 The Clarinet BBoard
|
Author: mk
Date: 2007-02-01 00:56
Am traveling to Spain soon...has anyone visited any of the suppliers in Spain? I am interested in addresses of suppliers or growers if anyone has traveled there...thanks
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: L. Omar Henderson
Date: 2007-02-01 01:16
(Disclaimer - probably not needed but I sell Xilema Reeds)
I would suggest emailing Inma Herrera of Xilema Reeds - see BB Sponsors under reeds. She is now buying Spanish cane from a broker in Barcelona I believe and possibly others. If you travel along the Costa del Sol - especially around Malaga there are groves and groves of cane along the costal highway. Perhaps one of these local growers will part with a bundle of cane but all sell to brokers who then auction to the major reed companies at semi-annual auctions. I am not sure but you might be at odds with the US Customs people about bringing back plant materials - perhaps not because it is dead and partially processed?
L. Omar Henderson
Post Edited (2007-02-01 01:18)
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: tictactux ★2017
Date: 2007-02-01 08:05
Omar,
while on this subject - do you know more about the growth conditions? Do these reed farmers use pesticides of some sort? I mean, we've become picky with our food and foreign residues therein, and we spend considerable amounts of time with a reed in our mouth of which we know next to nothing.
--
Ben
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: bawa
Date: 2007-02-01 10:35
...but neither the rain nor the cane, nor fall nor grow, mainly on the plain in Spain...
and that is a geographical fact.
Ben,
I don't know really, but the way the stuff grows you would be mainly looking for weedkillers to keep it down!
There is some growing down the road from me (don't know which variety exactly), but is now the whole grove is just a couple of feet short of the overhead, very high, electricity wires.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: L. Omar Henderson
Date: 2007-02-01 11:23
The cane growers are mostly within 100 k of the coast. BAWA is correct that the "plain" is the Lamancha area with vast vineyards - Spain is the largest wine producer in the world but mostly everyday table wines in bulk. As you come North from the Southern coast you get in to hundreds of kilometers of olive groves in somewhat hilly areas and then hundreds of kilometers of vineyards as you get to central Spain. The climate along the coast is hot during the summer and the whole area is dry - hence the concern of many Spaniards for infrastructure and water needs for the massive buildup of high-rise condominiums along the Costa del Sol over its entire length.
The cane growers are mostly small producers and often integrate with growing nursery plants for the rest of the country - some commercial vegetable farming too. Cane is used a lot as strips and wind breaks separating fields growing other crops. Arundo Donax does not have very many harmful pests so they rarely use herbicides or pesticides. Some commercial fertilizers are used but many use none because it grows pretty well without any outside help. Cane is not the highest cash crop and therefore is integrated with other planting and I did not see large areas set aside specifically as cane plantations. The geography and climate are similar to the French Var region famous for cane production - but this too has gone down dramatically because of high land values favoring development in the area versus farming.
L. Omar Henderson
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2007-02-01 16:13
Remember that cane needs to be seasoned for a period of years after it is cut. You can't just go into the canebrake, cut a few stalks and expect to make reeds from it.
Also, arundo donax is considered a noxious weed in California, where you appear to live. It's very invasive and nearly impossible to eradicate. I think it's banned altogether in California, so you might have trouble importing it.
If you want to buy tube cane in Spain, get seasoned stuff and have it cut at least between the nodes. Even then, it's difficult to bring in plant material.
Ken Shaw
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: bawa
Date: 2007-02-01 17:22
Thanks Omar for explaining it so well. Well, the plain occupies nearly all of
Spain, as it is really an old plateau covering the largest part of spain by far, the average elevation is 600 metres and it is criss-crossed by mountain ranges.
The climate in the plateau/plain is dry and hot in the summer and bitterly cold/snow in the winter.
The 100kms you mention are the coastal strips all round, which also maybe mountain ranges. You are too right about the intelligence of creating huge developments for tourism in an area with a traditional deficit of water...but thats another story.
In fact, the rain in Spain falls mostly in the north (where I live), hence the cane down the road, although growing tall and thick, is probably too damp to do anything with (have thought about it whenever I go past it!).
Certain types of cane are increasingly being treated as invasive species even in the North now, and you have to know what you are doing when importing plants.
But have a good trip and contact via e-mail for tourist tips.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: L. Omar Henderson
Date: 2007-02-01 18:37
As Ken has indicated, dried (and preferably properly aged) cane tubes with the internodes cut out may pass muster - (Arundo Donax can be propagated just by putting a complete piece in the ground and it will sprout at the internode space - this is the invasive nature of this plant) at customs - I do not know if California has other plant prohibitions in addition to U.S. Govt. regulations? Also I do not know how you certify your tube cane pest free - each piece would have to be thoroughly cleaned - even with the internodes cut out there is a fuzzy material on the inside of each cane tube cut that has to be cleaned out and looks like spider web type material that could harbor plant pests.
You could perhaps (or not - this is trivial to a broker) get a Spanish cane broker to sell you 1/2 sack or full sack (22 kg/ sack) of aged cane tube and give you a plant pest free certificate. I would check first with U.S. Govt. and CA officials before loosing a big bag of tube cane to the waste basket here in the U.S. - Actually I think that they even charge you a hefty decontamination and incineration fee and potential fine if you do not fully disclose the material imported.
I would consider this a challenge myself and just get all the information necessary to bring that cane back from Spain !!
L. Omar Henderson
P.S. Also be aware that cane brokers buy from a myriad of growers supplying different qualities of cane density, aging characteristics, and tube size dimensions (within some set limits). Also, reed makers buy these sacks of cane based on random samplings of sacks and then sort the cane by various quality control standards at the factory. Fully 1/8 - 1/4 of the average of all sacks may not be top grade tube cane for making clarinet reeds. Reed makers may also age sacks of cane for an additional period in their own warehouses after purchasing it at auction before making it into reeds.
Post Edited (2007-02-01 19:31)
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: swkeess
Date: 2007-02-02 01:15
California has the most restrictive agricultural regulations in the United States (since they have a huge investment in their agricultural economy). Do not bother to bring back uncertified cane there unless you have a phytosanitary certificate issued by the Spanish government, at the very least. Even if you have the certificate, the cane is subject to inspection and will be seized if evidence of pests or diseases is found. Call the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency at the U.S. port where you will be entering and ask what documentation you will need. Please make sure that such documentation applies to importations in passenger baggage, as well as commercial importations. IMHO, it would save a lot of time and trouble just to buy the cane commercially in the U.S., if available.
Susan Keess
Agricultural Technician, USDA
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: mk
Date: 2007-02-02 02:18
i appreciate the advice.....California? me? Thats my isp.....I've done my time in the big apple and just chillin out in north carolina.....lol
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
The Clarinet Pages
|
 |
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
