That's a very interesting point about grazing/farming/timber. I know there was a lot of farming in the borough of Queens in the early days (which is actually on the western tip of Long Island). The bedrock is so close to the surface in Manhattan and parts of the Bronx that maybe it wasn't as ideal for any kind of long-term farming. But sheep grazed in a meadow in Central Park until the 1930s! I read that they were moved upstate so that people wouldn't kill and eat them during the hard times of the depression!
And the reason why so many of these old trees are in the Bronx is because that was the last borough of NYC to be developed. I will read more in depth about all this interesting history. Jenny On Mar 2, 10:07 am, Will Fell <[email protected]> wrote: > I've enjoyed the dialogue about the parks. Never have been there, but > one thing to consider about ageing the trees is the prior use of the > park. Down here in Savannah, the squares and old parks date back to > the original settling of the area in the 1730's, but the trees are not > that old as the parks/squares were laid out as commons and were used > for gardens and livestock for the residents around them up until well > after the war between the states. As such they were devoid of trees as > many of the old photos of the late 19th century show. Perhaps the > residents of NY were a bit more sophisticated, but it seems I have > read where even in NYC they used central park area for grazing well > into the 19th century. Also consider that the population of the city > was perhaps only 25 thousand at the time of the revolution and > probably didn't occupy but the lower tip of the island or perhaps the > adjacent waterfront areas leaving the rest to whatever pursuits > including the cutting of firewood and grazing. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Eastern Native Tree Society http://www.nativetreesociety.org Send email to [email protected] Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/entstrees?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
