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Back I think in about '73 - that'd be nine-teen and seventy-three, we had maybe 5 acres of pretty much scrub land, sittin and doin nuthin.
Long came the man from You Es Dee Aye offerin to bring over his boys and plant us up a nice new stand 'o pine on that land. All free 'o charge of course. In 10, 12 maybe 15 years we'd have ourselves a nice stand of pine to gaze at. Who could turn the nice Govnmt man down? The trees went in.
Sure as the sun rises in the morning, long about the next April or May here comes a fancy white envelope from Washington Dee Cee - those You Es Dee Aye folks - with a check inside. It said "We just wanted to thank you for not growin cotton on that land we put trees on fer ya last year".
And sure as the sun sets, the next spring another fancy envelope from the same Govm't Agents - and another nice fat check. The note said they were sending it along to thank us profusely for not growin tobbaco on that land they planted them trees on 2 years back"
Last I knew there wasn't a whole lot of worry that anyone in Central VERMONT was gonna be a big player in the Cotton or Tobacco industries.
Those checks kicked around the house for years - never did get cashed, but I'll bet ya somewhere in the bowels of Washington Dee Cee there is a still flint eyed minion of the law who has made a career out of trying to balance the "Thanks for Not Growing Cotton and Tobbaco Program" books cause of those 2 uncashed checks.
A year or 2 after the MAPLE TAP ACT gets started, there'll be some cotton farmer in Alabama gettin a letter from the You Es Dee Aye thanking him for not tappin maples - as a token of our gratitude, a nice fat check is enclosed.
True story - predictor of the future!
Steve
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True story - predictor of the future
" What do you think of that man out your way ? Would you call him an honest man or a liar ?"
" Well I wouldn't go so far as to call him a liar. But when he wants his cows to come in from pasture,
he's got to get somebody else to call em."
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Why do I think there's a "long end of the stick" to be mindful of in this situation? One of the realities of the auto bailout was a Car Czar (puppet), and now we have the Chevy Volt, selling (anemically) at 41K with a 40K production price tag based on 24 year old technology. You can't make me for one minute think that anyone with experience in Detroit thought this was a viable application of business, but with Government calling the shots, well, you know. What happens to maple when you invite in big government?
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If government is involved, especially the federal government, you can bet it will be screwed up.
