SOUTHERN HORTICULTURE. 



255 



the pomace was once ground. The press was 

 erected on a flat stone near by — the leverage 

 attached to an old tree, now in decay. Bar- 

 tram, with all his other avocations, had a 

 fancy for working in stone. In one of his 

 letters, he says that he had built three houses 

 with his own hands, — blasting and hewing the 

 rock himself. The garden house, built in 

 1731, is a fine specimen of solid masonry, 

 with even some attempt at ornament around 

 the bases and capitals of the pillars and the 

 windows. An old man told my informant 

 that he had often seen Bartram at work 

 upon it by moonlight, after a day of toil. The 

 date, with his own name and that of his wife, 

 is carved upon it, and several other inscrip- 

 tions. Here lived and died both father and 

 son, John and William Bartram. Here, 

 also, Wilson, the ornithologist, resided for 

 some time ; and it was through William 

 Bartram's encouragement and assistance that 

 he was enabled to publish his work on Ameri- 

 can birds. In it he often speaks of this gar- 

 den, where the book was prepared. The 

 house, hallowed by these associations of over 

 an hundred j^ears, is now put in complete re- 

 pair, and seems likely to endure the storms 

 of more than another century, beneath the 



sheltering vines and spreading trees planted 

 by its founder. 



[Our fair correspondent must accept our 

 thanks for her account of what we consider 

 the most interesting garden in America, to 

 every lover of trees. Many hours of pro- 

 foundest admiration have we passed beneath 

 its majestic shades ; and we are heartily re- 

 joiced to hear that this most venerable mu- 

 seum of trees has passed into the hands of a 

 gentleman of taste, who can preserve, appre- 

 ciate, and improve it. We trust he will per- 

 mit all real lovers of trees to enjoy its beauty , 

 and a very simple and easy mode of doing 

 this — much practiced abroad — is that of 

 giving tickets of admission at some place in 

 the city of Philadelphia. This would prevent 

 the influx of mere strollers, who would, per- 

 haps, destroy the privacy of the place ; for 

 few persons would take the trouble to procure 

 tickets in Philadelphia, to go over the Schuyl- 

 kill three or four miles, except those really 

 interested in the subject. We have known 

 intelligent foreigners to declare the sight of 

 the magnificent specimens of Cypress, Mag- 

 nolias, Oaks, and other American trees in this 

 Bartram Garden, an ample reward for cross- 

 ing the Atlantic. Ed.] 



NOTES ON SOUTHERN HORTICULTURE. 



BY ROB'T HARWELL, MOBILE, ALABAMA. 



Messrs. Editors — If you think the follow- 

 ing notes worth publishing in your valuable 

 paper you may do so. You will see by the 

 heading that I have given myself a wide 

 range, and I shall feel at perfect liberty to 

 wander about in any direction, provided I 

 keep inside the last clause of the text (horti- 

 culture.) 



Our Climate and Soil for Fruit Trees 

 generally. — As far as I have ascertained, it 



is the opinion of a good many people that the 

 climate and soil in the vicinity of Mobile, are 

 both unfavorable to the production of fruits 

 generally, and of some kinds particularly ; in 

 fact, it appears to be a given up point, that 

 the fine kinds of cherries, apricots and north- 

 ern plums, as well as some other fruits, can- 

 not be successfully produced here. 



The above conclusions may be correct, but 

 I must confess that I am unable to perceive 



