The independent-reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1909-1955, 1922-05-18
THE AMERICAN YEW
BY G. w. Hinckley

hemlock would be classed as tree.
shrub or plant. and for present par
poses it does not matter. Tho Yew
grows in abundance on the Good Will
and Colby Trails and in other places
In the Good Will woods. No one can
fail to admire 1t, and /, for one, can
never cease to marvel at it.
l follow a trail and walk under
great hemlock trees; the fruitaee of
the hemlock is a hard. juiceless cone
Here at the foot of this stately conf
fer is bunch Of green foliage; to
the casual observer it is very like the
hemlock and he might take 1t for a
young one-a Seeding from an over
hanging branch of the great coniferous
tree that oyershadows it. But IL
he stops to admire it and, perchance,
to look for a hemlock cone. he finds
instead, delicate berry, round as a
red currant and about the same size,
but more delicate shade of red and
waxen in appearance. A more attrac-
tive color-contrast can hardly be I'm
agined than that created by the foli-
age and fruit OF the ground hemlock
announced for cultivation in our gar
dens; seed catalogues featured it; we
were importuned to buy 1t and try it !;
it was called the Wonder Berry" But
TO me the round, waxen fruit of the
evergreen ground hemlock will al
ways be the wonder berry, for | can
not cease to wonder" at it.
And had often wondered why, so
long as the ground hemlock was SO
plentiful and the juicy red berry was
its legitimate fruit, and the only fruit
it bears, there were not more berries.
But one day the mystery was ex-
planned to my satisfaction.
Out at Audubon Rapids, on the
banks of Marten, | had discovered
just one of these berries. l was camp
ing at Audubon and several groups of
Good Will boys had visited my camp
and to each group | had shown this
clump of evergreen and its one waxy
orb; and to each group | had explain
ed how few of them there were--in
fact 1t was the only berry that ! knew
of at that time on the trail-and
had asked them not to disturb 1t be-
L -.
When was ready to exhibit it, |
would take hold of the branch and
turn 1t very slowly and steadily, lest
it be Jared off, and after all had seen
1t would turn it back to the natural
position again. Few If any of the boys
had ever seen a berry like it.
Then, one day | was in camp alone
and was stretched out under the over
spreading hemlocks; | first heard the
call of a chick "a dee, then another,
and another. Turning my head slow
y discovered that my retreat had
been invaded by countless throng of
these friendly creatures. They were
everywhere One of them was search
ing for insects on the bark of a big
hemlock tree; between that hemlock
and myself was the clump OF Yew,
and, not three feet from me one wee
iew berry. The chick dee spied 1t;
there was a flash of tiny wings and
the berry was gone. Instinctively
sprang forward as though l would
grab the brazcn thief and make him
give back his booty. When he snatch
ed the berry he hit the branch which
d
for the fraction of an instant, anoth
er berry like it; and, In the same in
slant brother chiekadee or sis
ter. snatched 1t and waBi gone. My in
ference was that chickadees are very
fond of Yew, berries IL this be true,
there are ehickadces '.en0ukh, In the
Good Will woods to take care of the
ennual crop as fast as it1 rihena and
to create chronic scarcity 6f themg
. TOAD STOOLS a. s.iii
Amy one wandering in the woods is
likely to see here and there, a toad
stool: and, of course, this is true in
the woods at Good Will. But there is
one place on the Dartmouth Trail
which. at the proper season, offers
special attraction for the toadstool en-
thusiast; 1t is a stretch of ground so
densely shaded by frs and hemlocks
that nothing but fungi can grow
Here. specially on warm. moist days
In July or August, the toadstool fam
lily Is frequently on parade. The va
rieties range from the delicate coral
or smaller species, to canopies of pink
or bright orange, with intervening
shades; and two or three times have
found here what seems to me the most
richly colored that can be found any
where--a royal purple-a CHRISTIAN
emum of the fungus world.
| do not know anything about toad
stools or mushrooms. | maintain my
ignorance in the interest of personal
and public safety-by public in this
case mean the Good VIII Commu-
nifty. II boy points out toadstool
and asks II 1t is one of the edible va
rieties, | always say 81 don't know.
II | should study the subject and do
away with this Grass ignorance and
then say, II don't know" | would be
lying to boy; | cannot conscientious
ly do such a thing and so ignorance
Is my fortress. AS things are, ! am
able to confess ignorance and then
upon my confession base bit OF ad-
vice to "let 1t alone
About six years ago an expert on
mushrooms and toadstools spent sew
eral days at Good Will; he visited the
section OF the yarmouth Trail | have
and was greatly pleased
with what he found there. On anoth-
err part OF Good VIII he gathered edi-
HE yarieties and some dainty dishes