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vol. i, p. 9.) Mr. Gordon, on tlio 1st of January, 1828, was delighted with the oivango
trees in Elorida, whicli he found bciuing on their boughs four different crops, in v.arious
stages of growth, besides blossoms, and newly made shoots. Iu the same part of the
country, on Fobruaiy 5th, ho saw a pear ripened in the open a i r ; and the day afterwards,
hyacinths, violets, daffodils, and wallflowers, in fuU bloom, in the open garden,
and unprotected from the weather. (Gard. Mag., vol. iv. p. 396.)
869. Culaianj vegetables grow in the same perfection in North America as in
England, except the cauliflower and some species of beans. Sca-kale and ta rt rhubarb
are not yet generally cultivated ; and Mi-. Gordon found a gentleman at Charleston who
Iiad never scon a cauliflower. But, tlirough the influoiice of tho American liorticultiiral
societies, and tho extensive correspondence of the American nurserymen with those of
Europe, since the peace of 1814, eveiy thing European will soon become general in the
New World. “ Common vegetables,” s.ays iVts. Trollope, “ at New Orleans, are abundant
and fine. I never saw sca-ltale or cauliflowers ; and, either from the want of summer
rain, or the want of cai'e, the harvest of green vegetables is much sooner over than m th
ns. The Americans eat the Indian corn in a great variety of foi-ms: sometimes it is
dressed green, and eaten like p e a s ; sometimes it is broken in pieces when diy, boiled
plain, and brought to table like rice : tliis dish is called hominy. The flour of it is made
into at least a dozen different sorts of cakes ; mixed in the proportion of one tMrd with
fino wheat, it makes hy far the best bread I over tasted.” (Dom. M an. o f the Amer., vol. ii.
p. 99.) A t Cincinnati Mi-s. Trollope found “ tomatoes (the great luxury of the
American table in the eyes of Em-opeans) in the markets from Ju n e to December.”
She also found the Lima bean in great perfection. Tho frait, she says, was bad ; there
were neither apricots nor nectarines; “ the strawbeiries wore very sm a ll; raspheiries
much worse; gooseberries very few, and quite tineatable ; currants about half the size
of those grown in Britain ; grapes too sour for tarts ; apples abundant, but veiy indif-
fei-eiit; .and peai-s, cherries, and plums most miserably bad.” The water-melons were
abundant and cheap ; but all other melons were inferior to those of France and England.
(Ibid., vol. i. p. 87.) Water-melons, musk-melons, squashes, sweet potatoes, cucumbers,
&c. arrive at great perfection.
870. Ice is in profuse abundance. “ I do not imagine,” says Mi's. Trollope, “ that
there is a house in the city of New York without the luxury of a piece of ice to cool the
water, and harden the butter.” (Dom. Man. o f the Amer., vol. ii. p. 182.)
871. The first work after a settlement is to plant a peach and apple orchard, placing
the trees altovnatcly. The poach, being short-lived, is soon removed, and its place
covered hy the hraiiclies of the apple trees. (Kingdom's Guide to America, &c., p. 5.)
The seeds of pumpkins are scattered in the field, when planting the com, and no further
ti-ouble is necessaiy than tlu-owing them into the waggon when ripe. They weigh from
thirty to forty pounds each ; and cattle and hogs are fond of them. In Maryland, Virginia,
and the neighbouring pro-vinces of the United States, peaches arc propagated
invariably from the stone. The fruit is used for feeding hogs, and distilled for brandy.
In Vii-ginia, the prickly pear abounds in the woods, and is reckoned a cooling, grateful
fi-uit. (Braddick, in Hort. Trans., v o l ii.)
SuBSECT. 4. American Gardening, in respect to Timber Trees and Hedges.
872. Planting fo r timber or fu e l it is not to ho expected can he general in America;
but the country not only affords a rich supply of species for the Eui'opean planter, but
some interesting information respecting the native succession of trees on the same soil,
and the effect of the leaves of trees in autumn.
873. The trees o f America have been described by Micliaux. The number of these
which grow above tliirty feet high, and which lie has seen and described, is one hundred
and thirty-seven, of which eighty-five are employed in the arts. In Ei-ance there arc
only thirty-seven which rise to that height, of which eighteen serve to form timbci
plantations, and of tlieso seven only are employed in civil and marine constnictions.
Michaux acknowledges his obligations to W. Hamilton, “ an enlightened amateur of
the sciences and arts,” who pleased liimself in uniting at his magnificent residence at
Woodlands, near Pliiladelphia, not only all the useful vegetables of the United States,
but those of every country of tlie world, which may offer any interest in the arts or m
medicine. This residence, in 1843, was converted into a cemetery.
874. The natural succession o f forest trees on the same soil has attracted the attention
of various persons from the time of Evelyn to the present day. Dr. Dwight, in
his Travels in New England, has given some remarkable instances, which he found it
difficult and, indeed, ahnost impossible to account for. Other writers, who have touched
on the same subject, will be found enumerated in a valuable paper on the natural succession
of forest trees, in the Gardener’s Magazine, vol. v. p. 421.; and in the same work,
vol. viii. p. 287., the problem is very satisfactorily solved by Lewis Le Conte, Esq. of
Riceborough. Tliis gentleman has, for above tliirty years, given liis attention to the
natural succession of the different species of timber in America; and the following are
the results of his observations : —
875. The pine lands in the southern states have geuerally old oak grabs, which, by
reason of the periodical fires, are prevented fi-om becoming tre e s ; notwithstanding, they
still continue alive; and when land is turned out (that is, when the cultivation of land
is relinquished), pines, being by nature unproductive of suckers, ai-e consequently lulled
in toto; while the oak, now sole possessor of the soil, starts up and grows vigorously.
On thc other liand, land which had heen solely occupied by oaks previously to'its cultibcmg
winged, and thereby easily earned by the wind to a considerable distance, if the
ground is fr-ee from the roots of other trees, are the first to establish themselves; and
being of a free and rapid growth, they take the lead of all other species of timhefr and
become the iirincipal occupiers of the la n d ; but when the roots of the oaks arc not
destroyed, they will take the lead, and resist the pine and other trees. All pine lands
wliich originally had no oaks will invariably produce pines again, whether they have
been under cultivation for a long or a short period.
876. The succession o f wild cherries to beech is thus accounted for. Birds, being
natin-ally fond of the chcri-y, cat them with avidity, and swallow the stones of the fr-uit,
which do not suffer, in their germinating qualities, while in the bowels of the bird ; and as
these frequently resort to beech woods, it naturally follows that they void tiiese cherrystones
th e re ; which cither lie d om an t (as they retain thcir vegetating powers for a
length of time), or germinate, and remain in a diminutive s ta te ; but when the beeches
arc cut down, they advance rapidly, and become the principal occupants of the soil.
877. A pine barren in the southern states of North America has been drawn {fig.
232.) and described by Captain Hall. “ A considerable portion of the southern states of
North America, and even as fin- as North Carolina, is covered with boundless forests of
])i_ne trees. These districts are called pine barrens; and, the soil being generally sandy,
with a scanty supply of water, they are probably destined to remain for ever in the state
of an useless wilderness. Upwards of 500 miles of onr jom-ney lay through these desolate
forests; and I have, therefore, thought it worth while to give a sketch, which is sufficiently
characteristic, of these singular regions. Occasional villages {fig. 233.) gave some relief
to the tedium of tliis part of the jo u rn e y ; and whenever a stream occun-ed, the fertility
of the adjacent lands was more gi-ateful to the eye than I can find words to describe. Once
or twice, in ti-avelling through the states of Georgia, we came to high knolls, from whicli
we could look over the vast ocean of trees, sfrctching without a break in every direction
as far as the eye could re a c h ; and I remember, upon one of these occasions, thinking
that I never before had a just conception of what the word forest meant.” {Hall’s
Sketches, ^c.. No. xxiii.) In another place Captain Hail observes, that sometimes the
monotony of the pine ban-en is intemiptcd by the heat and smoke arising from the forest
being on fire ; and when this is the case, it sometimes happens that the fire seizes on a
hollow tree, in the trank of whicli the flames are raging furiously, “ roaring like a blast
furnace and rapidly consuming the tree at the bottom, while the branches at top are
waving about in full I'crdure as if nothing unusual were going on below.” {Hall’s
Sketches, ^c., No. xxiv.)
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