Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1886-06-04
Written for the HERALD.
SOUTH JERSEY NOTES.
A Tramp around vIneIand with Rot
any and Camera.


treasure
Harmless delight"
1t was bright warm morning on
which we shouldered our camera
and started down Lands Avenue
an avenue ten and onc-half miles
in length, and one hundred feet wide;
straight as an arrow, hard as a rock,
and level as floor. A row of shade
trees on each side of both sidewalks
is required by law of every land
owner. Among the trees we noticed
the maple, (of smaller, rounder
headed species than the sugar. the
poplar, oak, pine, and red cedar, al
so the horse chestn ut with its large
white panicles; the Japan magnolia
with it's snowy blossoms, white with
in and pink-purple outside, and the
tall and very handsome tulip tree
loaded with yellow flowers tinged
with green and orange.
AS one passes through the busl-
ness portion of the place he sees
nothing striking in its appearance.
The absence of pavements, its low
blocks, with farmers teams standing
along in front, to which mule is as
likely to be fastened as a horse gives
it southern appearance. AS we
pass down the hard gravel walk we
come to some residences which might
Justly he called mansions; and
strangely they are nearly all for sale.
Beyond these are modest little cot
tages. The place is laid out in
squares; Lands Avenue running
through the centre, and the streets
parallel to it are named after the
native fruits as Pear, Plum, Cherry,
ETC.; those running perpendicular
are called by the cardinal numbers.
We must have gone along the
avenue about two miles, and in this
distance every yard and many Or
chards were surrounded by hedge
of spruce, balsam and cedar, while
among the deciduous shrubs are the
Usage orange, covered with sharp
spears, almost equal to barbed wire,
and the Japan ounce which presents
very novel appearance during its
Towering season, when it stands a
scarlet-red bank of flowers. Turn
ing down cross street we came to a
plantation which seemed to be car
ried on entirely by "the gentler
SEX" One lady was pruning the
raspberry bushes, another stood on
box painting the cottage, and still
another was laying brick wall I'M
der the doorstep. We heard a ham
mering in the barn and from the
many failures to hit the nail we con-
Guided that must come from femi-
mime source also. The place was
neat and clean, and we passed on
with feeling of admiration for its
occupants, and questioning why
some other places we know of
couldn't send out just such delega-
ton, but we did not puzzle long ov err
that. Everywhere we turned we
found tho cottages clean and tidy,
the orchards nicely pruned and free
from dead twigs, and, as we have
heard it somewhere expressed, there
. is not timber enough III this section
/ in the way of fence rails to make a
three cent box of matches. The
roads are perfectly level, and so hard
that the clatter of a galloping horse
can be heard almost as long as the
animal is visible. 1t is a paradise
for the equestrian and cyclist. We
noticed the absence of the soft vel
vety lawns of some of our Vermont
towns. This being the case the peo-
pie naturally turn their attention
more to the cultivation of plants and
shrubs. Most of the northern fora
may be seen here and much of the
southern and western, while the
bloom Of Japan and China is visible
even along the roadside. All varie-
ties of roses grow in abundance, and
to me their beauty is more than
doubled by the absence of insects
which infest them further north.
Here the flower, leaf and perfume
are allowed to remain natural until
they fade.
But must not linger on this
theme, made pleasant to me by the
aroma of white roses on my table,
the testimony of friendly thought