64 
FOREST AND 
STREAM 
SEEING THINGS 
DEVELOP POWER OF OBSERVATION 
AND A NEW WORLD UNFOLDS 
By Osceola. 
W HAT was in my mind in using this 
title was to impress on the minds of 
the younger clans, who are about 
to push us old fellows from the best blinds 
or maybe steal our bait, can and all, that 
it will stand them well in hand to give heed 
to the smaller beauties of nature, the com¬ 
mon everyday attractions, yes, even the 
plain mush-and-milk things so often over¬ 
looked in these days of eight-cylinder road¬ 
sters, gyroscoping airplanes and other like 
products of recent years. 
Our cypress trees are coming into their 
new spring style of dress. Easter comes 
in a few days and why should not they 
have on their best array? Few church-go¬ 
ers will be appareled in better style or 
wear their new clothes in more becoming 
mien than the group of proud young cy¬ 
presses I see daily as I go to the river—- 
just coming into their ’teens, I judge— 
straight, erect, no stooping, sloping shoul¬ 
ders, no padded fronts; broad, square- 
heeled shoes on which they can keep their 
position in their world, not liable to turn 
an ankle; head up, chest out, clean-living 
joyous youngsters with every prospect of 
a happy, useful life! 
Several months ago came a gentleman 
down here to see things. His home was 
in North Carolina, and he had read in some 
older work on botany that a certain species 
of willow extremely rare was growing by 
our river bank. Ten minutes after alight¬ 
ing from the train he had a piece of this 
rare specimen in his hand. I know he 
thought it beautiful: I saw his eyes shine 
the brighter and a wonderfully satisfied 
look was on his face. 
Now, I had passed that same little old 
willow bush many times and had never 
even thought to consider it. Since the visit 
of that botanist I have a new picture in my 
gallery. Reverting again to trees, there is 
scarcely one of our native forms but is 
worth considering as an object of interest 
or beauty. Our glorious magnolias (bay), 
sweet gums, pines in various forms are 
worthy of study and admiration. 
Perhaps my own mind may run too 
much to trees and birds when I roam 
the fields and woods, and I doubtless fail 
to see things worth looking at. More 
time devoted in our schools to practical 
natural history would be well spent, it 
seems to me. Knowledge of Latin verbs 
will harm no one, but good botanical and 
chemical facts will help to grow better 
corn and collards! 
Surely a day in the blind for ducks or 
on the marsh for snipe will be more en¬ 
joyed if the hunter can see things about 
him. 
Why not admire the pure white blooms 
of the spider lily, grouped in the salt 
marsh: their tendril-like calices and faint 
sweet odor are well worth a moment’s con¬ 
sideration. The tall brown grasses of our 
marshes in the early winter are vast har¬ 
bors for things of more than passing in¬ 
terest, and these thick covers well repay 
a careful study. Rarely a week passes 
during the winter but some butterfly floats 
over, many grasshoppers find refuge in the 
close fur-like matting below, to be driven 
out in swarms by raging fires as spring 
comes on. Rats and rabbits, ’coons and 
snakes, all find harbor here, and here come 
hawks and owls, eagles and wildcats to 
find rich feed from less active things. 
What need to kill every snake that cross¬ 
es the path? We have so few venomous 
ones it is not a serious task to know those 
that are harmful and let the others go by. 
Some are of beautiful color, many are most 
beneficial and yet almost every man’s hand 
is against them. 
'I have hunted with men who seemed ut¬ 
terly incapable of seeing anything in woods 
or fields worth a passing thought, if it was 
not to be killed. Their one aim was at 
the game. A liquid amber tree in glorious 
hues of purple and red seemed not to 
draw a glance. 
Our common soft maples, growing here 
by the borders of ponds and streams, are 
gorgeous, brilliant pictures in the early 
spring, hung with scarlet fruitage; again 
in the autumn another brilliant picture 
comes with their changing foliage. One 
of our attractive pictures comes late in the 
year, even extending its beauty into the 
holidays when storms and cold are tem¬ 
pered; a rank-growing aster, one verily 
that 
«* * * by the brookside, makes asters in 
the brook.” 
Immense flower-heads, for asters, scat¬ 
tered over a tall, almost trailing bush three 
to five feet in height, are rarely seen except 
by the river bank, where the showy blue 
rays may be mirrored ajid their beauty 
multiplied at a time when flowers have 
grown scarce. 
I hesitate to attempt the telling of the 
most exquisite picture in my gallery of 
nature views. It deserves a wording far 
beyond my powers: A smooth-flowing riv¬ 
er, winding gracefully between densely 
wooded shores, now mirrored far down in 
the dark, still waters; feathery cypress 
boughs, strong, rugged pines; gnarled and 
spreading oaks with crowned columns of 
palmetto interspersed; all are doubly paint¬ 
ed on this reversible canvas. 
A boat moves forward, not too fast, or 
the charm may be sullied. A pure snow- 
white nymph is startled from her nook 
amongst lilies and reeds and is wafted on¬ 
ward by gentle wing-beats just above the 
water’s surface, in which is shown in rare 
detail each graceful move and line. So 
perfect the image beneath, one has to mar¬ 
vel that the wings of our dainty heron, 
now wending up the stream, are free to 
move in such an unaccustomed form. No 
ripple mars this double flight as under and 
over bush and tree floats or flies the pic¬ 
tured form. 
O NE of my neighbors has a live oak 
tree that I trust may give him at 
least one-half the satisfaction I get 
from it. It grows in an open lot at the 
rear of his house and is somewhat protected 
from cold wind by a nearby pine grove. 
The far-reaching boughs in bending lines, 
the rounding form and changing hues make 
a picture that never tires. Now in the 
spring the new and tender leaflets have re¬ 
placed the coarser, darker growth of for¬ 
mer months and the ground is thickly 
strewn with the small, browned, discarded 
leaves. An indescribable tint now shades 
this noble tree in blends of green and brown 
and pink and gray. Later the crisp, shin¬ 
ing green will canopy all those sturdy, 
sweeping boughs. 
My work brings me constantly to the 
river’s edge where the changing tides and 
wind-swept waves bear ever something new. 
A freshet rushes by, carrying things that 
long have rested up the stream: wrecks 
of boats long disused; logs cut and over¬ 
looked; trees, and many sorts of things. 
With changing months comes change of 
fish, and our waters are highways for 
moving groups of birds. 
It is surprising how many things one can 
see from even a narrowed outlook, will he 
only give heed to what passes. From my 
doorstep my records show a full hundred 
sorts of birds were seen during the past 
four or five years, and I have no great 
sweep of fields, no broad lawn, no babbling 
brook, no cool, shaded grounds to tempt 
the rara avis, nor would I in the least claim 
more than common power to see the things 
that pass by. 
Let the interest be keen and new views 
will open up; new trees will grow; new 
birds will fly; new fish will swim and then 
will our gallery be filled with new and 
glorious pictures of Things Worth Seeing. 
^ HINTS ON A LINE. 
ERE are a few hints, which if fol¬ 
lowed will help the next time you 
go to purchase a line. 
For Dry Fly Fishing —Always use an 
enameled waterproof line. It can be either 
tapered or level. Many anglers prefer the 
double tapered line for this kind of fish¬ 
ing, that is the line for some distance from 
each end becomes smaller in diameter as 
the end of the line is reached. The level 
line is one that is the same size the entire 
length of the line. 
For Wet Fly Casting —Use an enamel 
silk tapered enamel or level line. See that 
the line fits your rod. Size G is for 3 oz. 
rods or less'; size F for rods from 3 to 4 
ozs.; size E for rods 4 to 5 ozs.; D for 
regular fly rods and size C for very heavy 
fly rods or grilse rods. 
For Casting a Plug —The soft braided 
line will be the one to use in this case, and 
the lighter the line the better the sport. 
A twelve pound test line is for the experi¬ 
enced angler. However, would advise at 
least a fifteen pound test line for the 
“Tyro” fisherman. 
For Trolling —As trolling injures a line 
more than any other kind of fishing I 
would not advocate buying a very expen¬ 
sive line, most any kind of a line will do, 
either hand braided, enamel or water¬ 
proofed. It will be found that enamel 
lines will not twist as easily as other lines. 
