build a nest have babies in there all you would see is her snout sticking out. If you got too close she would put you up a tree.

We would raise Tomatoes and Cucumbers to take to Springfield. Milk Cows by hand, milk for Cheese Plant in Springfield. Buck Hay for.02 a bale.Kill Possums and Skunks for .25 apiece.

Always a way to make money. I bought Bottle Calves for $1- $5 apiece. Bought Calves for $50, Wormed and Dehorned them, put them on pasture for Summer sold them in the Fall for $150. I was working on a Farm for .75 an hour.

oneshot

[MOPanfisher]

 

Had to be careful out in the woods because Mama Sow would build a nest have babies in there all you would see is her snout sticking out. If you got too close she would put you up a tree.

 

Used to raise free range hogs when I was a kid, even a good tempered sow was a ferocious creature when she thought she was protecting a littler of piglets.