HORTICULTURAL AND OTHER NOTES ON ST. LOUIS. 



159 



early crop in February. Sow parsneps, car- 

 rots, radishes, lettuce, onions, cress, and ear- 

 ly peas in open ground last of February, or 

 early in March. About first of April, trans- 

 plant broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, lettuce, 

 spinach, and plant sweet potatoes in hot- 

 bed. Sow annuals (flowers) about first of 

 May. Begin to cut asparagus early in 

 April, and green peas are on our tables as 

 early as the middle of May. We have had 

 frosts, however, even after that time. Plant 

 sweet potato sets about first of May. Dig 

 early potatoes early in June. Corn of the 

 Golden Sioux and Tuscarora kinds, and 

 summer squash, eatable June 20. Gather 

 garden seeds about the last of July. Early 

 planting is essential to get crops well set 

 before the summer drouth. 



Animated Nature. — Crows stay with us 

 all winter, and roost on the shrub oaks of 

 the rolling land back of St. Louis, in tens 

 of thousands, flying to the east side of the 

 river early in the morning. They are chiefly 

 injurious to corn in the ear. Robins, Larks, 

 Bluebirds, and Buntings, appear in the 

 warm days of winter. Wild Pigeons some- 

 times fly north as early as first of February. 

 Ducks, Geese, Brant and Cranes fly north 

 in February and March. Quails and Pin- 

 nated Grouse are abundant all the year. 

 Sparrowhawks are very numerous in au- 

 tumn, and feed on large grosshoppers. Birds 

 in variety appea'r in March. Bees are often 

 tempted out of their hives in winter ; some 

 years begin to work in March, and I have 

 taken full boxes of newly made honey as 

 early as the fifth of May. The same hive 

 will, in favorable seasons, bear robbing three 

 times, and throw off", perhaps, three or four 

 swarms of young bees. Insects in count- 

 less numbers and variety flourish from early 

 spring till November, attacking, some of 

 them, every kind of shrub, tree, fruit and 

 animal. The Red Spider, the Aphis, and 



the Scaly Insect, infest our green-houses. 

 The Striped Bug and others attack the Cu- 

 curbitacecB, often destructively. The Cur- 

 culio, the Peach-grub, and the Apple-worm, 

 are all numerous, and in some seasons over- 

 whelming. The Grasshopper, in summer, 

 in dry seasons, is nearly as injurious as the 

 locust. The Army-worm occasionally mows 

 our meadows for us. The Gopher, or 

 Pouched Rat, and the Mole, are injurious to 

 our gardens ; and the former sometimes 

 burrows under the apple tree and destroys 

 the bark of the roots. But we are dimin- 

 ishing the number of these little animals. 

 Rats and mice are also numerous. We pro- 

 tect the birds and the toads, and multiply 

 duclfs and turkeys to aid us in our warfare 

 against the insects. 



Building Materials. — Our limestone 

 works easily, and resembles granite in color, 

 when dressed. Lime and sand are abun- 

 dant. White pine is brought here from the 

 Alleghany and from Wisconsin ; yellow pine 

 from the Missouri, the Gasconade, &c. ; 

 cedar from the St. Peters and the Missouri ; 

 black walnut, oak, maple, cherry, poplar, 

 are sawed at our own mills in abundance 

 Bricks are readily made from the clay be- 

 neath us, and marble found in some of our 

 quarries. 



You will observe, then, that our soil is 

 good, our summers long, and our winters 

 mild; that our climate is quite variable; 

 that we are liable to have warm February's, 

 and late frosts ; wet springs, and summers 

 of drouth ; late growing autumns sud- 

 denly terminated, and myriads of insects in 

 great variety. We have, therefore, our ad- 

 vantages and our discouragements. Some 

 years then, we shall be blessed with great 

 crops, while in others we shall be nearly 

 destitute of any. Some of the evils to 

 which we are exposed, are susceptible of 

 amelioration : others are beyond our control. 



