HCR

Ash (as opposed to unburnt chars) is the mineral content that doesn't burn. Think calcium carbonate, potash (i.e. poassium salts) and various phosphates in diminishing order. As the chemical composition of wood varies from species to species, so does the relative content of these compounds. And then you get impurities that don't actually form part of the chemical structure of the wood as well, sometimes known as adjuncts.

Good point, thanks for that. Though in fairness even your point suggests that Malus pumila was indeed a 'crab' before the evolutionary influences of the bear took hold.

No - pre-emptive felling is not going to be helpful. 1 - we won't discover the resistant strains if we fell trees now. 2 - once the pathogen is widespread and firmly entrenched there will be no need for movement restrictions anyway.

Plenty of good information, but I would just add that submitting an application that involves the felling of the trees but replants of appropriate species is slightly better locations is a valid alternative (obviously if the exisiting trees are incompatible with the development). Incorporate bat-bricks and bird-nesting hardware into the build as well, to gain environmental credibility. Bat Brick: NHBS Schwegler 1SP Sparrow Terrace: NHBS

GM and selective breeding are like chalk and cheese. Domestic apples arose as a result of selecting individual crab apples with desirable qualities and breeding from them. No non-apple genes were ever added (I'm not sure that Romans/iron age folk/etc actually had gene-splicing technology). GM involves adding a transgenic DNA (e.g. spider DNA into tomatoes) to achieve a desired result. There is no way that spider DNA would ever naturally occur in a tomato. All the genes in the apple arose through natural mutation over millions (billions) of years, and the ones that led to big fruit with a nice taste were 'collected' through natural pollination processes.

Summer II, this time it gets dark early as well.

There seems to be a misunderstanding going on here. Opera is not a nationalised industry. The government doesn't directly fund it, nor does it directly take revenue from it. Presumably there is funding for opera related education, but only to the same extent as all other areas of education/training.

Quite. And people seem to be realising this at last. If anything, speeding up the spread will help identify the ~2% of resistant trees.

What's a qualified tree botanist?

I was about to post this but Commando beat me to it. But for emphasis, here goes anyway:

What's your source for this? The government doesn't 'own' opera so can't really fund it per se. Are you talking about an Arts Council award? That's lottery money, not exchequer funds. The Arts Council has no remit to fund forestry.

I did CTLLS with the army - not a hard course but there was a fair bit of ball-ache involved.

Patrol medics do regular stints in A&E, doing such jobs as stitching wounds, intubating, cannulating etc. These are the kinds of things that need to be done not only to battlefield casualties, but just as importantly, to 'locals' as part of the hearts and minds process.

Totally true, except it might not be Glasgow.

I'm very happy with the concept of the first live one the medic sees not being one of my mates. Yes, it's unpalatable, but no one ever said war was a pretty thing. Trauma treatment has come on in leaps and bounds in the last 10 years, due in no small part to the work of Army/RM medics. As has already been said, this has translated to more lives being saved in emergency departments in British hospitals.

I have a Nikon D3100 (SLR) for fancy stuff and a Nikon Coolpix for slipping into my pocket the rest of the time. The Lumix Tony mentions above is a very nice piece of kit, having a Leica lens.

It reads like an anti-govt rant without actually saying anything. Chalara was always going to get here - the best we could in preparation was to initiate a breeding programme to establish a resistant population. Genetic markers for resistance could have been looked for and orchards set up. As far as I know (please correct me if I'm wrong) not one country has identified markers associated with resistance yet. One way to speed this up is to encourage it to spread as quickly as possible - resistant trees will soon become apparent. Contentious, but true.

Careful. That can be the case, but it's by no means automatic.

Good thread, wish I'd seen this before. A covenant is indeed attached to the land (dug into the soil as one judge said). It's totally separate from TPO legislation so dead/dangerous is not an automatic exemption! Someone asked about land ownership - there is no such thing as absolute land ownership in the UK (unless you happen to be the Queen). You may own an interest in the land, and there are two types of interest: freehold and leasehold. The remedy for breach of covenant is damages, and this is not necessarily anything to do with the value of the tree; it is connected to the loss of enjoyment of the dominant property as caused by the servient property's actions. The covenant will be on the deeds, otherwise it does not exist. It is a land charge so will be also entered on The Charges Register and is easily checkable. If the buyer's solicitor failed to point it out he may be liable for failing to do his job properly.

Excellent, good result. Pleased for you and glad to see someone happy with the fruits of their labours.

I think really you need to identify the fungus in question before you can start making judgements about whether it is a saprobe, a parasite or a symbiont.

Parliamentary debate can be read via Hansard here: House of Commons Hansard Debates for 12 Nov 2012 (pt 0002) To be honest it doesn't tell us much, but I think some people need to learn the difference between 'prevailing' and 'only'.

It's bad enough with press reports implicating other members of the olive family (with no evidence whatsoever) without other families being brought into the discussion... I presume the post was referring to people with mountain ashes assuming that their trees had Chalara due to the leaves changing colour and dropping off.

I have a friend who's a highly skilled mason, but he's based in Kent. Clapper bridges aren't exactly what his order book is usually full of, but he could be worth asking if you don't find anyone closer. granite, granite kitchens, granite worktops, marble kitchen worktops, granite kent, granite worktops in kent

I was on a train at the time and the driver announced the beginning and end of the 2 minute silence. Always a tough time but even more so this year - I'm in the TA and one of my Regiment was killed last month.