Folks:
The account below will interest both the naturalists and the historians among us, so please enjoy the read!
Extracted from:
The Friend. A Religious and Literary Journal. Volume LVIII, No. 50 (Seventh-Day, Seventh Month 18, 1885, p. 395)
About the middle of the Sixth month, a party of eight botanists met at Pier 8, on the Delaware river, bound for Atsion and Quaker Bridge, N. J. Our route lay by boat to the southern part of Camden, thence by the Philadelphia and Atlantic City R. R. to Winslow Junction, and from there to Atsion by the New Jersey Southern, the whole distance being about 35 miles. After leaving Camden we travelled through cultivated fields for eight or ten miles, and then at Clementon struck the white sand and pines. Just beyond this station we skirted the side of a beautiful mill-pond, in whose shallow bays were floating the round leaves and white flowers of the water-lily (Nymphcea odorata.)
A sharp look out was maintained from the car windows, to see what plants were in bloom, so that we might know what to look for at our destination. Prominent among those thus seen were the Laurel (Kalmia latifolia), the nodding plumes of the Xerophyllum, and the Hoary Pea (Tephrosia virginiana.) The latter grew in thick bunches, sometimes nearly two feet in diameter, and the large purplish-yellow flowers were very showy. We passed pine woods, cedar swamps and clearings in succession, and it time arrived at Winslow Junction. Here the country was quite open, and seemed to be in a state of fair cultivation. The connecting train on the New Jersey Southern Road was waiting for us, and we were soon on our way northeastward.
This part of the ride was through a very level and mostly open country, which was but little cultivated. Long stretches of meadows overgrown with ferns and low bushes went rapidly past, with here there a cranberry bog, through which ran a small stream of dark cedar swamp water.
Every now and then the eye caught glimpses of blue flowers and of bright pink-purple spikes, and while we were speculating as to what they were, we stopped at Atsion station. We quickly stepped out, and while the train waited to take in water we asked the conductor what kind of a place it was to which we had come.
“Well,” he said, “There is one thing you will find, and that is, plenty of room.”
“But,” we added, “Is there no village here?”
“There would be,” he said, “if there were people to live in it.”
As we desired to reach Quaker Bridge, still four miles to the south, we began immediate inquiry as to the possibility of securing a wagon. The two or three men on the station platform answered us dubiously. Horses and wagons were scarce articles. They mentioned among themselves one name after another, and finally told us that we might get accommodated at the big house, just beyond the mill-dam. One of our party soon visited the “big house,” arriving in time to see a pair of white mules disappear around a distant bend in the road. Two small boys were observed just then, who were interviewed about the team. The father of one had charge of it. He was hauling posts just now, and could probably haul people for the afternoon just as well. But no; on second thought his father had to go to Shamong, eight miles off, that afternoon, to see about a new road.
Evidently the travelling resources of the place were small, and wholly unavailable for the time. Nothing, therefore remained to be done but to explore the immediate surroundings. This was done industriously, and developed at once the botanical resources of the neighborhood and its industrial poverty.
A considerable stream, called the Atsion river, flows through the place, and is dammed into a large and beautiful pond, which furnishes water power to some old but now idle mills. Originally there were iron furnaces and forges here. Later, saw-mills; and still more recently, a cotton factory of some kind. Now everything is at rest, and for sale, and more than half of the dwelling-houses are empty. A land company has recently bought up most of the surrounding country, some 30,000 acres, and are opening avenues and streets through the woods. Whether they will make a second Vineland of it remains to be seen.
Of botanical specimens many were gathered. The smaller blue flag (Iris virginica) was quite abundant, and was new to most of the party. The pink flowers of the beautiful orchid (Calopogon pulchellus) were seen in great abudance. All three of the species of Sundew (Drosera), which are found in New Jersey, were seen, but they were not yet in bloom. The Drosera fliformis was especially abundant. One curious incident was the gathering of water lilies in a place where there was not only no water, but ground firm enough to walk on. The buds only were found, as they seemed unable to open without more moisture. The wonder was that they would grow at all in such a place.
Though there were no artificial cranberry bogs in the immediate vicinity, the natural bushes were very abundant and were in full flower. The thickets of the low grounds contained the swamp magnolia (Magnolia glauca), and many fragrant buds and blossoms were obtained.
The party wandered through woods and swamps, and over sandy roads, and along the railway track. This latter, they concluded, yielded the best results with the least labor. The common roads mostly kept to one kind of ground, but the straight line of the railroad struck impartially woods and streams, cedar swamps and grassy marshes. Some of these latter were quite interesting. They were narrow and long, and perfectly level, running through the wooded sand hills like the beds of streams, or like interlacing creeks on the bay shore. In fact, we venture the opinion that this is what they once were, and that the tide-water once flowed and forth through them. As the land rose they grew shallow, and turned to salt marshes, and finally losing all connection with the sea, became the level grassy lanes which we now saw. Numerous other plants, of interest only to the botanist, were transferred to our boxes during these rambles.
A description of Atsion will be incomplete without an allusion to the spring, which seems to supply the whole village with drinking water. It is located on the right side of the road, about 200 feet north of the station. To its cooling waters our party again and again repaired, to quench the thirst which was occasioned by the combined glare of the sun and the heated sand. Purer and better water could not be desired.
Five o’clock saw our train again at the station, and we retraced our morning’s journey, carrying with us our new specimens and an increased knowledge of New Jersey pines. We had also strengthened conviction that, while these pines afford a fine field for the botanist, we should be thankful that our daily lives are cast in a land where grass abounds, and where the trees have leaves broad enough to cast a shade.
Best regards,
Jerseyman
The account below will interest both the naturalists and the historians among us, so please enjoy the read!
Extracted from:
The Friend. A Religious and Literary Journal. Volume LVIII, No. 50 (Seventh-Day, Seventh Month 18, 1885, p. 395)
BOTANIZING AT ATSION.
About the middle of the Sixth month, a party of eight botanists met at Pier 8, on the Delaware river, bound for Atsion and Quaker Bridge, N. J. Our route lay by boat to the southern part of Camden, thence by the Philadelphia and Atlantic City R. R. to Winslow Junction, and from there to Atsion by the New Jersey Southern, the whole distance being about 35 miles. After leaving Camden we travelled through cultivated fields for eight or ten miles, and then at Clementon struck the white sand and pines. Just beyond this station we skirted the side of a beautiful mill-pond, in whose shallow bays were floating the round leaves and white flowers of the water-lily (Nymphcea odorata.)
A sharp look out was maintained from the car windows, to see what plants were in bloom, so that we might know what to look for at our destination. Prominent among those thus seen were the Laurel (Kalmia latifolia), the nodding plumes of the Xerophyllum, and the Hoary Pea (Tephrosia virginiana.) The latter grew in thick bunches, sometimes nearly two feet in diameter, and the large purplish-yellow flowers were very showy. We passed pine woods, cedar swamps and clearings in succession, and it time arrived at Winslow Junction. Here the country was quite open, and seemed to be in a state of fair cultivation. The connecting train on the New Jersey Southern Road was waiting for us, and we were soon on our way northeastward.
This part of the ride was through a very level and mostly open country, which was but little cultivated. Long stretches of meadows overgrown with ferns and low bushes went rapidly past, with here there a cranberry bog, through which ran a small stream of dark cedar swamp water.
Every now and then the eye caught glimpses of blue flowers and of bright pink-purple spikes, and while we were speculating as to what they were, we stopped at Atsion station. We quickly stepped out, and while the train waited to take in water we asked the conductor what kind of a place it was to which we had come.
“Well,” he said, “There is one thing you will find, and that is, plenty of room.”
“But,” we added, “Is there no village here?”
“There would be,” he said, “if there were people to live in it.”
As we desired to reach Quaker Bridge, still four miles to the south, we began immediate inquiry as to the possibility of securing a wagon. The two or three men on the station platform answered us dubiously. Horses and wagons were scarce articles. They mentioned among themselves one name after another, and finally told us that we might get accommodated at the big house, just beyond the mill-dam. One of our party soon visited the “big house,” arriving in time to see a pair of white mules disappear around a distant bend in the road. Two small boys were observed just then, who were interviewed about the team. The father of one had charge of it. He was hauling posts just now, and could probably haul people for the afternoon just as well. But no; on second thought his father had to go to Shamong, eight miles off, that afternoon, to see about a new road.
Evidently the travelling resources of the place were small, and wholly unavailable for the time. Nothing, therefore remained to be done but to explore the immediate surroundings. This was done industriously, and developed at once the botanical resources of the neighborhood and its industrial poverty.
A considerable stream, called the Atsion river, flows through the place, and is dammed into a large and beautiful pond, which furnishes water power to some old but now idle mills. Originally there were iron furnaces and forges here. Later, saw-mills; and still more recently, a cotton factory of some kind. Now everything is at rest, and for sale, and more than half of the dwelling-houses are empty. A land company has recently bought up most of the surrounding country, some 30,000 acres, and are opening avenues and streets through the woods. Whether they will make a second Vineland of it remains to be seen.
Of botanical specimens many were gathered. The smaller blue flag (Iris virginica) was quite abundant, and was new to most of the party. The pink flowers of the beautiful orchid (Calopogon pulchellus) were seen in great abudance. All three of the species of Sundew (Drosera), which are found in New Jersey, were seen, but they were not yet in bloom. The Drosera fliformis was especially abundant. One curious incident was the gathering of water lilies in a place where there was not only no water, but ground firm enough to walk on. The buds only were found, as they seemed unable to open without more moisture. The wonder was that they would grow at all in such a place.
Though there were no artificial cranberry bogs in the immediate vicinity, the natural bushes were very abundant and were in full flower. The thickets of the low grounds contained the swamp magnolia (Magnolia glauca), and many fragrant buds and blossoms were obtained.
The party wandered through woods and swamps, and over sandy roads, and along the railway track. This latter, they concluded, yielded the best results with the least labor. The common roads mostly kept to one kind of ground, but the straight line of the railroad struck impartially woods and streams, cedar swamps and grassy marshes. Some of these latter were quite interesting. They were narrow and long, and perfectly level, running through the wooded sand hills like the beds of streams, or like interlacing creeks on the bay shore. In fact, we venture the opinion that this is what they once were, and that the tide-water once flowed and forth through them. As the land rose they grew shallow, and turned to salt marshes, and finally losing all connection with the sea, became the level grassy lanes which we now saw. Numerous other plants, of interest only to the botanist, were transferred to our boxes during these rambles.
A description of Atsion will be incomplete without an allusion to the spring, which seems to supply the whole village with drinking water. It is located on the right side of the road, about 200 feet north of the station. To its cooling waters our party again and again repaired, to quench the thirst which was occasioned by the combined glare of the sun and the heated sand. Purer and better water could not be desired.
Five o’clock saw our train again at the station, and we retraced our morning’s journey, carrying with us our new specimens and an increased knowledge of New Jersey pines. We had also strengthened conviction that, while these pines afford a fine field for the botanist, we should be thankful that our daily lives are cast in a land where grass abounds, and where the trees have leaves broad enough to cast a shade.
Best regards,
Jerseyman
