24 
FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
it as a sweet gum. A little farther on, 
we come to another tree, -the trunk of 
which is covered with peculiar, ridged, 
corky bark and the smaller limbs and 
twigs possessed of fantastically winged 
appendages—the bark apparently fasten¬ 
ed on edgewise—and we immediately 
know it for a sweet gum. 
Take also Ilex opaca, the spiny toothed 
one known as American holly, and close 
examination will show well accentuated 
varietal characteristics in individual speci¬ 
mens, some trees possessing much broad¬ 
er leaves than others and the leaves hav¬ 
ing much longer spines. I have mentioned 
this particular species not that it is distinct 
from others in the number of its varietal 
changes but that the species itself is so 
distinct as to be, we think, unmistakable. 
We had best handle this word unmistak¬ 
able with gloves, however, for its too free 
and careless use has, before now, gotten 
many a man into trouble. Indeed it is 
strange how lacking in astuteness some ot 
us can be at #nes—^or at least I know I 
can—and following is a case in point: 
There is a half acre of comparatively 
open ground in this thicket where tree 
growth is much more sparse than any¬ 
where else, and I have wondered, a dozen 
times, why it did not grow up as fast as 
the rest. But one day, all of a sudden, it 
flashed over me that, a few years ago, the 
man with the mowing machine had been 
there, appropriating bedding for the 
mules. Any succulent new tree growth 
that was mingled with the neavy crop of 
wire grass was not sufficient to make it¬ 
self apparent or to interfere with the 
mower, and the mowing machine and 
horse rake had denuded this particu¬ 
lar half-acre of several successive 
years’ accumulation, which would have, 
by this time, turned into a heavy mold and 
been recognized as a ready seed bed by the 
thousands of seeds that wait on proper 
conditions to develop. 
Just now, I am as interested as a boy, 
watching development on that particular 
half acre. What particular species will 
first assert itself? The black gums and 
sweet gums are pushing in from either 
side. The pink azaleas have thrown out 
skirmishers. A few scattering pines are 
holding up their unlighted candles as if 
awaiting instructions to proceed; and the 
scarlet maple, which holds its growing 
tips aflame all summer, in readiness for its 
fall conflagration, is apparently proclaim¬ 
ing “Come on, there is good footing here, 
I will lead the way.” 
I have not mentioned all the species to 
be found in my thicket and those named 
are not necessarily the same as would be 
produced in other portions of the state. 
Nature does not make exact reproduc¬ 
tions of herself over any large given area. 
Latitude, longitude, altitude, isothermal 
lines, soil formations, proximity to bodies 
of water, large or small, fresh or salt, run¬ 
ning or stagnant; all of these things have 
a bearing on what we may expect. The 
point however is that we may not only 
expect, but look forward with absolute 
certainty to a reforestation of our denud¬ 
ed lands if we will but keep fire out; and 
not only to reforestation of the land but 
enrichment of the soil; for Nature’s forc¬ 
es work continually toward conserving 
and building up, instead of dissipating, 
whenever they are allowed to do so. 
This is one application of my thicket 
story but by no means the only one; and 
to more fully illustrate the next one, I 
should like to take you with me, if we 
had time, just over the fence, across the 
road and into the borders of the fast run¬ 
ning creek that during the rainy season 
