In the past, in the countryside, every spring season, all kinds of flowers are competing to open, and this kind of lilac flowers and pleasant fragrance is neem flower.
This kind of flowering tree can be seen everywhere in the countryside in the past, and many families will plant this kind of tree in their yards, whether it is in front of the house or behind the house.
Not only because of its floral fragrance, but also because of its strong wood, it is the perfect choice for furniture, but as its flowers bloom, the trees will bear bunches of small beans, but this fruit is highly poisonous.
Nowadays, this kind of tree is very rare, why is the neem tree, which is so popular among rural people, so few people plant it now?
Very popular neem tree
Neem tree is a very ordinary tree species, because it does not have high soil requirements and is very tenacious, and is deeply loved by rural people.
In the past, people in the countryside liked to plant some trees in their yards, which could provide shade to their homes, and when the family needed to make furniture, they did not have to spend money to buy wood outside after cutting down the trees.
As for the tree species, rural people generally prefer to plant some trees with economic value, such as elm trees, which can grow elm money in spring, which can be eaten and sold for money.
In addition, some people will plant locust trees at home, and after the elm money falls, the locust tree will bloom, and the locust flowers can also be used as food.
Or you can plant some fruit trees at home, but after the fruit trees are cut down, they have to wait a long time to replant and bear fruit, and over time, people have found a tree species that is very suitable for planting in open fields, and that is the neem tree.
Because it is idle land, planting fruit trees can not get a very large harvest, but neem trees can grow well without too much management, and its wood is also very tough and durable, there is a few open space at home, do not worry about management, but also prepare wood for the future, one stone.
With the planting of more neem trees, it is also found that it has the effect of repelling mosquitoes, and the presence of mosquitoes and flies is rarely found around the neem trees, and it can also improve the surrounding air, which makes it deeply loved by rural people.
Moreover, the root system of the neem tree is still very developed, and the plant can also absorb harmful gases in the air, which also makes the neem tree gradually spread to the city, and even the greening of some factories will choose this neem tree to plant.
The value of the neem tree
With the development of the times, people pay attention to the ecological value of the neem tree at the same time, but also develop its economic value, in the countryside as an idle tree planting neem tree, there is a very strong ability to survive, this is a tree species that is widely used in greening projects, and his strong root system can also firmly grasp the surrounding soil, but also can play a role in preventing soil erosion.
The neem tree, which can survive well in any situation, was soon used in many ways, and rural people know that there are few mosquitoes and flies around the neem tree, and after experiments, it was found that the leaves and flowers of the neem tree are rich in insecticidal components.
This is a natural insecticide, which can be applied to agriculture for biological control, although its fruit contains toxicity and cannot be eaten, but with the development of science and technology, the economic value of the fruit has been developed.
Although the fruit is not edible, its fruit contains high levels of oil, and after extracting it, it can still be used in industry, such as making paints or lubricating oils.
In fact, the neem tree can be said to be full of treasures, in the industrial development at the same time, the rural areas have also combined the corresponding experience to sum up the development of the neem tree.
In the hot summer, it is the season when the leaves of the neem tree grow luxuriantly, and picking some of the leaves of the neem tree and lighting them together with the straw can effectively repel the surrounding mosquitoes and flies.
At the same time, neem tree also has a good medicinal value, the leaves can not only repel mosquitoes and flies but also can be used in medicine, and its bark, flowers and fruits, also have a certain medicinal value.
It can be said that the neem tree, which is full of treasures, has been loved by people for a long time, but now, why is the neem tree that used to be everywhere gone?
The disappearing neem tree
One of the reasons for its realization today is that the neem tree has been gradually eliminated by people, one of the reasons is because of its toxicity, the neem tree can be said to be toxic throughout the body, especially the fruit is the most toxic.
Because its fruit is small and round, it is naturally loved by children, and in the memory of many old people, the fruit of the neem tree is inedible but it is the best toy of their childhood.
In the former countryside, children did not have much leisure activities, there were mountains and rivers around, and they could go to the creek to catch fish and touch shrimp, and on the side of the mountain, it was natural to go to the mountains to pick a variety of wild fruits that could enrich the taste.
For the rural areas of the plains, where there is no water and no mountains, there are very few things that children can play with, and the fruit of the neem tree is one of the few toys.
Children in the countryside like to play with slingshots the most, and the fruit of this neem tree is the best slingshot, which is the right size and very handy, which makes some children who love to play slingshots love it.
However, this fruit is poisonous, and it is inevitable that the fruit will be squeezed when playing in the hand, and even a small amount of juice will inevitably get on the hand, which may enter the mouth.
Once the fruit of the neem tree is eaten by mistake, a small amount of poisoning symptoms such as dizziness and vomiting, abdominal pain and diarrhea will occur, and if the intake is too large, it will also cause respiratory paralysis and other conditions, which seriously threatens people's lives.
It is precisely because of this reason that many old people in the village will warn children that the fruit of this tree cannot be eaten, and with the development of the times, people gradually began to pay more and more attention to physical health, and this poisonous plant was gradually eliminated.
And this is only one of the reasons, the most fundamental is because the neem tree gradually lost its due value in the countryside, and the neem tree was used as wood in the early days.
Neem trees grow fast and have low requirements for the living environment, so in order to save the cost of wood, many people will choose to plant this kind of fast-growing and woody trees.
With the development of the times, many people no longer make their own furniture at home, but choose to buy those more beautiful furniture in the shopping mall, the change of lifestyle and the change of daily needs, the hand-made furniture has gradually lost its status.
Nowadays, when rural people go out to work, every household will choose to buy those complete sets of ready-made furniture when decorating their houses, and the price is not too expensive to accept, which also makes people no longer plant neem trees too much.
For both of these reasons, people eventually prefer to plant trees that have economic and food value, fruit trees or other economic tree species.
Abandoned by the times
Because of the poison was discarded, the fast growth characteristics of the tree were quickly replaced by eucalyptus, the growth cycle of neem trees can be cut down at about 8 to 9 years, and eucalyptus trees are faster than neem trees, about 4 to 7 years can be used as timber and felled.
It is also because of the wood of the neem tree, because it has the advantage of not being easy to deform, and it is the best choice for making keel cars when drawing water for irrigation in rural areas, because under the high temperature in summer, the neem wood can withstand the test of water erosion under high temperatures.
However, with the development of the times, the emergence of water pumps has long replaced the original keel car, and this has also made neem trees have no use value in rural areas.
Because neem wood is not easy to deform, it can grow quickly, but it also makes its wood extremely fragile, and it has such a disadvantage for fast-growing trees, that is, because it is easy to break.
Especially in extreme weather, if you don't pay attention to the neem tree, it will be broken at the waist, and in the countryside, the neem tree is generally planted in your own yard or in the surrounding open space, and some vegetables for daily consumption will be planted in the open space.
In this way, once the tree breaks, the canopy is turned off, and it becomes a nightmare for vegetables, and when this happens in the yard, it also poses a threat to people.
For various reasons, the neem tree was gradually abandoned by people, even the advantages found in the neem tree were gradually replaced by other species, and finally eliminated by the times, and it was also toxic The risk also made people shy away from it, which is the reason for the gradual disappearance.