APPLES AT THE SOUTH. 



the turnep flea; or the striped cucumber bug; or that most vile of all disgusting creatures, 

 the large black pumpkin bug; or, finall}', the curculio? What one of the whole feathered 

 race was ever known to harm a hair on the head of any one of these eternally recurring 

 abominations? My own attention has for years been directed to this discovery, and that 

 one among them all which is entitled to our gratitude, even to this extent, remains a rara 

 avis still, and Barnum can find another "Nightingale," sooner than add this marvel to 

 his collection. But, sir, individual instances of this kind amount to nothing, if you can 

 prove a thousand of them. Show me that entire species of bird, the whole end and aim 

 of whose existence is to war exclusively upon one of the above races of insects, and, for 

 the good-will they manifest, I will join you in prayers for legal enactments for their pro- 

 tection, if need be; though my faith in the extermination of the vermin, as the conse- 

 quence of their enmity, would not be of that buoyant nature effectual to sustain one's 

 head above water, when the remembrance should come over me that angle worms are still 

 plent}', in spite of the determined persistence of the whole generation of robins in the ap- 

 parently single purpo.se to gormandize them all. Nevertheless, sir, the birds find in me 

 a zealous protector, and they Arnotc it. In m}^ own little domain, they are almost as fear- 

 less of me and mine, as are the chickens themselves. The pugnacious little wren takes up 

 his habitation in a nook over the fiont door, and assumes all the bustling importance of 

 one well to do in the world, scolding tremendously at all in-comers and out-goers, by vir- 

 tue, to be sure, of his being the lawfully taxable proprietor of the premises; the robin 

 hurries down from the tree to pick up the worm I toss him in compensation for the Jenny 

 Lind touches he half strangles himself in trying to imitate, and feeds confidingly within a 

 few feet of me in the garden; while I am fairly obliged to walk around the little chipping 

 bird at the kitchen door, to avoid treading on him, so tame have they all become in conse- 

 quence of gentle deportment towards them. Birds appreciate kindness quickly, and seem 

 even to comprehend the pleasant words that are spoken to them. Though I owe them 

 nothing for preserving my plums and cherries, yet woe to the urchin that molests them 

 within the boundaries of my principality. Their cheerful companionship, their graceful 

 sportings, their varied attempts to express their joy fulness in song, from the ludicrous en- 

 thusiasm with which one note is continually cachinated, to very tolerable approaches to 

 successful modulation, give them social claims upon me which compensate a thousand fold 

 for all they destroy, and all they do not. J. C. H. 



Syracuse, June 1, 1S52. 



[J. C. H. is a heretic — an unbeliever in all written creeds — but he offers no suggestions 

 from his own store-house of experiences. Since he repudiates the alphabet that others 

 have found tolerably useful, is he not bound to give his own system of short-hand? Ed.] 



APPLES AT THE SOUTH. 



BY WM. A. WHITE, ATHENS, GA. 



A. J. Downing, Esq. — Your list of Fruits for the South, in a recent Jlorticulturist, has 

 induced me to send you the following rough notes upon our apples, as they maybe of some 

 interest to those of )'our readers dwelling in about the same latitude, viz: 33°, 58' 

 soil is a stiff red claj"^, formed of decomposed granite — and our elevation 780 

 the sea. The surface soil is generally pretty free from stone, and by culture 



