flora and fauna

“That Big Willow and Other Trees”

By in E. T. Bush, Headquarters, Historians, Opdycke Tags: ,

A Chestnut That Acted As Host to a Younger Tree
– Biggest Oak of Them All

by Egbert T. Bush, Stockton, N.J.
published in the Hunterdon County Democrat, January 1, 1931

This month is a big allergy month for me, so I looked up what Mr. Bush had to say about trees. Turns out—quite a lot. Bush had a great affection for the grand old trees that had survived the previous century, and frequently mentioned them in his articles. Now that our trees are leafing out, it seems appropriate to publish this essay. The willow described here once stood in front of Roger Byrom’s house in Headquarters. 

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The Stories Told In Bygone Days

By in E. T. Bush Tags: ,

Passenger Pigeons Once Were Slaughtered By Millions
The Species Is Now Extinct

by Egbert T. Bush, Stockton, NJ
as published in the Hunterdon County Democrat, April 17, 1930

For the stories of the wildwood
Of the mountain and the plain
(Any stories heard in childhood)
Are the stories that remain.

Yes, the stories that were told us seventy years ago still come up in quiet hours to rouse the drowsy mind and stir the sluggish blood. Some scattering ones that do not seem to fit well in any particular place may recall fond memories in older people;  and may be of more or less interest now and then to one of the younger generation, not for themselves but as inklings of the older times. Present conditions are not calculated to make them as vivid as when memory recorded them so long ago; yet perhaps enough may be depicted, even by a limping pen, to give a fair idea of things then made so clear, often quite thrilling and always interesting.

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