Management Tree: A Management Structure is often referred to as a tree. This is an accurate description for the following reasons:- It is made almost entirely of wood.
- Parts of it can be dead for years before they drop off.
- If a branch falls off, most of the parasites move back to the main structure.
- It takes years to react to any environmental change.
- A large one can transpire hundreds of gallons of liquid in a day.
- It sometimes carries a great many nuts.
- If not pruned regularly it will not bear much fruit.
- Small pieces which are chopped off often grow again in a few years.
- It can be fired, but usually needs lots of paper to get it going.
- It may provide shelter for those underneath, but also blocks out most of the light.
- From the top one can see for miles in all directions, except vertically downward.
- Anything heavy dropped from the top reaches the bottom quickly; the intervening layers merely delay it slightly.
- Parts of it can be used to make boards (of varying thickness) but unless properly seasoned the quality will be poor.
- It bends easily in light winds but in storms it is rarely flexible enough to avoid damage.
- It sometimes gets the chop, but usually only after it has been dead or rotten for years.
- A man falling from the upper levels can often grab a lower branch to break his fall, but a man falling from lower levels goes straight to the ground.
- Sometimes one can move from tree to tree without touching the ground. One can travel thus for considerable distances eventually reaching a point at which one has absolutely no knowledge of the ground below.
- Monkeys can get to the top with remarkable speed.
Originally published November 14, 2002.
