NOTES ON SOUTHERN HORTICULTURE. 



There are, hoAvever, some serious drawbacks to horticultural enjoyment in this vicinity. 

 The coast, as it is here called, is nothing but a strip of land of about a mile in width, 

 bounded on one side by the Mississippi, on the other by a densely wooded swamp, entered 

 by few except runaway negroes, hunters, or very devoted lovers of nature. The land is 

 very low, indeed perfectly flat, and always damp, for by digging a few feet, you can reach 

 water that is brackish and unwholesome. The soil, though rich in the extreme, isunsuit- 

 ed to many kinds of trees, and the long continued heats to which it is exposed, render it 

 highly unfavorable to others. Then, too, however beautiful and tasteful may be the shrubbe- 

 ries and gardens, they are at all times too damp for any long-continued out-door enjoyment. 

 There are no rich green grass swards, for grass does not flourish in this climate, and if 

 thei-e were, you could not lie upon them. A little insect, called the " bete rouge," or red 

 bug, would soon penetrate your skin, and make you the nest of its interesting family; the 

 dampness would bring on your rheumatism ; and instead of indulging in pleasant thoughts, 

 your time would be taken up in dealing destruction to the myriads of musquitoes swarm- 

 ing in clouds around j'ou, seeking an opportunity to get a taste of you. 



Yet is the vegetable growth beautiful to look upon. Immense live oaks expand their 

 arms over you, and shelter you from the sun. The orange, the pomegranate, and the lem- 

 on, invite you by the fragrance of their blossoms, and the lusciousness t)f their fruit. The 

 Jessamine makes the air heavy with its oppressive odor, and a stranger would, in the ear- 

 lier months of spring, reap much enjoyment from a visit, if he could be satisfied with 

 flowers and fruits alone. 



As you approach New-Orleans, descending the river, the view on either bank is quite 

 attractive. You can scent the odor of the flowers. You can hear the notes of the mock- 

 ing bird, and see hundreds of these merry bucks of the woods, flitting from tree to tree, 

 as untiring as young kittens in their sports. 



But the admiration you feel and express, is, I think, more the result of contrast with 

 the dull and heavy wilderness through which you travel for several days before you reach 

 what is called the coast. Though nature has done much to adorn the scene, art has done 

 little or nothing. And your admiration, should you chance to stop at any of the numerous 

 plantations, would cease. You would be astonished at the few varieties of trees and shrubs, 

 and flowers, you would meet with, and surprised at the meagreness of what seemed so 

 powerfully attractive in the approach. Notwithstanding all the praises bestowed upon 

 the sunny south, in this part of it, at least. Landscape Gardening is half a century be- 

 hind the age. I say this after many years acquaintance with the gardens of both town 

 and country. Even with the wealthiest planters, those who count their slaves by hundreds 

 and their acres by thousands, and have the incomes of the nobles of England, a garden 

 seems a superfluity, except, indeed, a kitchen-garden, and even that is left to the care of 

 some superannuated negro, who can no longer be made profitable in the field. The French 

 Creoles are fond of gardening, but it is in a small way, and indeed, their fondness for it 

 is more connected with the idea of profit than of pleasure. There are many families in 

 New-Orleans, highly respectable, who make a handsome support from the products of their 

 gardens, principally flowers, which here are always in demand, particularly when the city 

 is filled with strangers, as is usual for about two-thirds of the year. But their flowers 

 are usually of the most ordinary kind, and that require but little labor or care in the 

 cultivation, such as roses, acacias, violets and camellias, which latter, however, generally 

 bring from one to two dollars. I have known a single bush bring as high as ten dollars, 

 on some extraordinary occasion, when scarce. 



There is a public garden about six miles from the city. It is a common resort, part 



