c
f)
vol. iv., no. 20.
PINEIIURST, N. C, MAR. 22, 1901.
PPICE TIIIiEE CENTS
ON THE LINKS.
I heard the golfers golfing,
I heard the caddies sing,
1 looked und saw the amateur,
And lo, that Bwing!
I climbed the clubhouse stairs
To gain a wider view;
On every hand uprose the sand
Where brassies flew.
IJack from the bunker bounding
The ball rolls on the links,
The amateur, in mood profound,
Stops and thinks and thinks.
Stroke after stroke resounding,
The game Is full of kinks,
That obdurate sphere Is acting queer
The caddie winks.
A futive look a sudden stop
A quick, left-handed toss
Triumphant goes the amateur
Ho, Donald Ross!
I wandered to the water-wheel
Where balls sink out of sight,
The caddy mark$ their resting place
And Italics them out at night.
For here the scene's enchanting,
The fair greens rise and fall;
You quench your thirst at the rustic spring
And follow your ball.
M. L. II.
IN THE PINE BARRENS.
The mi me, "Pine Barrens," which is
applied to that part of the southern states
covered with the long-leaf pine, is not
suggestive of flowers or aught else of
beauty. "Nothing but pines, scrub-oaks,
und sand!" is the petulant verdict of the
casual traveler, as he journeys through
this region.
Pines, indeed, there are! towering and
massive, with foliage so dark as to make
them gloomy, until one learns to know
and love them. To those who come from
the more ungenial North, in search of
health and strength, these sturdy trees,
breathing forth their fragrant, life-giving
aroma, have proved truly that their
leaves are "for the healing of the
nations."
Wherever the pines are cut out the
despoiled earth is covered by the scrub or
"Jack" oak, which though never attain
ing a.iy great size, and of little value for
commercial purposes, is by no means
useless. Practically it affords excellent
fuel, and, notwithstanding its ugliness
when deprived of its leaves, during the
season of foliage it gratirtes the aesthetic
side of our natures. When, in the spring,
the trees are covered with their yellow,
tassel-like blossoms, they form brilliant
"asses of color against the sombre back
ground of pines. The leaves which fol
low are at first the same shade as the
flower, gradually changing to dark
ffi'een and when full-grown becoming so
f?lssy and thick that they fairly tinkle
j11 the light breeze, as did the golden
:bugh sought by Eneas. Moreover, as
sudden gust sets them to quivering,
they simulate human voices, and fre
quently Wheu listening to the deep,
"Hisical son of the pines, is the
dreamer aroused, thinking that guests are
!,lpioaching. in tne full thev turn to a
rich red, rivaling the autumn foliage of
the maples, but finally succumbing to the
killing frosts, they turn to russet brown,
and thus hang and shiver on the trees
throughout the short winter until sent
hurrying and scurrying by the mischiev
ous breath of the March wind.
The particular locality under consider
ation is in the south central part of
North Carolina, situated on a high ridge
where the soil, composed mainly of sand
so white as to resemble snow, is said
by the natives to be "mighty poor."
"Why," said one of our southern breth
ren, "there won't anything grow there
except cow-peas ; and they groan when
they sprout!"
Vet, in spite of such unpromising con
ditions, the flora is both varied and faci
nating. The flower season opens early,
or at least so it seems to a New Eug-
branches of the swamp maple, with its
crimson, winged seed-vessels hanging in
clusters, and the brilliant white blos
soms of the dog-wood. Throughout
April the latter trees are a most salient
feature of the landscape, and nothing
else is so well adapted to household
adornment. The flowers, growing only
on one side of the branches, turn out
wards when arranged in vases or fas
tened to the walls ; and our rooms are
often converted into bovvers of purity
and whiteness, charming enough for the
most dainty bride.
Two members of the interesting Sarre
cenia family are found here in abund
ance: the pitcher-plant with its curious
flowers, and the larger trumpet-leaf with
its nodding, greenish-yellow blossom.
With the coming of May the varieties
increase, and the Pulse and Composite
if
lander, and trailing arbutus May-flowers
no longer are often in bloom on St.
Valentine's day ; and for six weeks these
lovely flowers, so fraught with childhood
memories and recollections of home,
gladden our hearts. Encouraged by the
balmy weather they sometimes produce
a double variety so rare as to have
escaped the notice of most botanists.
Before the arbutus is gone the violets
appear; not only the small shy blossoms
of the North, but larger, wide-open ones
light blue or lavender and known as
bird"s-foot violet. With them comes a
dwarf iris, bright blue and golden
throated; and about the same time, in
great patches which cover the ground, is
found a low-growing phlox, a delicate
flower varying from bright pink to
white, and easily reminding one of the
Drummond phlox so universally culti
vated. During the early spring the trees give
us many beautiful flowers, and a strik
ingly handsome bouquet is made of
families seemingly strive to out-do each
other in numbers. The most noticeable
of the Pulse family are the one-leaved
lupine with blue flowers and ever-green
foliage; baptisia or false indigo (so
called because an inferior quality of
indigo is obtained from it), bearing long
racemes of golden-yellow blossoms;
tephrosia, or hoary pea, familiarly known
as the devil's lute-string, or shoe-string
a name suggested by its long, slender,
tough roots rather than undue intimacy
with his Satanic Majesty and having a
varigated blossom of purplish-pink and
yellow, which changes to pink and
white, and resembles the sweet-pea in
appearance, but without its perfume; the
indigofera, or true indigo plant, which,
though its blossoms are insignificant, is
very graceful, somewhat similar to the
maidenhair fern in form and foliage ; the
sensitive, or partridge pea, and the but
terfly pea, a showy lavender flower with
un unusually large "banner."
It is in May that the sweet bay and its
cousin, the beautiful tulip tree, put forth
their blossoms; those of the former,
creamy-white and heavily scented, and
those of the latter yellow and orange,
with a scarcely perceptible odor. In this
month, also, the roadsides are beautified
by azaleas, or false honeysuckles, of
which there are two representatives: one
flaunting its bright red-pink flowers;
the other more sedate with its white,
rosy-tinged coroller, so clammy, or
sticky, that its sides cling together, hold
ing fast the unfortunate insects which
alight upon it.
The spurge nettle, a low herb, with
rather showy white flowers, attracts
attention in more ways than one if an
attempt to gather it is made. As might
be inferred it belongs to the Spurge
family, and is also appropriately called
"tread softly," its leaves and stems being
covered with stift", stinging hairs. Speak
ing of nettles naturally suggests the
cactus of which only one variety is found
here; this has a deep-yellow blossom
and prickles enough for a dozen species.
Among the minor spring flowers are a
spider-wort, tradesmntia rosea, a name
much more imposing than the plant; a
lobelia with a tiny blue blossom; five
finger, gold thread, blue-eyed grass, and
many others.
Most varieties of the Composite family
bloom in summer ancLfall, though a few
flower in the spring. Perhaps the most
common are the asters, of which there
are many kinds, most of them yellow,
and varying in size from small low plants
with tiny blossoms to those six feet in
height with proportionately large flow
ers. The liatris, or blazing star, grow
luxuriantly and is evidently blessed
with an indomitable will, for its long
branches of rose-purple flowers are some
times found victoriously growing up
from dry looking heaps of chips, or gaily
creeping from under piles of lumber
heavy enough to discourage anything
less preserving. Golden-rod, here as
everywhere, asserts its claim to the honor
of being a national emblem, as, with true
American patriotism, it shows its colors
on amber-hued hillsides and wave3
triumphatly among the neglected grasses
of "old fields."
The terrestrial orchids are a source of
much enjoyment to the botanists, and
among several varieties observed the fol
lowing are most attractive: the yellow
fringed orchis ; habenaria, dazzling white
with a long spur; spiranthes, or ladies'
tresses, small white flowers spirally
twisted in a spike; calopobn, and
pogonia whose names are derived
from Greek words meaning "beautiful
bearded."
One of the handsomest plants in the
piney woods is the Yucca filamentosa, or
Adam's thread and needle. The latter
name is accounted for by the hair-like
filaments on the edges of the leaves and
the spines on their points ; but, suppos
ing that this plant with its lovely,
creamy-white flowers was a habitant of