August 27, 1981 - Contrast of Two LandsSECOND SECTION The *Uffolh Tttnr5
Contrast of Two Lands
There are such contrasting places in this
world, and yet we often tend to forget this
unless we are put in the situation that
brings them out. My wife and I have just
come back from an exciting and reward-
ing trip to Iceland. We, like so many
others, thought this was a land of ice and
snow and were pleasantly surprised to find
that it was the exact opposite. Green
mountainsides and lush valleys rimmed
this tiny European country set amidst the
great North Atlantic.
What makes it so green (temperature in
the winter approximately that of New
York City) is the Gulf Stream. This huge
tongue of warm water keeps the island
moderately warm. Sheep have been intro-
duced to this greenery and as a result of
their grazing there are no trees of any size
anywhere. Yet we're told when the Vikings
first came, the area was heavily wooded.
Because of it being so far north, it remains
cool in the summer and the growing season
is short -- even though their daylight hours
are extended. That is where my story of
contrast begins.
Imported apples and occasional oranges
are just about the extent of their acquaint-
ance with fruit. After 11 days of sightsee-
ing we returned home to the lush east end
of Long Island where the fruit of our
orchard was bending the limbs almost to
the ground. How fortunate to have the
climate and soil so well adapted to growing
things of all sorts. We are told Long Island
soils are some of the best in the world and
our produce surely vouches for it. It is a
shame so many farms are being plowed
under into developments.
Our small orchard of 15 to 20 trees has
been nurtured from what first looked like
mere sticks in the ground to robust trees of
10 to 12 feet. Of course, they are all dwarfs,
which makes fruit picking so much easier.
Tribulations of Fruit Growing
We had heard how devastating rabbits
and mice could be to our young trees and
how if not protected they would gnaw away
the bark which would eventually kill the
tree. To prevent this we wrap the lower
section of the trunk with a special wrap-
ping to discourage these varmints. All
went well until one winter's day when one
of our northwest snowstorms hit and made
great drifts in our orchard. Only the tops of
the trees stuck out from the white below.
Now all our guards were deep below the
snow leaving nothing but the limbs of our
trees showing above. That night all the
food for the rabbits was buried -- except
our tender limbs. In no time they were
cleaned of their bark. When they couldn't
reach the outer limbs, they would merely
clip them off as neatly as you could do with
a pair of cutters. They literally wrecked
our orchard.
This happened twice to our trees, but
somehow through the years they've come
back. Yet even today when you look at the
pear trees they are the most misshaped of
all; they were in the area most heavily hit.
We're not quite sure how to solve this
problem of high- drifting snow. Some sug-
gest taking the wind break down and
letting the wind blow the snow right
through the orchard while others suggest
hasenpfeffer might be the answer.
Heated by Underground Springs
With the great diversity of fruit avail-
able to the grower these days, you can
have your orchard producing from early
plums to late fall apples. I feel sorry for
the people of Iceland who have no orchards
and no great vegetable gardens as we do.
They grow some in hot houses heated
from the hot water in the ground. Every-
where there are plumes of steam escaping
from below the earth. In the capital city of
Reykjavik, you see no chimneys on the
houses. All are heated by hot water piped
into the city from deep wells in the
outskirts.
Throughout the country, you find great
racks of fish drying outside. In some areas
they have turned to drying the fish by
utilizing the heat from below. Iceland is a
country of recent volcanoes, bubbling hot
springs, geysers and waterfalls. It is a
land of spectacular beauty with a wealth of
wildflowers and bird life.
Iceland's fishing industry is one of the
best in the world. The clean, cold waters
that surround the island produce great
catches of haddock, halibut, cod, salmon
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and a host of other fish that make fishing
their main industry.
The contrast of our area to theirs is great
from the relatively flat land of Long Island
to their snow- capped mountains and lush
green valleys, from our green potato fields
to the low stubble of their lava fields, from
our woods and orchards to their treeless
expanses of open space, from our hot
August days to their cool summers -- all
are contrasts that make you aware of how
well off this country is.
What vast resources we have compared
to most others. Truly we were given the
best of all worlds. Our greatest job ahead
is to see that this great bounty of natural
wealth is properly handled.
PAULSTOUTENBURGH
' AUGUST 27, 1981
HARVEST TIME --The bounty of our land pours forth as the summer
winds down. Photo by Paul Stoutenburgh
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