3Iississif)pl Valley Horticultural Society. 21 1 



strangers to Northern vit^itors, wns the first and principal point of attraction. 

 Here we found growing in the upeu air magnohas, pitlosporunis, ligs, or- 

 anges, yuccas, crape myrtles, agaves, cape jasmines, with many oilier rare 

 plants, shrubs and trees, in luxuriant beauty, while in the conservatories 

 were orchids and other species still more strange and interesting to us. 

 Some of the finest residences in the city are in this vicinity, and, oddly con- 

 structed as they seemed to us, Avith their light airy appearance, surrounded 

 by verandas at each story, and with that ever jnesent accompaniment, a two 

 or three-story cistern, the trees, shrubs and plants that adorned their sur- 

 roundings were of still greater interest. The beautiful live oaks and mag- 

 nolias that lined the streets and boulevards, with great agaves and yuccas 

 crowned with gorgeous flowers, all conspired to make us feel that we were 

 really strangers in a strange and fairy land. 



The West End and Spanish fort, pleasure resorts, situated on Lake Pon- 

 chartrain, were next visited. These are some seven miles back of the city, 

 and are reached by railways and dummy engines. These routes take us 

 past the 



CITY CEMETERIES, 



Where we were again made to realize that we were truly in a strange land. 

 Their interments are all intermural. This is a matter of necessity, juet as 

 they are forced to build cisterns and cellers above ground, for the ground 

 is all below the level of the water in the river, so that a grave or cellar would 

 fill with water as soon as opened. The vaults are in many inst;Tnces very 

 handsome .and expensive, being built of granite or marble, and the drives, 

 and walks and trees, and shrubbery are most attractive and beautiful. In 

 the rear of the city and meandering along the line of cemeteries that seem to 

 almost surround it, is a sluggish artificial stream or canal that is really the 

 only outlet for the city sewage. The gutters in the city all lead from the 

 river, which is the highest point, and are conducted into this canal, where 

 the sewage slowly finds its way into Lake Ponchartrain. 



Mrs. Richardson's Greenhouses, the French Market, the United States 

 Mint, St. Louis Cathedral, Jackson Square, the Custom House, and many 

 other points of interest, in turn, occupied our attention, but the greatest ex- 

 cursion of all was our return to 



MOBILE AND HOMEWARD. 



Prior to the adjournment of the Society, an invitation at the hands of 

 Col. E. W. Gillespie, General Passenger Agent of the Mobile and Ohio Kail- 

 road, and in behalf of his road and the Louisville and Nashville Road, was 

 extended to the whole Society to become the guests of the two roads in an 

 excursion to Mobile and return, a distance oi one hundred and forty miles. 

 This generous offer was accepted, when a special train of six cars wa.s jdaced 

 at the service of the Society. At 8 A. M., on the morning of February 27tli, 

 this train, accompanied by the railroad officials and many citizens, left New 

 Orleans for Mobile. The dav was clear and bright and cool enougli to make 



