The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-07-07

to farms. Ruskin, Blackmore, Stock ton,
among the living; Stevenson. Whittier.
among the dead-the list could be ampli-
ed most bucolically. But not a man or a
farm Of all these is quite so quaint, so
Arcadian. so classic. as John Burroug Chs
or as is his pocket domain far away from
all cities. From the grapes in the shade
to their owners hat in the sun, there Is
nothing that is not Georgia about all of t.
Sleeping on board the steamer at Round
out. its destination, and rising with the
lark next morning, an early train left me
at West park. Mr.. Burroughs home. I
met him on his way down from the hills.
in picturesque rustic garb. with broad
brimmed gray hat tapping in the breeze.
He had been experimenting the clearing
of muck swamp.
With a cordial welcome he led the way
to the house, a pleasant stone building,
approached by a winding drive shaded
by fine trees. The material for his dwell
ing Mr.. Burroughs had found on the hill
side about a mile away, a natural quar-
ry, where boulders detached by time and
storms may be had for the carting away
We were soon seated at the dinner Ia
BILE. where delicious Hudson river shad
played leading part; my host drank clam
juice, a specific, he said, against indiges-
ton; and, hunger appeased, we sauntered
down the garden to the study. a one
stored building overlooking the Hudson.
where Mr.. Burroughs spends a good deal
of his time, sometimes sleeping there O.
nights.
An open hearth heats the den I'm winter,
and the venerable author has liking for
the odor of burning brentwood.
Facing the desk, strown with the usual
litter of a literary man, hangs portrait
of Tennyson, adorned with a birds nest,
and on the other walls are pinned like
nosses of other literary giants. A com
Portable couch, a bookcase, q table laden
with books and one or two chairs complete
the furniture
Mr. Burroughs has about twenty acres
of land, seventeen Of which are devoted
TO grape culture and two more acres are
given over to currants and peaches, bur
these are shortly to mnke way for mora
vines, as they yield better return.
Grapes are a passion with me-" said
my host and he then Initiated me into
the mystery of their culture
The more a vine sees of the pruning
hook the more fertile It becomes, and,
said he, 'if literary men .pruned their
work as / do my vines their productions
would show the advantage of it'll .s.
The golden or1ole. I EARNED, Is a de-
termined topper in his love for grape-juice,
and with his sharp beak will stab the
grape, suck up the Juice until, TO quote
Mr.. Burroughs, ut becomes a regular de-
bauch," and three or four birds will ruin
tons and tons of grapes in a short time.
The grape harvest is gathered from the
middle of August to the end Of September.
and Mr.. Burroughs yield realizes about
ninety tons yearly, his principal markets
being New York and Boston, East coast
grapes ripening sooner than those of Cal
ifornia enables this side farmer to get
better prices for his produce than are
possible after the markets are flooded
with the gatherings from western. vines.
MIR. Burroughs next proposed a visit to
the muck swamp his men are retaining
on the hilltop, and on the way, with a nod
and smile for all the villa gers we passed
and friendly grip of every youngster we
met, he discoursed on the Inhabitants
animal and vegetable Of field and wood
At last, striking off the road through
young greenwood, we assembled the hill
side, stopping now and then to pull and eat
the aromatic wintergreen or to listen to
the note of some woodland songster. and
soon the clearing operations dawned upon
the view.
The muck swamp is situated over the
brow of a hill at the foot of some tree
covered crags, and is covered with young
wood which has to be cut down. After the
drainage operations the stunfps are 1evered
from the peaty soil TO give place in time TO
celery beds, whose culture Mr.. Burroughs
desires to try.
The poisonous sumac infests the swarm
and Mr.. Burroughs pointed the allusion
to its noxious powers by his. own face.
slightly swollen by standing in It's vicinity:
on the contrary. one of his men can carry
1t in his arms without being affected by
1t in the least. z
The yollow lady-slipper orchid, too,
blooms in this Doggy soil, and. cutting
down reedy cattaiI my host proceeded
to manufacture natural penholders from
1t, which he declares is a preventive of
writer's cramp, and which he himself al
ways. uses. .feE
Scrambling up the craggy hillside with |
the agility of youth, my guide led the way
to jutting rocks which commands a fine |
view of the rolling hills and wales east
ward, and while he fashioned a whistle |
from the striped maple I piled him with |
questions on men and books.
At the outset of his literary career Mr.. I
Burroughs, while teaching school. which |
he did for ten years. fell under the influ- |
ence of Emerson. II was satisfied with
like Jonah in the whales belly and nv /
first essay, Expressions published in the
Monthly, was attributed TO him.
To rid myself of his domination turned to
writing of outdoor things, and contributed
to the New York Leader a series of papers
From the Backwoods.,"
What is your opinion of Nordau's De-
1 asked, especially his
charges against Walt Whitman, as i'm
moral in his writings and a rakeY'
"A foul lie," he replied. Whitman was
as pure souled as a child" and he went
on to characterize Eordau's book as "a
vile polemic, and not cool and logical
criticism"
THE curse of America at the present
day." he resumed, is the distaste for
and until the woman Whit
man prayed for, projected and predicted,
goddess of her household. rejoicing in
motherhood, is more common, America
must look to it's immigrant population
10 supply its backbone"
Il consider Rosetti a decadent," he pur-
sued. There is no doubt he was an
type, and his work is charac-
-erized by the degenerate strain. don't
-hink 1t will live.
'Ibsen is not so great as Il imagined
him from popular report before reading
his books. Although he shakes your