SPRING AT TltR SOUTH AND AT TILE NORTH. 



criticise freely, prefer wisely, and act judiciously. ITiese ara»the tools with which the 

 lamented pioneer of genuine American architecture labored with such zeal and ability, 

 and achieved so much. These arc the materials thftt others following his example 

 are now endeavoring to make use of, and the signs of the times in this present year, 

 1853, far from being in anyway disheartening, are decidedly propitious. Proofs of 

 an advancing interest in this sulijeet and of an increasing desire to respond to it are 

 springing up in newspapers, mag;izines, books, lectures, <fec., and the public is certainly 

 not slow to buy and read. 



The truth is, not that America is a dollar-worshipping counhy, without any love 

 for the arts, but a dollar-making country, with restricted opportunities for jesthetic 

 education as yet ; but when this want is freely ministered to in the spirit that it may 

 be, and it is justly to be hoped will be ere long, there is reason to conjecture that 

 correct architectural taste Avill be as universal in the United States as is at this present 

 time a correct popular idea of the nature of a republican form of government. We 

 may then hope for genuine originality as well as intrinsic beauty in American build- 

 ings. This subject of originality, however, is perhaps worthy of separate future 

 consideration. 



SPRING AT THE SOUTH AND AT THE NORTH. 



BY A. D. G., CLLNTON, N. T. 



In undertaking to describe some of the peculiarities of a southern spring, I do not 

 aim at special accuracy, or fulness of detail ; but attempt, simply, to speak of what is 

 noticeable by a stranger from the north. My information was gathered during tlie 

 winters and springs of two successive yeai-s, in the several States on the sea-board, but 

 chiefly in Florida. 



For the benefit of some of your readers, allow me to stale, first, that there is a win- 

 ter at the south, as well as at the north. Frosts cut oflf tlie the leaves of deciduous 

 trees and shrubs in November ; so that, aside from the greater number and variety of 

 evergi-eens which abound there, the winter landscape is almost as dreary as at the 

 north. Several kinds of oak, the persimmon, cypress, gum-tree, catalpa, pride of 

 India, and other deciduous trees, are without leaves for nearly three months. But be- 

 tween the vast forests of pine, the live and water oak, the laurel, bay-tree, magnolia, 

 and other evergreen trees and shrubs, one can easily imagine, (on a fair day,) that he 

 is in the midst of summer. Snow and ice are seldom seen in Florida. Hardy vege- 

 tables, such as pefis, cabbage, lettuce, ami turnips, are often grown during the entire 

 winter. The whole family of roses, geraniums, verbenas, the aloe, and other tender 

 plants, require no protection. The temperature of the air during the three winter 

 months ranges, at mid-day, from about 45® to 80° ; the average is probably not far 

 from 65°. A little fire upon the hearth is often needed for comfort, and an overcoat 

 amiss when the " northers" blow. But there are frequent intervals of delightful 

 weather, when the sun shines warm through a soft, hazy atmosphere, and 



