Trees in fields. Why?

March 23, 2008 7:12 AM

Why are there solitary trees in the middle of fields?

I don't know what kind of crops these fields are growing. But it strikes me as a huge pain in the ass to have a tree situated right in the middle of the field. Imagine having to mow/harvest around it. There must be a reasonable explanation. Theories I've come up with:

a) The tree provides shade for the livestock. (not all fields have livestock though.)
b) The tree's roots keep the ground from getting washed away in the rain. (but one tree in the middle of a huge field is not going to make a difference, and besides, if this was the purpose, it would make more sense to have trees along the border of the field.)
c) The field is being rotated, meaning, it will be used for something else next season, and the tree will come in handy then (for what, I can't fathom.)

posted by proj08 to science & nature (24 comments total)

I've always been told that the trees provided shade for the farmer to rest under approximately half-way through the field work.
posted by Thorzdad at 7:17 AM on March 23, 2008

A couple of other reasons could be:
1)As roost for flying pest control (like hawks or owls).
2) As visual field division markers. Line up with a tree or barn on the edge of a field to know if you are 1/4 or 1/2 way across.
posted by digital-dragonfly at 7:31 AM on March 23, 2008

I always thought it was because it got left behind at some point from when the fields were smaller, and t was just too much hassle to cut it down.
posted by Solomon at 7:33 AM on March 23, 2008

IANAF but I do drive through farm country often in TX, and I've only see trees on the edges of fields, where they often line a road, perhaps acting as a wind brake.

I've also seen fields bordered by stones, presumably plowed up from the field.
posted by popechunk at 7:34 AM on March 23, 2008

To mark a water source?
The tree itself has value (fruit bearing or eventual lumber)?
Used as a main fence post to divide the field?
posted by D_I at 7:44 AM on March 23, 2008

The two theories I'd be most apt to believe are:

1.) it was planted there by previous generations to give the manual laborers a little shade for breaks

2.) its picturesque, and the landowner keeps it around because they like how it looks, or because photographers pay them for photo ops? (may not happen very often, but I bet it happens)

or maybe

3.) Have you ever tried to uproot a tree?.. its not easy work. You gotta cut the bulk of it down and chop up the trunk/branches. Then you have to dig around the stump deep enough to get a chain around it and find a piece of equipment muscular enough to pull the stump out. (assuming you have no dynamite :P...

Suddenly "plowing around the tree" doesnt sound so bad :)
posted by jmnugent at 7:56 AM on March 23, 2008

When the thunderstorm rolls in on you, you aren't the highest object in the field.
posted by whoda at 8:02 AM on March 23, 2008 [1 favorite]

They stop erosion to a degree.
posted by Camel of Space at 8:08 AM on March 23, 2008

I know a guy who did this. What I mean is he had a nice field with no trees, and decided to let one grow. I asked him why, and he said, "No real reason, that one just looked interesting."
posted by Area Control at 8:10 AM on March 23, 2008

Shade for workers to rest under would be the primary one, definitely, if it is in the middle of the field.

I've also seen fields with rocky soil where the rocks were piled in the center which then allowed trees to spring up.

There could be other reasons why the spot can't be farmed, like a low wet spot, and so a tree is allowed to grow.

Last but not least, aesthetics! On preview, Area Control got it first

(Worked on farms in Michigan and plantations in Malaysia.)
posted by BinGregory at 8:16 AM on March 23, 2008

It would be for any reason that the field wouldn't be tilled in that area after the field has been initially broken in. It may be for the reasons mentioned above (especially the rock pile one), or there may have been an old farmstead, or an old well, or a cattle pen, or a stream that only appears on really wet years, whatever.

It is worth it to remove a lot of trees from a field (clearing brush), but there is little benefit gained from removing one tree from a field. It's easier and financially prudent to just move your tractor or combine around the tree the ten times a year you are on that field.
posted by sleslie at 8:40 AM on March 23, 2008

1) The Tree was put there randomly, because:

a) Tree seeds can fly far with the right updraft of wind, and very few of them actually take to the soil. It could be just a random occurence.

b) and animal ate something in one place and shat out the seeds with fertilizer after moving along a bit.

2) The tree was deliberately planted there by humans:

a) A farmer wanted a marker on his field.

b) Shade

c) The tree is actually a memorial marker for a grave. you find this kind of thing all over the country. people have small, flat headstones on the ground and plant a tree right beside them. 50 years later, the tree has grown huge and the root system has annihalated most of the headstone into gravel. check around the tree, you might find some evidence. or ask the farmer - there's no tree on a farm that doesn't have a story behind it.
posted by mr_book at 8:42 AM on March 23, 2008 [1 favorite]

Honestly, there could be 1,000 reasons for a tree being in the middle of *nowhere* or in this case a solitary one in the middle of a field. What comes to mind is sentimental reasons. It could have been the place where the farmer romanced his first love. It could be a burial place. It could be a marker that can be seen for miles - and thus would be a way to see the field precisely from a distance. It could be a place for shade, play or sustenance. It could be a landmark where one field ends and another begins. And it could be providence. And most people don't want to mess with that and would take the extra effort to work around it.
posted by watercarrier at 8:55 AM on March 23, 2008

I grew up on a farm. Anything in a field that required maneuvering equipment around it was a pain and was eliminated if at all possible. We liked trees as much as the next guys; just not where we were trying to grow crops.

Among the short list of reasons we had a few trees in the middle of fields were:

A) To mark large rocks at or near the surface which were too large to move and which would break plow shares or otherwise damage equipment if we drove over them.

B) To mark a low area in a field which usually was wet enough to get a tractor stuck.

C) To mark a small country family graveyard of four or five graves from the late 1700's.

The only things we liked less in a field than obstructions were corners and fencerows.
posted by imjustsaying at 9:14 AM on March 23, 2008 [2 favorites]

One field I know has an apple tree growing in the middle of it. Possibly the whole field was an orchard once, but this particular farmer just leaves it there because he likes the blossoms and the apples.
posted by beagle at 9:31 AM on March 23, 2008

*Here lies Jed. Enough said.*
posted by watercarrier at 9:44 AM on March 23, 2008

Lone trees are often the site of old homesteads. Sometimes the ruin of the house has been removed, the well has been filled, the yard has been tilled and plowed--but the shade tree remains. There are a lot of reasons for that, of course. Nostalgia is a big one. Rural folks and farmers feel a great deal of connection to the land they work or own, and decisions aren't always practical. I know of a small grove in the middle of a field, for example, which was left because the ground there has a great deal of mica in it, and the owner collects it. Every spring he goes out there and digs up some of it, sacrificing a tenth of an acre of field and a few minutes of working around the grove for the privilege of having the mica.
posted by sonic meat machine at 9:58 AM on March 23, 2008 [1 favorite]

My dad always told me the tree was there so the farmers have a place to pee while they're working.

Of course, he also told me that tarp-wrapped hay bales were cow eggs.
posted by d13t_p3ps1 at 11:45 AM on March 23, 2008 [1 favorite]

"1)As roost for flying pest control (like hawks or owls)."

This is what my dad always said (in particular, talking about singular trees in the middle of grass seed and wheat fields in western Oregon). They're there to encourage hawks to take out vermin.
posted by liet at 12:24 PM on March 23, 2008

When I cleared a field for my cows and goats I left some trees for shade, for aesthetic reasons, for wind/snowbreaks, for roosts for birds that help keep down the pests, and for the animals to scratch those hard to reach spots on their backs.
posted by Framer at 6:06 PM on March 23, 2008

In Ireland, there are quite often "Fairy Trees" left in the middle of fields. Usually thorn or rowan trees (at least round here). They are left severely alone for fear of what the fairies might do to someone who disturbed them. Or, a more likely reason these days, just because it'd be a shame to uproot an old tree which has good stories told about it.

An answer. Not a very general one. Sorry.
posted by Tapioca at 6:19 PM on March 23, 2008

Another farm answer from Pennsylvania Deutsch country is that any productive fruit or nut bearing trees (apple, pear, walnut, and hickory mostly) would be left standing on the principle of practicality. These are usually the only trees you will find in the middle of a field - they provide food to add to the winter store (e.g. jams, jellies, salted nuts, etc.). Nut bearing trees take decades to mature and can't be easily replaced. These trees also draw game that can be hunted after crops have been brought in. During the growing season, they draw predatory birds to make quick work of groundhogs and other voracious eaters of young shoots.

Trees along the edges of fields are most for the reasons listed above: property lines (trees straddling a line can't be legally cut without permission from both owners), wind breaks, stream markers, and occasionally as investment timber if they are extremely valuable (really only cherry comes to mind in this case).

If you find lone and well developed pine trees, which are generally considered worthless except as turkey roosts and protection from the elements, you are probably on an old homestead site rather than a crop field. Pine trees mature much more quickly than hardwoods, and are more hearty than fruit trees.
posted by mrmojoflying at 6:36 PM on March 23, 2008

Thank you all. If I may snark my own question, another possible explanation is that someone applied a fourier transform to a forest, and wound up with a dirac delta function tree.
posted by proj08 at 3:01 AM on March 24, 2008

All good answers, but also (I've heard before, not from personal experience though):

Back in the day, trees were cleared from areas to be used as fields using a block and tackle system and using the next tree over for leverage. Like the jump-a-peg game, you can't get rid of them all - there would have to be one left.
posted by attercoppe at 8:40 AM on March 24, 2008 [1 favorite]