Sport (plant)

“ No game license is required of us in these parts, and the sporting competition is very small, if indeed it exists at all, within earshot of us; at least, at this hour of the morning we have the field to ourselves. We hear nothing as yet but the rustling of gigantic ferns, bamboos, and plantain leaves, together with the occasional song of the winged tribe, whose united harmony it is our purpose soon to interrupt. The silence of the grey dawn is eminently favourable to our sport, and the low bushes which intercept our path screen us from the penetrating gaze of our prey. ”

“ X The Lure of the Berry
Men have sung the praises of fishing and hunting, they have extolled the joys of boating and riding, they have dwelt at length upon the pleasures of automobiling. But there is one—sport, shall I call it?—which no one seems to have thought worth mentioning: the gentle sport of berrying.
Perhaps calling it a sport is an unfortunate beginning; it gives us too much to live up to. No, it is not a sport, though I can't think why, since it is quite as active as drop-line fishing. ”

“ The thump of tennis balls, the flying horrors of ring-goal, even the clash of croquet is tabooed in this sacred spot. Down below, indeed, beyond that thick privet hedge, you may find, if you wish, a smooth, well-kept piece of grass, where, even now—if we may judge from white figures that cross the little square, where a swinging iron gate seems to remonstrate hastily and ill-temperedly with those who leave these reflective shades for the glare and publicity of tennis—a game seems to be in progress. ”

“ In the autumn the stem of the plant rots off, and the globe of branches dries up into a ball light as a feather, which is then driven through the air by the autumnal winds over the steppe. Numbers of such balls often fly at once over the plain with such rapidity that no horseman can catch them ”

“ But tennis is, after all, a summer game. Winter has its own sports and pastimes—skating, coasting, sleighing, and the gymnasium—to which my readers will devote their hours of recreation. So at the first flurry of snow they will hang their rackets as trophies over the mantel, and leave lawn tennis to the enthusiasts until the warm sun and soft rains of spring shall have spread over the court a carpet of fresh green grass. ”

“ With sun-dried marbles, large seeds, or peculiarly-shaped sticks, plays have been improvised, which, in the course of years, have become national games for the youngsters. Boys and girls enjoy the sport together. ”

“ Other parents were in no way remarkable, so the future Fellow was simply a “sport,” to use the language of horticulturists and breeders, in respect to his taste and ability. It is to be remembered that “sports” are transmissible by heredity, and have been, through careful selection, the origin of most of the valuable varieties of domesticated plants and animals. Sports have been conspicuous in the human race, especially in some individuals of the highest eminence in music, painting, and in art generally, but this is not the place to enter further into so large a subject. ”

“ Bee hunting is one of the most fascinating of sports, and one could go on describing different [49] illuminating episodes for many pages. The sport combines almost everything that is desirable. It is played out of doors. It requires exercise both of the muscles and the brain. It is a sport of brawn and of craft. It can be played alone. ”

“ But this summer our sport lay in securing wild flowers, a harmless and charming pastime in which for the first time all the members of the family found equal enjoyment, and even our near neighbors, confirmed golfers, admitted the fascination of our newly acquired sport. To return laden with lilies, wild clematis, marsh mallows, delicately pink upon their tall, stately stems, cat-tails, red lilies, the fragrant clethra, and a variety of other flowers whose names [45] are to be discovered in the winter over a “complete botanical guide,” savored of a veritable triumph. ”

“ The sport is one of infinite variety, of suspense, disappointment, perseverance, and triumph. You go out into the fields. Before you is a wooded mountain with ten thousand trees. One of those trees is a bee tree. With a very simple equipment you set out to find it, pitting your skill and your knowledge against the wiles of probably the most intelligent insect in the world. You try. You fail. You try again. You succeed. Your ostensible object is honey. It is the least of your rewards. ”

“ Who but the sportsman knows how soothing it is to wander at daybreak among the underwoods? The print of your feet lies in a green line on the grass, white with dew. You part the drenched bushes; you are met by a rush of the warm fragrance stored up in the night; the air is saturated with the fresh bitterness of wormwood, the honey sweetness of buckwheat and clover; in the distance an oak wood stands like a wall, and glows and glistens in the sun ”

“ Let me tell you about my ball. It is so large that trees can grow on it; so large that cattle can graze, and wild beasts roam, upon it; so large that men and women can live on it, and little children too,—as you already know, if you have read the title-page of this book. In some places it is soft and green, like the long meadow between the hills, where the grass was so high last summer that we almost lost Marnie when she lay down to roll in it ”

“ The mess stands in a five-acre garden, which has been the joy of many generations; for, apart from its abundant fertility, amidst its shades are to be found a swimming-bath and racquet-court, as well as tennis, badminton, and croquet lawns. Oranges, strawberries, peaches, plums, apricots, grapes, loquats and other fruits flourish and abound, while nearly every species of English flower and vegetable grows strong and well. ”

“ Wood tennis must, of necessity, differ somewhat from the regulation game. Since pine-cones will not bounce and there are no rackets for striking them, they must be tossed across the net, caught in the hands, and quickly tossed back. ”

“ The keen interest taken in sport, football in particular, is largely responsible for the lack of enthusiasm about natural science, though the artisan often takes pleasure in seeing wild beasts and loves flowers and the songs of birds. ”

“ Athletic sports may be practised in a well-rolled grass field, but the best arena is an enclosure, with a regularly laid down running track, the fouadation made of clinkers and rubble, and the surface of well-rolled fine cinder ashes. ”

“ There would be a wide lawn in front of the house to play lawn tennis in and to walk with delicately fine young men with fair faces and white hands, who would speak in the French language and bow often with their hats almost touching the ground. ”

“ Our track athletes begin their season in the dead of winter with the dreary monotony of wooden dumb-bells and pulley-weights, while the baseball men are learning to slide for bases in the cage. In England the gymnasium is happily unknown. Winter and summer alike the sportsman lives beneath the skies, and the sports are so diverse and so widely cultivated that any man, whatever his mental or physical capacity, finds suitable exercise that is also recreation. ”

“ Yet unless this rule is implicitly obeyed you cannot expect much success at lawn tennis. Taking your eye off the ball is the secret of every mis-hit and mis-timed stroke. You must not be content merely to look at the ball, but follow it right on to your racket; watch it up to the actual moment of striking. The court and the position of your opponent must be mentally engraved at the same time. How frequently attentive observation will reveal a player lifting his or her eye from the ball a fraction too soon! ”

“ An extensive and verdant plain, smooth and level as a bowling–green, stretches from our feet away to some undiscoverable boundary, its further portion covered with tall poplars, entirely bare of branches for half their height, and leafy only towards their summit, the trunks standing just near enough together to form a grove of pillared foliage, and just far enough apart for every tree to be seen in its integrity, and for the sunshine to penetrate and illuminate every nook. ”

“ On the putting greens the natural undulations of the ground have been levelled, and the greens are all as flat and smooth as billiard-tables. There are clumps of ornamental wood, flower-beds, and artificial ponds with goldfish swimming in them. It is all very pretty, but it is hardly golf. ”

“ Lay out a regular tennis-court by scraping the lines in the earth, or outlining the boundaries with sticks or other convenient materials. Build a net of branches by sticking the ends in the ground, and collect a number of smooth, green cones for balls. ”

“ While the others are hopping about in the air, I can dodge under their feet and grab the ball. It's loads of fun practising—out in the athletic field in the afternoon with the trees all red and yellow and the air full of the smell of burning leaves, and everybody laughing and shouting. ”

“ These elegant and truly national amusements, appear to be rapidly gaining a prominent place in the list of fashionable recreations; and aquatic sports now occupy that dull and sombre season, from the period hunting ends, till russet autumn summons the sportsman to the field. ”

“ Every one knows that the superior varieties of flowers and vegetables are commonly the "sports," as they are termed, from inferior species. The skillful gardener watches carefully for good "sports," for they may become very valuable additions to his répertoire of useful plants. So, too, the legislator must watch carefully for good human "sports," not for those with criminal propensities. ”

“ The lawn tennis ground must be in perfect order, croquet sets in readiness, archery tools supplied, as well as arrangements for all kinds of suitable games made. Music is a very delightful addition to the pleasure of such an occasion, and should always be had, when practicable. ”

“ They are passionately fond of athletic sports, such as archery, wrestling, and racing; but the favorite pastime is a kind of foot-ball. The game is played between two parties, with a large elastic ball, on a square piece of ground prepared expressly for the purpose. ”

“ There are certain discontinuous variations, however—sports, as they are called—in plants which differ very markedly in some quality from others, and these have the tendency to perpetuate themselves. Just why these sports occur is not known, nor how. They occur in a certain small percentage of all normal plants, but may die out, though it takes but little encouragement to succeed in helping them to maintain themselves. It is this that De Vries has done, and thus has succeeded in raising what would be called new species of plants. ”

“ When a boot-boy is kept, he can be set to roll the grass before and after it is mown, and also assist in the tidying up, thus giving the man leisure to attend to other matters. Where tennis or more especially croquet is played, great care should be taken to keep the turf level; inequalities can always be remedied in the winter or early spring. ”

“ VI. A ball, after it has run all the bridges, may hit the starting post either by a blow from its owner’s mallet, by roquet, roquet-croquet, croquet or concussion, and is then a dead ball, and must be immediately removed from the field.
1. A player who having run all the bridges strikes the starting post, is out of the game, his turn is omitted, and the play goes on as before. If, instead of striking the post, he continues to play, he is called a rover. ”

“ The other varieties of exercise, namely, gardening, the different games, cricket, football, tennis, &c., need not be particularized as they all subserve the same purposes, and are in consequence very desirable. ”

“ Lawn tennis and croquet, on the other hand, are very suitable active open-air games; in winter, skating may be indulged in if proper precautions are taken against chill; in summer, swimming and rowing. ”

“ Most of the ordinary English field games—tennis, basket-ball, etc.—are played with skill and vigor, and in addition to these there are races of various kinds, devised to show, not simply fleetness of foot, but quickness of hand and wit as well. ”

“ If strong plants are desired, the runner should be headed-in, and only one plant allowed to form on each runner. The ground should be soft and somewhat moist, to enable the young plants to obtain a foothold. ”

“ The green ribbons float on the surface rooted to the sides of the pool and, as the sun shines upon it, the glittering bubbles rising from them show that they are working up food out of the air in the water, and giving off oxygen. The brown weeds lie chiefly under the shelves of rocks, for they can manage with less sunlight, and use the darker rays which pass by the green weeds ”

“ From the limb of a tree have suspended five or six feet from the ground a small wooden hoop, about eighteen inches in diameter, covered like a drumhead with white tissue paper.
Provide each player with a round, green, tapering stake, white tipped and five feet long—the kind used for propping up plants. On the blunt end of each stake, or lance, should be tied streamers of red, white, and blue, which will make streaks of color as they are sent hurtling through the air. ”

“ Not only complex games like chess and tennis, but even many childish sports, seem well-defined formations, of which the spread may be traced on the map much as the botanist traces his plants from their geographical centers. ”

“ To-day, however, she had the news that the lawn-tennis court would not be used for tennis again till after the alternate Tuesdays in July, and there would be the question of sowing a little grass seed on the barest places. ”