George Washington1 essays

George Washington1 essays George Washington is unanimously referred to as the "father of America". The first president of the United States of America, Washington set the manner for what was to become the most powerful seat of government in the country. The purpose of this paper is to provide biographical information on Washington and to explain why he is known as the "father of America". Born in Westmoreland County, Virginia, on February 22, 1732, George Washington was the eldest son of Augustine Washington and his second wife, Mary Ball Washington. His five younger brothers and sisters were Elizabeth, Samuel, John, Augustine, Charles, and Mildred (who died in infancy). Washington's two half brothers, Lawrence and Augustine, were fourteen and twelve years older than he, but the three boys liked and respected one another.1 When Washington was three the family moved to a larger plantation further up the Potomac River. It was called Epsewasson, or Little Hunting Creek, from the name of the stream it faced. Young Washington grew to love the estate with a passion that lasted all his life. Some years later Augustine bought a farm on the Rappahannock, opposite Fredericksburg, and moved the family there. The plantation, Ferry Farm, was the place where Washington chopped the cherry tree down.2 When Washington was eleven, his father died. The plantation at Epsewasson was granted to Lawrence. Lawrence added to the estate and renamed it Mount Vernon, in honor of Admiral Vernon, under whom he had served in the West Indies. George went to live with Augustine at Wakefield because Henry William's school, one of the best in the colony, was located nearby.3 Little is know of George Washington's schooling. He was probably tutored at home for a while, and may have attended school in Fredericksburg before going to Henry William's school. At fifteen he was ready to do practical surveying. He was good in mathematics; he was a neat penman and an accurate ...

Understanding Forest Basal Area

Understanding Forest Basal Area The cross-section area of the stem or stems of a plant is generally expressed as square units per unit of the area it is growing on. This volumetric description is a ratio of the trees cross-sectional area at DBH to the total area and called basal area or BA.  It is used by forestry professionals to determine percent stocking levels of trees in a given area.  For shrubs and herbs, it is used to determine phytomass. Grasses, forbs, and shrubs are usually measured at or less than 1 inch above soil level. For trees: the cross section area of a tree stem in square feet commonly measured at breast height (4.5 above ground) and inclusive of bark, usually computed by using DBH or tallied through the use of basal area factor angle gauge  or a factored prism. Pronunciation:  baze-ul area (noun) Common Misspellings:  basel area - basil area Basal Area, Do the Math Basal area factor is the number of units of basal area per acre (or per hectare) represented by each tree. The formula for basal area (3.1416 x DBH2)/(4 x 144). This formula simplifies to: basal area 0.005454 x DBH2 0.005454 is called the foresters constant, which converts inches into square feet. The basal area of a 10-inch tree is: 0.005454 x (10)2   0.5454 square feet (ft2). So, 100 of these trees per acre would calculate out a BA of 54 ft2.  or a count of just over 5 trees per angle gauge count. Basal Area as Used in Forestry BA is a measure of the capacity of certain stands of trees to increase annual ring growth. The factors of ring growth have a genetic component but are influenced by all biotic, physical and chemical factors in that particular environment. As stands of trees develop, BA increases as it approaches full stocking, the upper limit of a forest to grow increasing wood fiber. So, basal area measurement can be  used to determine a sites ability to grow a forest tree species accumulated over the tree age in years. As BA increases over time, measurements shown on growth curve graphs indicate a slowing in growth according to species growth and yield charts. Timber harvests are then made to reduce the BA to a point where remaining trees regain the ability to maximize growth toward a final, mature, valuable forest product. Basal Area and the Timber Harvest BA is not a  volume calculation  but the measurement can be used by foresters in determining volume using statistical tree stem occurrence and is an important tool for a timber inventory or timber  cruise. In the same vein, a basal area tree count tells a forester how occupied or crowded a forest site is and assists in making harvest decisions. In managing a commercial forest as even-aged stands, you are forcing one distinct age class to be maintained through the harvest cycle (three or more harvests). These stands are often regenerated by using clearcut, shelterwood, or seed tree cutting methods  and require the right basal area beneficial to each method. A clearcut forest is usually replanted or artificially seeded and has no measurable BA.A shelterwood harvest may leave a tree stocking level as high as  40 sq.ft per acre  10 factor BA.  A  seedtree  harvest may leave a tree stocking level as high as  20 sq.ft per acre  10 factor BA. There are many stocking guides that reflect density for even-aged stands (also called stocking charts). These guides assist the forest manager in determining if the forest is stocked with too many trees (overstocked), too sparsely stocked (understocked), or adequately stocked (fully stocked).