Kitabı oku: «The Woodcraft Girls at Camp», sayfa 5

CHAPTER FIVE
SOME AMAZING THINGS IN NATURE

"Girls, as long as we are off for a hike, why not make something worth while of the time?" asked the Guide looking at her companions.

"Anything you say goes with us, Miss Miller!" said Zan emphatically.

"Well, then suppose we try to identify our native trees – as many as we find in this section of the country – and begin to gather wild flowers and plants, for Jane to make blue prints from. At the same time we can study their botanical features and arrange them in groups for use in trays, or pictures."

"Why, that is a novel idea! How did you think of it, Miss Miller?" cried Elena, her artistic nature roused.

"I love wild flowers, and I always did think they would make beautiful decorations if properly treated so they would retain their lines and details," replied the Guide.

"It's too bad you didn't mention it sooner, so I could have brought a basket or something to keep them in," said Jane.

"Why carry a basket when one can be had for the picking!" laughed Miss Miller.

Again the girls were mystified, and waited for an explanation. It was slow in coming for the Guide seemed very intent upon seeking for something she could not find.

After ten minutes' walk she exclaimed, "Ha! I thought so! The kind of grass I wanted always grows near the hill-tops."

She motioned the girls to sit down while she gathered a few handsful of long wiry grass and showed them how to weave a fine grass basket. It was a small model but very compact and strong. They watched eagerly while deft fingers flew and the grass strands went in and out, until the roll on top was finished. The handle was another matter, and Miss Miller said she would make that another time.

"But this is so dainty it will never hold plants or roots!" said Elena.

"Not this sample but we can make others on the same lines and use other materials. Perhaps Zan can show us where we can find some rushes, or wand-grass. Then too, willow makes good strong baskets."

"Why, sure! Right down by the Bid Ridge we can gather all the rushes we want, and a whole group of young willows grow over by Pine Nob – that's a giant hill back of Hamilton's Farm," exclaimed Zan eagerly.

"Some rainy day, then, we will sit by the fire and make some rush mats," added the Guide.

"Oh, stop! please don't mention any more, or my head will whirl off!" laughed Jane, holding down the top of her head, but with eyes sparkling with anticipation of all the coups waiting to be won.

Miss Miller smiled as she started on up the hill-side. "Don't wait for me to point out a tree – take the first one you see. The same with the flowers and shrubs."

"But here's some grass that ought to make a strong basket!" called Nita, who was a few paces ahead.

"Yes, let us gather some and construct a carrier in case we find some plants we want to dig up, root and flower," advised the Guide.

They were all eagerly engaged in their first attempt at weaving with grass and found it not nearly as easy as it seemed when the Guide was doing it. Sometimes the grass slipped, sometimes it broke; then, it would refuse to slide up or down, and again it would cut into tender flesh if it was pulled too hard.

After a time, however, a sort of a misshapen bowl-like article was finished by Hilda who declared it looked just like an Eskimo's treasure. The other girls decided to carry their material and half-finished shapes with them and wait for another recess in the hike before weaving more.

"I see a maple!" exclaimed Elena, as they climbed.

"Pshaw! every one knows a maple tree so there can't be anything new worth hearing about a maple," said Nita.

"How do you know but that we may discover some new feature about a maple that you never dreamed of before?" asked Miss Miller.

"Hitherto unpublished – exclusive rights claimed by Wickeecheokee Band!" added Zan.

"Not so many moons since, I met a group of girls who were greatly surprised to find that sugar came from maples!" added Miss Miller, smiling at Nita.

"Oh, that was different! What I mean now, is, that every one knows a maple when they see one, and it's nothing new."

Miss Miller examined the maple thoughtfully for a moment, then said, "How many of you know what kind of a maple this is?"

"We have one like it on the front lawn and Dad always calls it "the red maple,"" replied Zan.

"Yes, it is a red maple. Acer is the Latin name, while maple is the common name. Now look at the height of this tree and tell me how tall it will grow before it reaches its full growth?"

"This one is not twenty feet, is it?" asked Elena.

"No, about twenty – I should say."

"The red maple on our lawn is at least thirty feet high, Miss Miller, and Dad says it is an old tree," said Zan.

"About thirty feet is the average height. Now, tell me, do you think this tree will thrive best on this hill-side or down in the glade beyond the bridge – where the ground is low and moist?" continued the Guide.

"I don't know – do you?" said Jane, looking at the other girls.

"Give up! There's another item we failed to know," replied Zan.

"The red maple thrives best in low woodsie land. It needs rich soil and plenty of moisture. Now examine the bark of this one carefully. It is smooth and spotted, but this is an old tree in spite of its height, for the spots grow dark on old trees and are always lighter on younger ones – in fact, quite young trees have white spots. Its timber is valuable for house trim and some kinds of cabinet work. The red maple is highly ornamental and of late years has been selected for landscape gardening and shade trees."

Miss Miller looked at the tree a moment, then said, "We will review this lesson on the house-lawn where Zan says a large maple grows. Now, pass on to the next tree."

"I see a great big oak!" cried Elena.

"How many kinds of oak do you suppose there are in the world?" asked Miss Miller.

No one could tell her so she replied, "I do not know myself, as I suppose there are many species never heard of in the great forests of South America, Africa and Asia. However, we know there are the White Oak, found mostly in the United States, Adriatic Oak, European Oak, Live Oak of the Southern States, the Holm Red Oak, commonest in Northern States – this is a Red Oak tree – , Black Oak, one of the loftiest of forest trees, and a Live Oak of Asia. The timber of each one of the Oak species is valuable, as its grain is straight, the wood hard, and of strong quality and durability. I remember the oak ceiling timber of my old home.¹ The house was built long before Washington crossed the Delaware and my father inherited it along with a few acres of ground. When I was a little girl of about six, mother wanted the old dining-room modernized. The carpenters contracting to do the work showed us some solid timbers that were hewn out by hand with the axe. On the side where mother wished two windows to be turned into a bow-window for her winter flowers, the men had to saw through a beam as hard as iron. Finally, the boss carpenter said, "We will have to take this beam out whole to save time and strength." They did so, and what do you suppose we found cut in one side of that oak beam?"

The girls had been listening with all attention, but of course no one could imagine what was found.

"The dates of the time when Washington's army were in winter quarters on Fort Nonsense, Morristown, N. J. Several of his men were stationed at the old house and had cut their initials in the beam which must have been exposed at the time. Father found out that the window-casing and ceiling of plaster were added later to beautify the house according to up-to-date ideas at the time. At the time the army camped on the mountainside, the house was of rough timber, without any attempt at finish or adornment."

"How interesting!" said some of the girls.

"What became of the log?" asked practical Zan.

"The George Washington Headquarters requested the loan of the beam to exhibit in their museum."

"Then that oak beam lasted over a hundred and forty years and was good as new when found!" declared Zan wonderingly.

"Yes, it would have lasted a hundred and fifty more, if it had been left encased safely as it was when found," replied Miss Miller.

"Was it a Red Oak?" asked Nita.

"How could Miss Miller tell, you ninny! She was only six years old!" said Jane.

"I don't think any one thought to investigate at the time. The people were not so keen for Nature lore then as now," laughed Miss Miller.

Then continuing, "This oak has leaves, you will see, with deep veinings; they are scalloped on the edges, and curved out toward the middle-sides and in again toward the end. This tree, I should say, is about eighty feet high, although they grow to a hundred. Their diameter is from one to three feet through. The leaves of this oak were green when they first grew but they turn red as the season advances and by fall they are a beautiful crimson."

As they passed on, Jane cried, "Here's a chestnut tree, as every one knows!"

"Do you know anything of its individuality?" asked Miss Miller.

"I know that it blossoms into long feathery catkins that smell very sweet, something like the blossoms on our grapevines," said Zan.

"And I guess every one knows that the fruit is found in a burr that pricks your fingers like fury if you're not careful," added Elena.

"I know that the wood is good for fence-posts 'cause Dad ordered Bill to be sure and get chestnut posts for the fence that closes in the out-houses," Zan remembered.

"Anybody else wish to contribute?" asked Miss Miller.

"Every one wants to but can't afford it this time," laughed Jane eagerly.

"Well then, the chestnut is a deciduous tree that grows to a considerable height and size. Its timber is light weight, cross-grained and very durable; that is why it has been preferred in the past for posts. Its leaves are long and shiny and has sharp pointed edges. The nuts are sweet and of a starchy nature, also highly nutritious. The variety we have had in such numbers in the Middle Atlantic States have been destroyed by a strange fungoid disease that attacked them and was spread rapidly by wind and the birds until the finest trees are gone! It is almost impossible to detect the diseased tree until it is fated and soon an entire grove is doomed beyond help or cure.

"Foresters and gardeners have sought to protect and save other trees by cutting down a tree the moment the symptoms appeared, but it has been found useless. Even the timber of a diseased tree is worthless as it is soon entirely eaten by worms that are bred in the tree during the first stages of the disease."

"Maybe that is why we don't see so many chestnuts for sale?" pondered Hilda, who was very fond of the nut.

"Perhaps, and perhaps it is because a sick tree does not bear well. Personally, I believe chestnut trees like quiet and retirement and droop to die when civilisation creeps too close to their environment. If that is so, the chestnut trees have seen their best days, and the future will continue without any acquaintance with the extinct tree," said Miss Miller.

"Miss Miller talks of trees just as if they knew what was going on about them!" laughed Nita.

"That's what always makes her talks so vital and interesting to us!" commended Zan.

"They are all alive, and do know all that concerns them, but mortals never stop to think of this! I look at it in this light. We read in Genesis that God made everything and He saw that it was very good. Then, the narrative goes on to say that the Creator who made everything that was made had all Life, all Intelligence, all Love within Himself. Of this great power and love He created man in His own image and likeness. Man was given dominion over all living creatures and things. Now take that into your thought, girls! All living things! I firmly believe that the good God who gave us charge of all living things wanted us to watch over and love and use intelligence in the way we governed His creation. This tree is a living thing– it has as much of the divine authority to live as we have. It has as much divine intelligence as anything created for a purpose. So, this tree is recognised by me, who am also created by the same Father for a purpose, as a living thing growing to beautify the universe and to provide man with delicious food."

"Oh, Miss Miller if you were only a man what a fine preacher you would make!" exclaimed Zan enthusiastically.

"I can preach as well in my sphere as a woman!" laughed Miss Miller.

"Oh! are you a suffragist!" gasped Nita.

"Would it change your opinion of my qualities and character, if I admitted I was? I did not say I was, I only ask you if it would make a difference to you with what I really am?"

"Well, I don't know anything about the matter except what my mother said to her friends at a card party one day. She didn't understand how women could lecture and parade and ask for the vote when they could have a good time at home playing bridge and going out shopping, or taking a week-end trip to some friend's country house."

Miss Miller never said a word in reply neither did she tell Nita whether she was a suffragist, or just a pleasure-seeking woman.

"Dear me, what was it we were talking about when we got switched off the track!" said Elena.

"Chestnuts!" laughed Zan, the others joining her.

"I see a hickory tree – I'll choose that if you're through with other subjects," said Nita.

"All right, and we will give you first choice to tell us all about the tree," replied Miss Miller, as they forced a way through the undergrowth until the tree was reached.

"I don't know a thing about it except that I like the nuts."

"How did you know it was a hickory tree if you were not familiar with the bark or leaves," asked Miss Miller.

"I heard Zan say so and point it out to Jane as being a splendid tree for nuts in the fall," replied Nita.

"I can describe the nuts and the shell, and that's about all. I always know a hickory when I see one, by its leaves and the way it grows, but I can't tell why it is so," said Zan.

No one could tell so Miss Miller explained. "The hickory is found in plenty in North America. It has pinnate leaves, grows from seventy to ninety feet high and is slender in trunk. The timber is heavy, tenacious, and strong, but it decays rapidly when exposed to heat or moisture. The bark is rough and easily stripped. The blossoms are short catkins, sweetly perfumed, and the nuts are highly nutritious, forming inside of a cover of shell-bark that peels off in quarter-plates."

"I think I can describe one after that, and pick out a hickory from other trees," remarked Hilda.

"So c'n I – who couldn't?" retorted Jane.

"How many trees does that make?" asked Miss Miller.

"Maple, oak, chestnut and hickory," Zan counted off on her fingers.

"Four! We've got to find six more," cried Elena, pushing on to seek a new variety of tree.

"Here's one that you'll be glad to hear about," called Zan. They turned back and saw a low bush-like tree that would have been passed by without a look, if it hadn't been for the alert Zan.

"That's a bush!" sneered Nita.

"It's called a tree in botany!" retorted Zan triumphantly.

"Yes, a hazel-nut is a tree although it looks like a bush to me," explained Miss Miller.

"Is that a hazel-nut tree?" wondered Jane amazed.

"It doesn't look like much!" said Nita deprecatingly.

"Looks don't count for everything – wait till you want some hazel-nuts. This is a record-breaker for nuts!" snapped Zan, defending her pet hazel-nut.

"I consider a hazel-nut a very interesting specimen to study. Its blossoms are very small and very sweet; in fact, a cluster of hazel flowers makes a lovely nose-gay. The male tree blooms in catkins and is more conspicuous. Its growth is like unto a large shrub or low tree with wood that is tough but flexible. The leaf is shaped like a roseleaf and notched on the edges. The nuts form in a bell-like cup and the meat is very sweet and good.

"The Witch-hazel, from which a fluid called 'Pond's Extract' comes, is peculiar in that it blooms in the Fall – the yellow stars shining in the woods. The name originally was spelled 'wyche' meaning a box. The wood was always used for making chests that fitted in old-time halls. These chests or wyches, had no connection whatever with magic. To-day, however, the common belief is that the name is derived from the magic power of the 'Dowser' or Water-Finder. A hazel wand is accorded the quality of discovering water under the ground when held in the hands of certain people. If the holder passed over a spot where water could be found the wand would bend until its tip touched the earth where water could be found if dug for."

"Do you believe that, Miss Miller?" asked a sceptical one.

"I used to accept the statement as a fact until quite recently when I read of a renowned engineer who claims that the wand is quite unnecessary as water can be found by any one strong-minded enough to concentrate upon the discovery about to be made. This Englishman, who is an authority in such matters, says that many well-known engineers have tried and found that the wand has not the inherent power to discriminate or fathom for water. I have known folks who might experiment and carry a wand forever without its ever moving a hair's breadth in their hands, as they themselves were too material and 'thick' to discern the things under the earth or above the earth, either!"

"Let's sit down here and listen to more of this queer talk," suggested Zan eagerly.

"No, we are out for a tramp to find trees and I am not going to talk of things you are not old enough to understand," said Miss Miller positively.

"Miss Miller, here's a maple, but it's not red!" said Jane, pointing to the rounded top of a thick tree.

"That's a sap maple like the ones in the sugar grove. If it were spring we could tap the trunk and get some of the sweet saccharine that rises up in the trunk. The sugar maple grows as high as seventy feet and sometimes measures three feet in diameter. It has hard wood, of satiny lustre. It generally has a well-formed crown and thick foliage. A single maple will yield from five to ten pounds of maple sugar in season."

"Zan, for goodness' sake, let us have some sugar when you can get it!" exclaimed Elena.

"All right, remind me and we will ask Bill if there is any left from this spring's boiling," replied Zan.

"There's a Christmas tree, Miss Miller."

"Oh, help! A spider's got on me! It crawled from that bush!" cried Nita, vainly squirming and shaking herself to throw off the insect.

The other girls ran away from her for they too, were afraid of a spider.

"Pooh! It won't hurt you! Can't any of you tell the difference between a poisonous and a harmless bug?" Zan cried.

"That gives me an idea," said Miss Miller, as Zan brushed off the gaudily striped spider. "The first afternoon we have to spare from routine plans, we will take up the interesting study of insect life, and learn not to call everything a bug!"

"If we do half the things we hope to accomplish, we'll be the prize Tribe of the Indians!" commented Zan.

"We must always strive for the unattainable. Although we are not aware at the time that our goal is far beyond our capacity to attain, still it is the incentive that makes for progress. Having once obtained what we desired, we are disappointed in the realisation and so keep on striving. Discouragement and laziness, are the two worst enemies that progress ever meet. I think that of the two discouragement is even harder to combat with than laziness. So, with our plans for the summer: we outline far more than we can actually accomplish but it is an incentive and we push onward and upward."

"Who chose the last tree?" called Elena, during the silence that followed upon the little lecture.

"Nita found a Christmas tree," replied Jane.

"That is a pine tree – of the family of abies. Spruce, fir, pine, and others all come under the family name. You will always see a pine tree grow straight up, unless some obstacle turns aside its natural tendency. The pine wood is composed of cells that are filled with piney sap. It is a long-lived tree, there being on record pine trees that are 2,000 years old – a report says some pines in the Holy Land have been found that register an age of 3,000 years. The timber of pine trees is very useful for hardwood building purposes and the sap is used for the manufacture of turpentines, oils and resins. The limbs grow on an almost horizontal line from the tree and the offshoots of the limbs follow the same strange line. The greens form in a flat shape almost like a fan, and when young and tender make the best of camp beds. When a tree is utterly decayed the wood forms pitch and tar."

"And in December, the tree is in great demand by all children for decorative purposes!" added Zan, as Miss Miller finished her discourse.

"Yes, I find I always forget the most important item, or at least Zan thinks so," laughed the Guide.

"My! I never knew so much about wood in my life!" exclaimed Elena.

"Trees, my dear! don't call these magnificent tall giants by so common a name as wood!" corrected Zan.

"I guess there aren't any other varieties in these woods," ventured Nita, looking about for a new species.

"Oh, yes, there are. I have seen a dozen more in a short walk," replied Miss Miller.

"Here's a kind we haven't had. I don't know what it is, though," said Jane.

"That is a birch tree. Haven't you ever chewed birch bark?" said Zan, disdainfully, at Jane's ignorance of a birch.

"I've tasted birch beer but I don't like it!" said she.

"Birch flavour is used in soda water, candy, and soft drinks of all kinds. It is also in great demand for flavouring obnoxious medicines as it disguises the disagreeable taste," said Miss Miller, adding, "Who can describe the birch tree?"

"I don't believe any of us can; I was the only one that knew what sort of a tree it was, and that is all I can tell," admitted Zan reluctantly.

"The Latin for birch is "betula." Its flowers grow in catkins and bud in early spring. The tree is often as high as seventy feet. The wood is highly prized by cabinet makers. The bark is so durable that it has been found intact after the tree has decayed. Often a woodsman will come across a birch that seems to be newly fallen. He will strike in with his axe to ascertain the value of the timber and the bark will split showing a hollow inside, or at least a mass of decayed wood. The bark is very useful for the building of canoes, dishes, wooden utilities, and even hats.

"The mahogany birch grows in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, to the height of seventy to eighty feet and is two to three feet thick. In spring the rich green leaves of this tree are covered with a thick down almost like hoar frost. It is beautiful at this season. Later, this down disappears and the leaves remain a bright green. They are oval shaped, and pointed at ends. The timber of the mahogany birch is a hard close-grain and of a reddish brown colour."

"Mother just got a new chamber suite of furniture that she bought for mahogany and told all of her friends at the bridge club about her magnificent mahogany furniture for her guest-chamber. When the club met at our house she took the ladies in to show off the furniture. Mrs. Dewitt said, "Why, my poor dear Mrs. Brampton, you were cheated if you bought this for mahogany!" My mother got awful mad at first, then another lady told her the wood was stained mahogany and was known as mahogany birch. Mother sent it right back the next day and said she would never trade at that place again. But the man tried to explain that the furniture was called mahogany, and at the price she should have known that it was birch. Now I will know how to tell the difference between birch and real mahogany, won't I?" said Nita eagerly.

"Yes, but I trust you will be able to use your knowledge for a better purpose than just discriminating in furniture. The simpler your furniture the less mental work you will need to think of it. That gives your thoughts so much more time for happier work and ideas," replied Miss Miller.

"I see a tree over in that little dell that looks as if it had nuts growing on it," said Hilda.

"I guess it has, for it is a beech tree," replied the Guide. "Can you describe any of its points?"

"We have gathered beech-nuts every year, Miss Miller, and Mrs. Sherwood and mother have pickled them. Umph! but they taste good in winter!" said Zan.

"I have never tasted them but I have heard of the delicious flavour when eaten with cold meats," replied Miss Miller.

"I can tell a beech from another tree by its leaves, but I don't know any of its growing points," added Zan.

"Well, the beech is not a very well-known tree – I mean it is not as commonly seen on the lawns, street-parquets, or parks, as the oak, maple, or elm. A beech tree often grows to be a hundred feet high and is from three to eight feet thick. Some have had a diameter of eleven feet. The bark is smooth, ash-coloured. The timber is fine grained and the roots of the tree do not go deep down, but spread out underneath the surface of the ground. The foliage of the beeches I have seen are purple, silver, and red. The name to designate the kind of beech tree is given by the colour of the leaves."

"There, that's ten trees!" called Nita.

"No, that only makes nine?" contradicted Jane.

The girls counted on their fingers and found there had been nine trees described so that they could always tell at a glance what the tree was.

"I am going to choose the tenth tree myself," said Miss Miller.

"Yes, yes, do!" cried the girls, in chorus.

"Well, I am going to select an elm. You won't see it here," laughed the teacher, as every head turned looking for the elm tree. "I am going to tell you about it and then see which of you can be first in identifying it by my description."

"That will be heaps of fun – I think that will be better than the way we have done!" exclaimed Elena.

The others felt much the same way, but said nothing as Miss Miller began.

"Our American elm, or white elm, is a majestic tree with long pendulous branches. The trunk grows from three to five feet through, and the tree's height is from fifty to seventy feet. The main trunk grows straight naked, until it towers above its neighbours. It then divides into two primary branches which ascend gradually and subdivide into spreading boughs. These again subdivide into smaller twigs, and the twigs into leaves.

"As the limbs grow out into smaller branches they bend in the most graceful curves, and the beautiful foliage gives a dense shade. The leaves are short-stalked, oval-shape, with irregular veins. The Elm flowers in April before its leaves begin to shoot. The timber is tough, strong and not easy to manipulate in cabinet work, therefore is not in such demand for this purpose."

"I believe I can pick an elm after that lesson," said Elena thoughtfully.

"Well, girls, we must get back to camp, but we will see who is the first to find an elm."