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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-CA link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>Dear AD<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>The proposal is that burying charcoal in the forest floor might improve the forest yield. Perhaps it is limited by something else, say, water. I am wondering if there is any support for the general claim that char in the soil is beneficial, without worrying yet about whether it makes economic sense.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>The claims are fairly broad so I am interested in how and under what circumstances it holds true.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>Thanks<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>Crispin<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>+++++++++=</span><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><div><p class=MsoNormal>Dear Kevin,<o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal>the need of the hour is fuel. By leaving the branches, leaves and bark lying on the forest floor, you sacrifice a large amount of energy. The soil has enough minerals to support forestry and agriculture indefinitely. These minerals have very low solubility in water, and therefore the root hairs of the plants are not able to absorb them efficiently, but the soil micro-organisms can absorb them much more efficiently, because they absorb through their entire cell surface. The microbes then make the mineral nutrients available to plants. It is an accepted fact that there exists a positive correlation between the number of soil microbes per g soil and the soil fertility. Applying about 50 kg green leaves to the soil, once every three months, is enough to maintain a high microbial population density in the soil. <br>Yours<o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal>Anand<o:p></o:p></p></div></div></body></html>