Agricultural Areas

1. Rayon, otherwise known as wood silk, is made from a base of wood,
peanut shells or ruined cotton.

Indeed, the Peanut is such a versitile crop with over two hundred
uses that go much beyond food, it will undoubtedly become a staple of
Space Island agriculture.

2, Carbon Dioxide being a heavier than air gas would certainly be
good for deploying at the bottom of a valley for feeding plants.
Animals could be kept at a higher level in relative safety. Plants at
higher levels can have small suppliments sprayed among them by hose.
And carbon dioxide does not have to be deployed constantly. One can
shut off the valves at any time without harming plants when human
workers come out. As for protections. Gas masks and standard gas
monitors to alert people of CO2 levels should be sufficient.

3. Another crop might be bamboo for construction and furnature. It is
very versitile. And I suspect there will be Christmas tree farms as
well since the trees can be recycled in various ways. Mulch. Or into
some of the new synthetic woods I've been seeing at Home Depot and
various other type stores.

--- In spacesettlers@yahoogroups.com, "Xenophile"
>
> Good point. Agriculture is more than food. Yes, you CAN wear beta-
> cloth and rayon and nylon and special chain mail stuff (I'd bet
we're
> THIS CLOSE to being able to print clothing made of these materials
> with a modified ink jet printer... they seem to be able to do
> everything else). But there will be a market for cotton, hemp,
silk,
> linen, and who knows, maybe leather.
>
> Which brings us to the animals. Oops, I forgot about them. But
then
> again, why not have the animals on one deck and the plants on
> another? The animals can have whatever atmosphere is best for
them,
> and the plants can have whatever is best for them.
>
> Now, about the whole can people survive there thing... yeah, it
needs
> to be something that doesn't strike a farmer dead if his oxygen
mask
> fails. Then again, I'm sure a vac-worker would consider that a
pretty
> wimpy demand. So how about: something a person can survive and
move