The St. Landry whig., 1844-10-17
LsGZsS TaLAM
ALlTTLE ATURAL HISTORY.

- slat eNcelieng 9snd Ut mays MSaid1 nation.
al book Of Miehaus the Sylpa A N~ricaaa, there
Is a good represent htion and dcs = ptiocn i the
Hlekory tree. LIN has, noyert Ness, perpe.
trated IN 1t two sing Var omissions LIST, treating
that tree botanically bnly, he has failed to cele.
brate many of its us(as and virtues and, adly. he
has utterly pretcrmitted the well known fact that
the Poke plant is its direct and legitimate off.
spring. Both these defects ofthe work we must
attempt, though with humber hand, to supply.
AgrlcuSturally, the Hickory is well known q
indicate qsranil but hasty soil, better, a good deal,
Tor Weedsighan corn. Its growth shows the alb.
sence Of sgood toundation--the want Of d strong
%sub-soil, Ike that in which the Ash, fur instance,
tlourishea The hickory lands are. however
very suitable TO the hemp crop, orwhatever else
VIII MAXI %hglteJs, cores, contract twine for most
offices, tp u; Nor s.of.n tails, and other
like hum ene s h ID patriotic Implements.
borro4p tlspt. suaits habitat Gas naturalists call
~ 9 cilalnctcf noeclhike the earth from which
1t sprlilg9tt tn hickory is sudden of growth and
rapid Of see,rS. II is one of tho shortest lived
o. our forest 5ees, being very often rotten at the
heart even wnen looking fair and sound without.
lhls decay within produces in its body an III.
nantnabie subsistence called spark, which, like
the Yalor OF bad men, takes ire from rotteness
IN foliage, y il not like the broea
n,i5a ! / -laIong-lived limbs, for
otste m themselves, are lit to shelter
Whole tribes Of mel, and offer a just emblem Of
Y peacetui strength and greatness, such as made
men choose 1t for that noblest OF wreaths, the
CIVIC crown OF him WHO had saved a citizen, not
destroyed enemy. Nor has it the shade that
scholars loye--that OF the academic elm nor
yet The outrageous c~Ioseness OF the peaceful
olive. These We're all symbols of beneiecnce /:
not SO the hickory-an emblem only ofinulorio,I
and brutal strife, Of bangs and bruises, o~fthumps
ana tlwacks, OF cracked CROW and bloody
noses, I'M
poet, however, so little solic lous dc fame al
70 have published his ycrd4s, has celebra-
ted f IN q passage Of what mae yet, at some iii.
lure day, see the light, Comparing the album
dance among us OF sages affI worthless with
their rare appearance among nations and lii
times usually deemed heroicaIyh e says;
Athens, in short, and Rome could boast
4 hero in an age at most;
And FRANCE and Germany and Britain
Council or camp have few men iii in.
TOR them Fate rarely did allow
The palm OF patriotism to grow.
This, like the wondrous aloe tree,
Blooms only once a century
In other lands but, In our own,
lis commonly as crab-stick grown;
Not il the shape of palm Of laurel,
but Of our better plant of quarrel,
The hickory Kind If timber
Tougher at once and much more timber;
Matclless for traces, yoises, and collars,
And exc for tlstigating scholars;
Useful for every thing that urges
Men in the form Of clubs and scoufges
Most excellent for breaking sconces,
Or totlief end oil slaves and ounces.
Good for the old, with il you knock heads
Good for the young, it trounces blockheads.
What son Of freedom dares to bulge i'll
Beneath its keen rod or its cudgel
The myrtle's leaf, the olives boughs,
What are they ITO this plant Of rows
They but preside in times Of quiet;
While this, inturbulence and riot,
Rises supremacy over all,
Monarch in sculflie or n brawl.
In politics, It's tap i~nstIucts
The knowing, aud the fool conducts
For, by the virtue Of its touch,
, They who know nothing or TOO much
2 Are tanght alike: it spreads confdsions,
: Or can interpret constitutions.
II had a system Of finances,
A thcught Of which each broker dances;
c A blessed promise of rotation,
Which with heels upward set the nation
5 And dealt us many "A sad experiment
That furnished much expensive merriment.
Hickory for bludgeons brooms, and switche
Atthe mere thought Of which one itches
In all those appreheasive parts
I Through which arc driven in the arts