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Pine Needles and Cone |
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Evaluations of Accomplishments |
STORY OF THE QUILT SQUARE, PINE NEEDLES AND CONE BY
ANDERSON CREEK EXTENSION HOMEMAKERS CLUB FOR HARNETT COUNTY HISTORICAL
QUILT, 1989 Pine Needles and Cone The
most unusual and significant tree the Scottish Highlanders saw after
disembarking at Wilmington, North Carolina in September, 1739, and
moving later into the Upper Cape Fear Valley section of Cumberland
County, was the long leaf pine, pinus palustris, a tree they had
never seen. The
150 emigrants, called the Argyll Colony, arriving on the ship, The
Thistle, were familiar with other hovering trees along the banks of the
Cape Fear, hickory, poplar, oak, and walnut, but not the tree with
leaves like needles. The tall, tall trees Were everywhere! It
did not take a longtime to realize their density prevented sunlight to
penetrate the foliage, and thereby stall all undergrowth. ) They soon
found they could travel on horseback a considerable distance, as from
Cambro Pond to Manchester, without striking their heads on a bough or
getting their horses feet entangled in growth. The brown cushioned
carpet made the ride more comfortable for both man and horse. At
their coming little did they realize the long leaf pine would become
their main source of livelihood for 100 years. By 1755, sixteen years
after their arrival, they had learned how to tap the trees, and make the
by products from the pine resin. When
Anderson Creek Extension Homemakers Club chose a quilt square with long
leaf pine needles and cones as one of their selections for the Historic
Quilt, they knew the importance of their selection, the part it had
played in lives of their forebears. The time had come for them to follow
through with what Malcolm Fowler wrote in his book, They Passed This
Way (page 23), "Maybe at some future time the pine tree will be
given its rightful credit for the part it played in the lives of our
forefathers." The
long leaf pine is a cone bearing tree and one of 80 known species. The
long leaf, pinus palustris, is found only in North America in a
belt about 125 miles wide from Mississippi to Virginia. It's recognized
by its orange -brown branches, large cones and long needles more than a
foot long. The tree thrives best in sandy uplands and grow straight from
100 to 200 feet in height. Its greatest value is for resinous products,
turpentine-, tar, pitch but the last half of 1900's the pine has been
used primarily for building purposes. However, other species of pine,
loblolly for instance) have more uses and are more abundant than the
scarce long leaf. During
the century of resin collections, it was learned a forest of 10,000
single pines would yield annually for 4 years about 400 barrels of
liquid resin from which tar, pitch, turpentine were made. The
industry. was very destructive -to the forests. When a tree no longer
yielded sap, the newly made sawmills sawed the cut tree into timber, or
the owners had their trees cut and rafted to Wilmington on the Cape Fear
River for sale. Today
the long leaf pine has other uses, craft makers are using the needles
for basket making, the cones for decoration purposes. Even the artist is
lifting her brush;. to paint its beauty, the quiet embroiderer to stitch
its memory, and the poet to record its sense of place. "Here's
to the land of the long leaf pine. The
Summer land where the sun doth shine, Where
the weak grow strong and the strong grow ,great, Here's
to down home, the Old North State"* *Officially
adopted as the state toast of North Carolina by the General Assembly,
1957. Composed by Leonora Martin and Mary Burke Kerr. (Sessions Law
1957, C. 777) Written by: Evelyn
Byrd Quilt Coordinator For: Anderson Creek Extension Homemakers Club Sources: World
Book Encyclopedia Malcolm Fowler, They Passed This Way The North Carolina Manual -1989 to 1990 Quilt Square: Row
6, Number 33 Embroidery by:
Frances Morris Anderson Creek Extension Homemakers Club |
