15 Bald cypress
By James T. Midcapand Gary L.WadeUniversity of GeorgiaMost people think of bald cypress only in a swamp, growing ingroves with roots submerged in water and branches draped inSpanish moss. But you don’t have to live in a swamp to grow baldcypress.The swamp is its natural habitat. But the tree is surprisinglyadaptable to dry sites. Bald cypress is a native American treewith a wide growing range.It’s a common wetland plant from Delaware to Florida and fromIndiana to Texas. It has prehistoric roots in the evolution ofour planet and was likely a common species when dinosaurs roamedthe earth.Think bigBald cypress is a deciduous conifer. It grows to a large, statelytree, reaching 50 to 80 feet tall and 20 to 30 feet wide atmaturity. It’s best used in large, open spaces such as parks orlarge home landscapes.It’s often overlooked as a street tree, but it’s spectacular inclusters of three or more along a pond or lake. However, itslarge size may limit its use in small home landscapes.Bald cypress was one of the most highly rated trees among themore than 200 species in an Auburn University evaluation program.It’s a tough, widely adaptable tree. It naturally grows into anattractive, pyramidal form, too, that requires little pruning.The tree prefers sites in full sun. It adapts to both wet and drysoils but prefers soils that are acidic. Its soft-textured, flatneedles are 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch long, spiraling around thetwigs.The needles emerge yellow-green in spring and turn bright greenby summer. They turn bronze-orange in fall before they drop forthe winter.Always impressiveIt’s not ugly in the winter landscape, though. As the tree ages,the bark becomes fibrous and turns reddish-brown, making adramatic statement in the landscape.Male and female flowers form separately on the tree. The maleflowers are drooping panicles 4 to 5 inches long. Female flowersare more compressed along the stems and develop into round,1-inch cones that turn brown in fall.Cypress knees are vertical root extensions commonly seen on treessubmerged in water. They help the tree absorb oxygen. Knees don’tform on plants growing on upland sites.Bald cypress has a strong taproot system and is hard totransplant from the wild. It’s best planted from a container.Fertilize established trees on upland sites once in spring with acomplete fertilizer like 16-4-8 or 12-4-8. Don’t fertilize treesgrowing in standing water. The fertilizer may hurt the biology ofthe pond or lake.(Jim Midcap and Gary Wade are Extension Servicehorticulturists with the University of Georgia College ofAgricultural and Environmental Sciences.) Volume XXIXNumber 1Page 15
Australian pension fund Cbus targets carbon-heavy coal and gas investments FacebookTwitterLinkedInEmailPrint分享The Guardian:Construction and mining industry super fund Cbus says it will slash emissions from its investments by 45% within the next 10 years, putting carbon-intensive companies on notice that they will need to demonstrate how they will cut greenhouse gas emissions in order to stay within the fund’s $54bn portfolio. Cbus has also expanded an existing pledge to hit the Paris agreement target of zero emissions by 2050 in its property and infrastructure investments to cover its entire portfolio.Its chief investment officer, Kristian Fok, stopped short of ruling out any investment in new thermal coalmining but said any such business would face an extremely high hurdle to attract Cbus’s money.“I’m not going to rule out anything, but the hurdles are going to be so high for these things, because the way we would see it is that it would have to be highly competitive against the alternatives,” he said. “Basically, we now have a [carbon] budget in our portfolio, so it would have to be more compelling than something else.”Institutional investors such as pension and superannuation funds have been ratcheting up the pressure on big emitters, such as mining companies, to slash their carbon output.In April, Norway’s US$1.1tn Government Pension Fund Global, one of the world’s biggest investors, put BHP on notice that it needed to get out of thermal coal or the fund would dump its stock in the company. At the same time, it announced it had sold its stake in Australian energy company AGL, which owns coal-fired power stations including the carbon-intensive Liddell plant in New South Wales.Asked if Cbus would be willing to take shares in a BHP coal spin-off, Fok said the new framework wouldn’t stop the fund from doing so. “But what it does make us look very carefully at is what price we’re paying for it,” he said. “In relation to thermal coal, we would look at it in relation to the global economy. But it’s quite clear the lifecycle of thermal coal is shorter than the next fossil fuel, which is gas – but the lifecycle of gas is shorter than what it used to be as well.”[Ben Butler]More: Construction and mining industry super fund puts carbon-intensive companies on notice
ARLINGTON, Minn. (May 6) – Matt Speckman was super in a flag-to-flag run to the B&B Racing Chassis IMCA Stock Car feature, on opening night Saturday for the 37th season at Arlington Raceway.Speckman led the distance with Chad Schroeder on his tail throughout. Dean Cornelius and Dan Mackenthun traded spots a couple times with Cornelius taking third at the end and Matt Schauer getting around Mackenthun to take fourth at the finish.Clint Hatlestad topped the MN 93 IMCA Modified feature while 95.7 the Rock IMCA RaceSaver Sprint Car checkers flew for Michael Stien.The Unhinged Pizza IMCA Northern SportMods saw two different leaders, Eric Bassett through the first seven circuits and Justin Remus the rest of the way.Eighth starting Cory Probst was quick to get back to his winning ways in the Premier Logistics IMCA Hobby Stocks and the Coors Light IMCA Sport Compacts saw a new car in victory lane as Alex Dostal led start to finish to win his first feature ever.Horejsi Graphics sponsored the best appearing car contest with the following drivers winning: Coors Light Sport Compact, Kyren Porter; Premier Logistics IMCA Hobby Stock, Matt Olson; Unhinged Pizza IMCA Northern SportMod, Jeremy Brown; 95.7 the Rock IMCA RaceSaver Sprint Car, Trevor Serbus; B&B Racing Chassis IMCA Stock Car, Dan Mackenthun; and MN 93 IMCA Modified, Tim Pessek.
Days after reports surfaced that Panama had rejected some 20 containers of rice from Guyana, another shipment is expected to leave these shores soon for that country.This was related to Guyana Times by President of the Guyana Rice Exporters and Millers Association (GREMA), Rajindra Persaud, following a meeting with rice millers held at the John Fernandes head office on Water Street, Georgetown.Persaud said that in approximately two weeks’ time, Guyana would be required to resend some 20 containers of rice to Panama, since the last shipment had failed to meet the specification.Guyana’s rice was rejected on arrival in Panama since it did not meet the stipulated specification as was outlined by that country.“The containers are being reshipped to Guyana…the contract was for white rice, and parboiled was shipped; that is the issue,” Persaud explained.He pointed out that, as of now, the impact of the faulty rice being shipped does notGREMA President Rajindra Persaudseem to be detrimental to the relationship between the countries, but he did say that this will be determined in another two weeks, when the rice arrives.“I don’t think there is any concern there…we just have to replace the stuff,” he noted.Several calls made by this publication to the Managing Director of the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB), Nizam Hassan, went unanswered. He was, however, reported in sections of the media as saying that the matter was being addressed by the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB), since it is unclear what actually had transpired in Panama.The GRBD has come in for some harsh criticism from the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Alesie Group of Companies, Turhane Doerga, who questioned the rationale for shipping the rice to Guyana’s most lucrative market without an inspection being done.Back in 2014, Guyana had signed a five-year agreement with Panama, under the previous administration, to have its product marketed.With the collapse of the lucrative PetroCaribe (rice for oil) Venezuela market in 2015, the challenges faced within the rice industry have been significant.The PetroCaribe deal was set to expire in November 2015, but Venezuela axed the rice deal months before the official due date. However, Government had said that the Spanish-speaking nation may still be purchasing Guyana’s rice, but through neighbouring Suriname.The PetroCaribe deal was sealed by then President Bharrat Jagdeo and late Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez. Under this deal, Guyana was required to pay upfront a percentage of the cost of fuel acquired from Venezuela, with the balance, which was placed in the PetroCaribe Fund at the Bank of Guyana, being treated as a loan repayable over 23 years with a two-year grace period and two per cent interest.
EXCLUSIVE: The future of one of Donegal’s best-known hotels is safe after it was purchased by a local businessman.Jackson’s Hotel, which is currently being run by a receiver, has been bought by popular local businessman Tommy Gallen.Mr Gallen, who already owns the popular Villa Rose Hotel and Spa in the Twin Towns, completed the deal yesterday. Up until January, 2015, Jackson’s was owned and operated by another popular local couple, Barry and Margaret Jackson.The hotel, which was opened in 1945, has been operating successfully under the receiver appointed by Bank of Ireland.But the purchase of the hotel by Mr Gallen has now secured its future in local hands.Locals in the Twin Towns are delighted with the news as Mr Gallen is a hugely-respected businessman who is involved in the running of the Villa Rose. Mr Gallen could not be reached for a comment at this time.Future of Jackson’s Hotel safe after local businessman buys it was last modified: October 13th, 2016 by StephenShare this:Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)Click to share on Telegram (Opens in new window)Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)Click to share on Skype (Opens in new window)Click to print (Opens in new window)