244 



THE CANADIAN HOE Tlcf I TURIST. 



farm to supply trees and seeds, if no 

 one else will go into the business ; a 

 practical demonstration is now all that 

 is required to set tree growing going 

 on a large scale. 



REMINISCENCES OF MOBILE. 



Mr. Editor, — It was my privilege 

 to pay a flying visit to Mobile, Ala_ 

 bama, in the last days of February, 

 1883, and it occurs to me that a brief 

 description of what I saw at that time 

 might be of interest to your readers. 



The present population of Mobile is 

 •estimated at about thirty thousand, of 

 which fully ten thousand are blacks. 

 The general appearance of the city is 

 not one of great enterprize and thrift ; 

 its buildings are not imposing, nor is 

 there the stir and activity at the 

 wharves which one sees in the cities of 

 the north and west. The double row 

 of earthworks on the landward side is 

 still to be seen, though broken and 

 worn by time, where the slaves toiled 

 by night and by day until they died by 

 hundreds from fatigue and exposure. 

 The labor might have been spared, for 

 the Northern army never stormed the 

 ramparts. Admiral Farragut entered 

 the harbour that' was so securely for- 

 tified and filled with sunken torpedoes 

 as to be thought impregnable, with his 

 fleet one day, and the city was at the 

 mercy of his guns. 



The trees and plants that grow about 

 this city, which by the way is one of the 

 oldest on this continent, are particularly 

 interesting to one whose life has been 

 spent amidst the vegetation of Canada. 

 Some of the grandest specimens of 

 the Magnolia grandijiora are to be 

 found on the shell-road just out of the 

 city, where stands a grove of them, 

 many of the specimens being fully 

 eighty feet high, and supposed to be 



not less than one hundred and fifty 

 years old. I measured a ^i^.wf of these 

 monarchs and found them from four to 

 four and a half feet in diameter. Here, 

 beneath their shadow, I found the beau- 

 tiful if ct^/zoZm glauca, whose northern 

 limit extends into Ntew Jersey A very 

 noticeable feature in the woodland 

 landscape at this season of the year is 

 the Hex cassme, covered with berries 

 of brilliant red. The most common 

 street tree is the Chinaberry, Melia 

 azaderach, which has been introduced 

 on account of the beauty and perfume 

 of its flowers, but which at this season 

 of the yeai- is by no means of an attrac- 

 tive appearance, being disfigured by the 

 masses of dried berries or seeds which 

 remain upon it all winter. The Live 

 Oak, Quercus virens, seems also to 

 have been planted as a shade tree, at 

 least some most magnificent specimens 

 are to be found on the streets and in 

 the suburbs. I paced the spread of one 

 of them and found its branches extend- 

 ed over a diameter of twenty feet, 

 with a circumference of over two hun- 

 dred feet. What a grateful shade when 

 the summer sun is in the zenith, but at 

 the time I stood beneath its spreading 

 branches admiring its magnificent pro- 

 portions, a nortli-easterly wind was 

 blowing and an overcoat was not un- 

 comfortable. That the readers of your 

 magazine may have some idea of the 

 appearance of these fine oaks, I send 

 you a cut of one that stands not far 

 from the residence of that eminent 

 botanist who has done so much for the 

 science of forestry in the Southern 

 States, Doctor Charles Mohr, of Mobile. 

 And should you ever visit this ancient 

 city, especially if you desire to study 

 the flora of this region, do not fail to 

 make his acquaintance; you will find 

 him a genial gentleman, who will take 

 a pleasure in placing his vast stores of 

 botanical knowledge at your command. 

 The picture will also give you an idea 



