Ahem... class is in session (it's Friday right?): For those taking notes for the test, Kudzu was brought into this country at the turn of the century, not the 1950s. It was originally brought in to the World Fair. It had immediate potential as a stabilizer of road cuts, banks, etc AND as a major field crop for livestock feed. Remember that this was a time when erosion control was nearly nonexistent. The problem is that it worked better than folks anticipated. Also, the agrochemical revolution made other crops easier to handle and created "better" opportunities (in sheer tonage) for other crops. Rather than get really windy, the US is the largest buyer of specialty products made from, you guessed it... Kudzu. We buy everything from wall coverings to the finest cooking starch made, but we buy it from Asia. Anyway, I just thought I'd provide a modicum of the flip side on the "mile-a-minute" plant. US agriculture has a good many environmental threats that cause more damage and nuisance problems than Kudzu. <Bio-dork mode off> --- Please remove "faux." from my reply-to address above in order to send a reply. I'll try anything to try and foil the junk email mutants. |
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