Wild Apples and Other Natural History Essays

267 Pages·2002·1.52 MB·English

by  Henry David Thoreau

WildApples
andOtherNaturalHistoryEssays
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Wild Apples
andOtherNaturalHistoryEssays
by
HENRY D. THOREAU
EDITED BY WILLIAM ROSSI
TheUniversityofGeorgiaPress
athensandlondon
©2002bytheUniversityofGeorgiaPress
Athens,Georgia30602
Allrightsreserved
DesignedbyBettyPalmerMcDaniel
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LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Thoreau,HenryDavid,1817–1862.
“Wildapples”andothernaturalhistoryessays/
byHenryD.Thoreau;editedbyWilliamRossi.
p.cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferences(p.)andindex.
isbn0-8203-2412-4(hardcover:alk.paper)
—isbn0-8203-2413-2(pbk.:alk.paper)
1.Naturalhistory.2.Naturalhistory—Massachusetts.
I.Rossi,WilliamJohn.II.Title.
qh811.t61242002
508—dc21 2001008268
BritishLibraryCataloging-in-PublicationDataavailable
Contents
Acknowledgments vi
Introduction vii
ANoteonTexts xxv
NaturalHistoryofMassachusetts 1
AWalktoWachusett 25
AWinterWalk 42
Walking 59
TheSuccessionofForestTrees 93
AutumnalTints 109
WildApples 140
Huckleberries 166
Notes 203
SuggestionsforFurtherReading 221
Index 227
Acknowledgments
T
his collection was begun with the generous assistance of Bob
Sattlemeyer,whohadtheforesighttwentyyearsagotoreprint
these essays. I am also grateful to Cristina Calhoon, whose
knowledgeofVirgil,andJohnLysaker,whoseknowledgeofthehistory
ofphilosophy,contributedtothenotes;toJoeMoldenhauer,Heather
Kirk Thomas, and Beth Witherell for sharing valuable information
about textual matters; to Mike Branch, Suzanne Clark, Dan Peck,
ScottSlovic,andMollyWestlingforadviceandencouragement;to
Jim Crosswhite for unfailing moral support; to John Gage and the
University of Oregon English Department for material support; to
Lynn Miles-Morillo for indexing; and not least to Rachel and Julia
Rossi,myabletypists,radiantproofreaders,andguidinglights.
Introduction
william rossi
B
ornonhismaternalgrandmother’sfarmtwomilesoutsidethe
agriculturalvillageofConcord,Massachusetts,onJuly12,1817,
HenryThoreaugrewupinafamilythatparticipatedactivelyin
thepopularnineteenth-centurypassionfornaturalhistory.Localleg-
endheldthatoneofthechildrenwasnearlybornduringaparental
botanizing excursion in the woods and hills surrounding the town.
UntilheleftforHarvardCollegeinSeptember1833,Thoreauspent
anuninterruptedboyhoodinthisenvironment,acquiringtheknowl-
edgeofboatcraftandwoodcraftthatlatersoimpressedhisneighbor
andmentorRalphWaldoEmerson.LikeotherConcordchildrenwho
attendedpresentationsattheConcordLyceumafteritwasestablished
in1829,youngHenry’sinterestwasfurtherfedbythenumerouslec-
turesonnaturalhistoryofferedthere.Recentscholarshipsuggeststhat
the character of Thoreau’s early environmental knowledge, though
lessutilitarianthanthatofhiscontemporaries,was,liketheirs,more
broadthandeep(McGregor20–31).Nonetheless,hisattentiveearly
immersioninthelocalecosystemsoftheConcordandSudburyRiver
watersheds formed the experiential soil for a rich sense of place to
takeroot.
After graduating from Harvard in 1837, Thoreau returned to his
nativevillagenevertoleaveitexceptforaneightmonths’residence
vii
viii introduction
onStatenIslandin1843,periodicexcursionstotheMainewoodsand
CapeCod,andatripwesttoMinnesotainMay1861oneyearbefore
hediedoftuberculosis.ButtheConcordtowhichhereturnedafter
collegewasalreadyenmeshedinthesocial,economic,andecological
changesthathadbeguntotransformtheregion,changesaccelerated
withtheestablishmentin1844oftheFitchburgrailroadinConcord,
lessthanayearbeforeThoreaumovedtoWaldenPond.Ashenoted
in1849,therailroadradicallyalteredtheoldscaleoftravelanddis-
tance,reducingthetwenty-milejourneytoBostonfromuptothree
hoursbystagetounderanhour.Therailroadandthepervasiveforces
ofindustrializationitrepresentedalsobroughtthemetropoliscloser
inotherways,integratingConcordbusinessandagricultureintore-
gional and national markets, insinuating cosmopolitan values and
manners,andraisingbarriersofclassdistinctions,asthetownmore
andmoreassumedacommercializing,middle-class,andincreasingly
suburbancharacter.
ThesechangeshadcomplexeffectsonthelandscapeThoreauin-
habitedanddescribedduringthetwodecadesspannedbytheessays
collectedinthisvolume.Ononehand,theutilitarianattitudesthat
supportedanindustrializingeconomycontributedtoseveredeforesta-
tionanddecliningwildlife.BecausethetypicalNewEnglandhouse-
hold consumed ten to thirty cords of wood every winter, by 1850
landaroundConcordwaslittlemorethantenpercentforested,with
meadowsandswamps,liketheonesThoreaucelebratesin“Walking,”
rapidly disappearing as arable acreage increased. While this natural
habitatwasbeingirreparablyalteredanddestroyed,unregulatedhunt-
ing,fishing,andtrappingwasdecimatingthepopulationsofmoose,
wolf, deer, beaver, and migrating fish such as salmon, shad, herring,
and alewife that Thoreau could remember from boyhood. On the
otherhand,thesameforcesthatdrewConcordfarmersintonational
marketsultimatelydisplacedthem.Asruralresidentsmigratedwest
ormovedtourbancenters,andfarmswereabandonedoracreagere-
linquishedtospecializeintheproductionofmilk,hay,andproduce,
introduction ix
overtimetheexhaustedpasturesandabandonedfarmlandgradually
reforested,aprocessthebeginningsofwhichThoreaurecognizedand,
against the grain of conventional wisdom, sought to promote in his
latenaturalhistoryessays.Nowoversixtypercentforested,theCon-
cordlandscapeiscomparativelywilderthantheoneThoreauknew,
withportionsofitpreservedinaccordancewithhisvision(Carroll;
Donahue;Gross,NewPerspectives).
IfThoreau’scontemporarieslackedwhatwemightcallacoherent
“ecologicalvision,”theywerenonethelesskeenlyawareofthenatu-
ralknowledgebeingproducedinvariousareasofnaturalhistorythat
wouldbecomeseparatedisciplinesinthesecondhalfofthecentury.
Toagreaterextentthanpresently,areasnowtheprovinceofgeology,
botany,zoology,paleontology,comparativeanatomy,ornithology,and
astronomywereofconsiderablepublicaswellasprofessionalinterest.
If from our perspective Thoreau’s contemporaries missed the forest
forthetrees,theyoftenhadacorrespondinglygreatercuriosityabout
them, and thus, as readers, a greater tolerance for descriptive detail
thanmanyoftheirmoreenvironmentally“enlightened”descendants.
Consequently,writersofnaturalhistoryenjoyednumerousoutletsand
awidereadershipfortheirwork,areadershipconsistingnotonlyof
genteel urbanites and those Thoreau stigmatized in A Week on the
ConcordandMerrimackRiversas“mealy-mouthed...lover[s]ofna-
ture” but also of generalist intellectuals and professional naturalists
eagertokeepabreastofadvancingscientificknowledge(AWeek109;
Buell412–16).
Theculturalbreadthofthisinterestinthenaturalworldwassus-
tainedbyawidespread,variegated,andremarkablyelasticdiscourse
of natural theology. This deeply rooted assumption that from the
micro- to the macroscopic level the whole of nature evinced a co-
herent design ultimately referable to a designer God, was modified
but hardly eradicated by Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species.
Naturaltheologyinformednotonlythecourseinnaturalhistorythat
Thoreau took as a senior at Harvard College, but also the public