Charles Rogers sprang up from his squatting position just inside the paddock fence, almost dropping his pendulum in the process. "Er, Bombala do you mean? You're a fair way away, keep on this road across the Snowy River into Dalgety, turn left then right, follow the signs, OK?"
"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. What are you doing?"
"Trying to work out why this plant is growing here." He touched a largish rosette of light green leaves with his boot. "Great Mullein. It fixes sulphur in soils. In layman's terms mullein extracts nutrients from the atmosphere, mixes them with others drawn in through the roots, converts them all to sulphur which it pumps out into the soil. You're American, aren't you?"
"Idaho. I know about mullein, it's a herb, I grow herbs. There seems to be a lot of it here, all the way down both sides of the fenceline."
"Too much. Sure, the soil is deficient in sulphur but only a little bit, it doesn't need all that.. No, I think this is here for another reason. Can I help you with something else, ma'am?"
"You think plants grow where they do for specific reasons, do you? I'm involved in a project that has problems with knapweed, tansy, hawkweed and thistles. What would you make of them?"
Charles glanced at the stationary pendulum, a steel plumb bob on a cord. Without warning the bob went through a series of gyrations then became still again. "Acidic soil, severely compacted, nutrient deficient particularly in oxygen, nitrogen, copper and potassium, not many other plants about, those that do grow are subject to aphid attack. Just a moment."
The pendulum became active for a moment or two. "Hilly country, possibly once forested with fir, that might explain the acidity. Public land, I think, probably laneway or roadside. How am I doing . . . . . .?"
roger
Merla Barberie wrote:
Roger, I love this. Is a novel a better way to educate people? Will you write a novel about Rapid Lightning Road Weed Project? Our weeds are knapweed, common tansy, hawkweed and thistle. Our soil is glacial till and our conditions brittle in August and September. Our over rainfall is 36". It varies rapidly according to elevation. Teach me how to write a novel.Merla Roger Pye wrote:"Weeds? I've seen 'em all, mate, paddocks full of 'em - serrated tussock, gorse, fireweed, needle grass, blackberry. I've been farming here, man and boy, for fifty years! Aye, fifty years, nigh on. Weeds are a blight on pastures and a permanent drag on the old hip pocket. But this - well, I never saw anything like this before and that's a fact!"
