Arizona state miner., 1926-03-13

Y.
Road in company with Five Pointer
for a weeks sojourn in the country
at this time of the year, when spring
awakening dresses up Natures earth
with new beauty and the orchard
trees are covered with sweet bios
SONS that even the birds rejoice and
praise their Creator for the many
blessings bestowed upon them at
this time of the year in this sunkist
cline. We can't help but see and
hear the meadow lark piping its song
on the fence post to the passer-by
while our winter visiting robin red
breast is enjoying the ripe palm seed
and is calling to his mate to hurry up
and come and get some too.
AS we drove near Fort Mcdowell,
in places the desert was covered with
little buttercups that attracted the
desert bees from far and near. The
Mexican tobacco plant so common
along the highways and by-ways has
started it's first blooms, while the
Choua Cacti with their yellow lilies
made a picture soft and creamy to
the eye and senses of he who loves
Natures beauty.
We arrived at the Bee Camp just
as the sun began to hide behind the
western hill tops (this was the first
visit of the author of Cactus and
Blossoms" to this Bee Ranch at the
mouth of Camp Creek and the Verde
River) and as we crawled out Of our
Dodge machine we were rather glad
that we had reached the end of the
trail and destination. Here our eyes
gazed upon a most beautiful garden
spot which can rightfully be called
"a Friendly Oasis on the Desert,
and due credit must be given our
friend and pioneer, Mr.. John F. Van
Poole, for his tireless effort in turn
ing a desert into beauty spot by
scattering poppy seeds all over his
inclosure. They have spread over
the whole place anr are now in full
bloom. We call them "Arizona pop
pies" (not California poppies) from
which the many honey bees now
gather the pollen, and we must ex-
press our feeling thus:
On, we have desert poppies a-bloom-
ing in ArizOna
The high mesa in front of our cabin
is all afame with poppies.
Ever since the warm spring cline
came.
They have first been creeping over
small park,
Glowed along fence edges, and then
spread until they met
And now they flush the whole sunny
slope space.
AS We were observing Naturefs
beauty, our attention was suddenly
attracted to rustling noise in the
mesquite jungle to the north, and as
we looked in that direction about
hundred feet, we saw a horse come
running with all it's strength Mr..
Van Poole called out, Hello, Molly"
and she uttered whinnying cry Of
JOY, for Molly" had heard her mas
ter's voice about a half nile away
where she was, grazing with the
neighbors' ranch horses, but when
he master was home she knew that
her allowance Of barley was always
waiting for her at sunset and sunrise
besides a nice brush-up and petting
from the gentle hand of her master
was a welcome comfort to her.
It happened early last harvest
moon, when her master, Mr. Var
Poole, was getting his Phoenix win
ter home lawn ready, that he stayed
away from his Bee Ranch just a lit
t'e longer then he intended to, and
before leaving town he shaved of
h.s heavy moustache When he ar
rived at the camp Molly was there
al tight, but she failed to recognize
htm as her old master, probably due
to the fact that Of late quite a mum
her of city sportsmen had been mis-
tree ting her by riding her unmerci-
fully, and she was afraid this strange
locking man might be one of them.
So it took much coaxing and talking
fcr her new looking master to con
vince Molly that he was not an i'm
poster.
Molly was born and raised on the
Verde River Forest Reserve and prac.
ttcally every cow trail in that region
md green spot on the Verde River,
w5ile her young and early life was
mixed with hard struggle and many
ups 9nd downs.
Her mother was owned by a Mexi-
can wOOd-chopper and one late au-
fHr7O she ate foo manv ,ooocr5+o