The independent-reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1909-1955, 1922-06-08

but it was not always SO. The To-
calities where it grows were acquired
by purchase. though it must be CON
coded that its existence on any tract
had no weight in deciding whether
the Good VIII Home Association
should add this or that parcel of land
to its possessions. | never saw the
twin flower on the original purchase
of land for Good VIII. There was
none of it on the second or third
purchases, But one day some TWEEN
ty or twenty-five years ago Arthur
Dean and Fred Reeves brought me
some of these beautiful blossoms.
When l asked where they grew they
became reticent. When | urged,
learned that no one but just them
selves knew where the flowers could
be found and they wanted to keep
the secret. They were allowed to-
cherish the secret, but with this un-
derstanding, that, when their stay at
Good Will was completed and they
were going away not to return, they
would divulge so that someone else
might know But when the time
then the other-the twin flower and
its hiding place were not mentioned
of the boys and asked for the infor
nation. He replied that If he could
come to Good VIII he could lead me
to the place, but he did not know how
to direct me to it. SO / never knew.
That is, never knew until the ad-
dltion OF an acreage to Good VIII
tract made familiarity with it and
its resources desirable, and on that
tract the flowers are found and their
whereabouts no longer a mystery
1t may be worth mentioning here
that in the boys love Of flowers and
their mysteries was locked boon to
the world. Since the beginning of
the human race, almost, the disease
of lcprosy had been curse, and thru
the ages it had been regarded as in
durable. 1t was incurable. So the
world waited it waited for centuries,
it waited for the boy, Arthur Dean, who
carried the twin flowers secret at
Good Will in his heart sharing 1t with
one friend only. to complete his col
lege course at Harvard. and then
three years in Botanical Biology at
Yale; waited for him to become pres
ident of the College of Hawaii, to
face the plague of leprOsy in its own
territory and then unlock the secret
of the chalmoogro plant and give the
world Deans treatment for leprosy,
which promises to wipe out the plague
- the plague for which there was until
his day, no cure; the plague, SO loath
some, so deadly that its victims could
only cry, as they were required to
cry, in ancient times, "Unclean, UNI
clean"
SKUNK CABBAGE
Skunk cabbage is one of the earl
lest blossoms in New England. Al
though it does not bud in the proceed
ing summer to get an early start as
the trailing arbutus does, when spring
comes it antedates the more delicate
and beautiful flower-.the arbutus--
by several days. But there is no
skunk cabbage at Good Will Farm,
so far as my knowledge goes.
There would, therefore, appear to
be no reason why | should mention it,
in reporting on our plant life at Good
viii, but IL is mentioned here, be
cause, while 1t does not exist at Good
VIII, there are always young folks
there who seem to think it ought to.
and they report to me that it has
been found; that they know where it
is, and can show me. | am always
ready to be shown, and SO, nearly
every spring or early summer. when
someone comes to tell me that it is
in this place or that and | go with
him, he takes me to some marshy
place and points out some broad,
shining leaves of almost tropical
growth In appearance, and says:
There it is; isn't that skunk cab
bage?"
What he shows me is hellebore
hellebore that has misled him with
its broad, glossy foliage, and | have
to explain the difference and this |
am, of course, always glad to do. The
skunk cabbage is harmless, perhaps
it is useless, though back some fifty
or more years ago, we used to gather
the roots and dry them in summer,
and then chew the dried roots in
winter as a remedy for troublesome
coughs. 1t was firmly believed that
for such coughs, there was nothing
quite equal to dried skunk cabbage
root. or course, If it was one OF the
real tight coughs" or a croupy af-
fair that came on in the night, skunk S
oil and molasses was the only thing
but for the troublesome cough,
the one that held on long and refused
to bulge, the dried roots of the skunk
cabbage was the standby.
| am not sure that it ever cured a !
cough, but it had the reputation, and
doubt not it was as efilcacious
as some of the modern cough drops
that we chew ad nauseum and con
tinue to cough till nature lets up.
And 1t had this advantage--it cost
nothing, that is, it cost nothing but
forethought. 1t had to be gathered
from the swamp in warm weather, the
cold and cough came on in the win
ter. But the hellebore is different. !
1t is poisonous to worms, birds-spe
cially crows-and to human beingf. !
1t used to be gathered and boiled
a kind of hellebore tea 1t made. Then
after the tea was cold, the seed corn