BROWSING AND NIBBLING. 97 
These ginseng-diggers—or “sang-diggers,”’ 
as they are called—are queer folk; very inter- 
esting in a way, ignorant, superstitious, strong, 
stingy, and honest-——a sort of mountain tribe 
to themselves. I followed a company of them 
around the jutting cliffs and fertile “‘ benches” 
of the Carolina mountain region, until I really 
had grown to like their careless, nomadic life, 
with its flavor of chestnuts and ginseng. In 
the spring is the time for browsing; in the 
autumn comes the nibbling season. The 
_ squirrels begin eating the buds of the hickory 
trees so soon as the sap has risen into them 
sufficiently to make them swell. Your know- 
ing squirrel-hunter cleans up his rifle about 
this time, and visits every hickory tree in his 
neighborhood. Somewhat later the grand 
tulip trees begin blooming, and then the squir- 
rels transfer their attention tothem. A few 
weeks of browsing in the spring woods will 
make one acquainted with the characteristic 
taste and fragrance of almost every tree, shrub, 
and plant of the region. 
True, there are a few—very few indeed— 
poisonous things, and these must be avoided. 
Nature has her evil streaks, running at wide 
intervals through her opulence of good; but 
they are easily discoverable. Who would 
ever be so obtuse to danger as to nibble at the 
buds of the poison ivy? ‘This browsing-time 
is also the season of our sweetest and most 
charming flowers. While one is biting through 
pungent barks and aromatic buds, one also 
gets the benefit of perfumes as wild and witch- 
ing as are the blooms from which they exhale. 
I do not know how to explain the influence of 
the bitters and sweets, the acids and sub-acids, 
7 
