Reading Memorial High School - Pioneer Yearbook (Reading, MA)

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THE PIONEER. 17 l ■ ■ — ' ■■■ Wh en the trees have been in the nursery from two to three years, and are nearly four feet high, they are sold to be planted about twenty feet apart in groves. Some growers cover the ground with leaves and cultivate only a circle of about eight feet around the trees, but this method is practiced very little. The com¬ mon method is to cultivate ail the land but a strip about eight feet wide, between the trees, and to plough this under in October, so that no grass will grow on it through the winter. If no grass were allowed to grow during the sum¬ mer on the land, the sun would soon draw all the strength out of it. Oranges flourish on a sandy soil and those grown in Florida are considered the best in the world. The trees are thorny and grow to be larger than the largest northern pear-trees. They bear in about seven years after they are set. The orange tree blooms about February, although the time varies with the season. It is a beautiful but rare sight to see the white blossom, the half-grown orange and the golden fruit on the tree at the same time. The oranges are picked from ladders, — forty boxes is con¬ sidered a fair day’s work. The price paid for picking is three cents a box. When picked, the russet or scaly oranges are put in one box, and the bright ones in another. The fruit is taken to the packing houses, where it is put in the sizer, which is a broad shallow box about eight feet from the floor, and large enough to hold about ten boxes. It has two troughs running out from it, on each side of which are small cords which are kept moving, like the bands of a machine by a darkey, who sits by the sizer and sees that the oranges go down n the right position. In the troughs, which are just wide enough for one orange to roll down, are little holes so cut that the fruit of a certain size goes into them. Thus, the oranges, which, when packed, will run a hundred and tifty to a box, go into one hole; those which will run two hundred and fifty, in another, while those that will run a hundred and thirty, go into still another. hen the oranges drop through the openings, they fall into boxes, the bottoms of which are cloth. Around these stand the packers, who wrap the oranges in tissue paper and pack them in crates to be shipped North. As they pack, they throw out the oranges which are not fit to ship. A good packer can prepare seventy-five boxes per day, for each of which he is paid three cents. The fruit is generally sold to commission merchants, while still on the trees, at from one dollar and seventy-five cents to two dollars and one-half per box. It is needless to say that the number of oranges shipped from Florida is not one twen¬ tieth what it was before the freeze of ’ninety- five, nor is it likely to be so large for four or five years yet. T. A. Chapman, ’02. MUSIC IN MILTON. In the literature of every age, music has furnished a theme for poets, from the time when the ancients sang of Orpheus and the power of his lyre to move even the trees and rocks, until the present day with Browning’s “Toccato of Galluppi” and Kipling’s “Banjo Song.” This is not strange, since Music and Poetry are sister arts, united by the close ties of harmony and rhythm. Can you think of a true poet who was not susceptible to the influence of music? “Music hath charms to sooth the savage breast.” IIow much more, then, the sensitive heart of a poet. Yet poets have differed very much in the prominence they have given music in their verses. Music ordinarily means so much more to warm, emotional natures than to those of the opposite type, that we may well be surprised to And so much love for it and such frequent allusions in the verses of the Puritan poet, John Milton. I do not think many realize how much music there was in this man, who outwardly seemed so reserved, so cold, so unflinching in his devotion to duty. This love of music was inherited from his father, who made a name for himself as a composer. During Milton’s residence at IIor» ton, he used to make trips to London to concerts and operas, and he numbered among his friend

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10 TIIE PIONEER. 1877 is one full of struggles with the native tribes and difficulties in getting along. The people had no real form of government; every family seemed to be a little state in itself. There was disorder everywhere, and to the better educated part of the colonists, the only thing which seemed advisable was to demand annexation from England. Although the lower classes were opposed to this, yet they were obliged to give in and the Transvaal became a part of England, in the above named year. This was a wise course in one respect, for they were assisted by the English in quelling the Zulus, and an orderly government was obtained. Rut again the hostile feeling arose, and the reason for it was chiefly that the annexation was accomplished before it should have been II the English government had waited a little there would have been no other alternative for the Boers because of the great depredations of the Zulus. Then, when driven by sheer neces¬ sity, even the least intelligent would have gladly welcomed England’s protection. The feeling increased and finally resulted in the war of 1880, when the British were taken by surprise and after several engagements fought the battle of Majuba. The entire British force was practically annihilated. At this period the war stopped. The minis¬ try for different reasons decided to go no farther. Gladstone’s influence undoubtedly had great effect, when he said that the people should be given their liberty and not conquered. But the Boers looked at this decision in exactly the wrong light. They thought that their victories had occasioned the English leniency, and that the British did not dare go on. “Magnanimity to an enemy, unless he recognizes it as such, is a mistake.” But it was impossible to stop there. To have the Majuba victory as the deciding point of the question was against the feelings of the English people, and the Boers knew it. So during the interim between that time and this, they have been gathering arms and ammunition and have been growing expert in the art of warfare, in preparation for the final struggle. The present war, the immediate cause of which was President Kruger’s ultimatum, is now nearly ended. The result can only be the final defeat of the Boers, for while Britain has her greatest army upon the field, the Boers have a small force. It is even true that the whole South African population is less than that of some of England’s largest cities. The wonder is that the Boers have held out so long. They were no easy foe and have, as is well known, caused great havoc in the British army by their expert military tactics. It took England’s great¬ est general, Lord Roberts, with the powerful aid of Lord Kitchener to cause their defeat. What the final result will be in regard to the relations between the two countries is difficult to tell. The world in general is waiting and hoping that it will be fair and just to all. Edward F. Park hr, Jr. ORANGE CULTURE IN FLORIDA. (l)rawu from Observation.) The orange was first introduced into Florida about three centuries ago, but it was not until after the war that its cultivation became an industry. Before commerce was cut off by the Civil War, tobacco was more profitable than oranges; but during the four years, from sixtv- one to sixty-five , tobacco could hot be exported and therefore the industry went down, and since the great freeze of ninety-five, has not been revived until within the last five years. The orange seeds are planted in nurseries about a foot apart, and when they come up arc permitted to grow until the trees are about four feet high. They are then budded with what¬ ever variety the grower desires. The budding consists of cutting a slit in the bark of the tree and putting the bud of a thorn in it, the thorn being cut off. A small piece of waxed cloth is then tied around the tree, leaving the tiny bud uncovered. It is left in this way for ten days, when, if the bud is going to take, it has put out small leaves. The bud is put in at from six to thirty inches above the ground, and the old stock is cut off down to this.

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18 THE PIONEER. Henry Lawes, the foremost composer of that time. Ilis daily recreation was the hour spent at his organ or bass-viol, and we know that listening to beautiful singing was his delight. Ilis biographers say that during a visit to Italy, the first great opera singer the world had ever known, made her debut there. Milton was so enthusiastic over her lovely voice, that he wrote some Latin verses and dedicated them to her. It was the musician in Milton that gave that unfailing perfection to the rhythm of his verse. It was the musician that guided his pen when he wrote this beautiful passage. “And ever against eating cares, Lap me in soft Lydian airs, Such as the meeting soul may pierce, In notes with many a winding bout Of linked sweetness long drawn out With wanton heed and giddy cunning, The melting voice through mazes running, Untwisting all the chains that tie The hidden soul of harmony; That Orpheus’ self may heave his head From golden slumber on a bed Of heaped Elysian flowers, and hear Such strains as would have won the ear Of Pluto to have quite set free His half-regained Eurydice.” (“L’Allcgro”) For Milton, music “Drew iron tears down Pluto ’s cheeks, (“II Penseroso.”) It is a significant fact that the myth of Orpheus is his favorite, being mentioned more often than any other. In the following passage he pays a still higher tribute to melody; “There let the pealing organ blow, To the full-voiced quire below, In service high and anthems clear, As may with sweetness, through mine ear, Dissolve me in to ecstasies, And bring all heaven before mine eyes.” (“II Penseroso.”) Even Comus, the personification of all that is low and bad, speaks of the notes of the Lady’s song in this way : “How sweetly did they float upon the wings Of silence, through the empty-vaulted night, At every fall smoothing the raven down Of darkness till it smiled.” (“Comus.”) In the Pagan Heaven, the Muses “Aye around about Jove’s altar sing,” And in the Christian paradise the “Saints above, Sing, and singing in their glory move.” Music in Heaven seems natural, but Milton cannot deprive even the fallen angels of that blessing. “Others, more mild, Retreated in a silent valley, sing With notes angelical to many a harp. Their song was partial; but the harmony (What could it less when spirits immortal sing?) Suspended hell and took with ravishment The thronging audience.” (Paradise Lost.) No poet ever needed all the solace that music could bring to him more than Milton. Solitary in his greatness, disappointed in his cherished ideals for his country, without the love that should have surrounded him at times, what com¬ fort the blind poet must have taken in the har¬ monies that needed no eyes to help him find their mcanirng, or to feel the soothing charm of their sympathy. Lula Scott ’01. Character Development in George Eliot’s “Adam Bede ’ “Silas Marner”, and “The Mill on the Floss ’ In human nature, characters never remain the same throughout their existence, but are influenced and changed by circumstances and incidents. Vet many years passed before this fact was grasped by novelists. The early writ¬ ers chose different types of character. These were very interesting and beautiful, but the writers did not follow human nature far enough to introduce character development — it was char¬ acter drawing. When George Eliot wrote, character development was not numbered among the requirements of a novel, as it is to-day. However, she was too true a student of human life and too much interested in its development not to notice that any new circumstances set the mind to work on new thoughts, and that these thoughts influence the character greatly. For this reason, the different people of her books argue with themselves and reason in i i