^46. 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



constantly increasing inroads into these 

 forests for the production of naval 

 stores will in a short time lead to the 

 complete exhaustion of these vast re- 

 sources, without any hope of their re- 

 storation. Next to the long-leaf Pine in 

 importance is the short-leaf Pine or 

 Soft Yellow Pine, Finns 7nitis, which 

 forms a considerable portion of the 

 forest growth in the upper part of the 

 Coast Pine belt, and of the upland in 

 the northern part of the State. It is 

 scarcely inferior in the quality of its 

 timber to that of the long-leaf Pine. I 

 also saw here a few specimens of the 

 Loblolly Pine, Pinus tceda, whose lum- 

 ber is fit for only inside work. 



The principal horticultural industry 

 here seemed to be the o^rowing of cab- 

 bages, beets, cucumbers and Irish pota- 

 toes. I saw farms covered with cab- 

 bages, some of them full grown, others 

 just approaching maturity. These are 

 shipped by the car-load to Cincinnat 

 Chicago, Philadeljjhia and New York 

 markets and bring remunerative prices. 

 The cucumbers were yet under small 

 frames covered with cotton cloth as a 

 protection from possible frosts. Doctor 

 Mohr informed me that according to 

 the observations of the Mobile Signal 

 Station, the average temperature from 

 October to December, was 54° Faren- 

 heit, and from January to March it 

 -was 52°. It seldom falls lower than 

 28° at any time during the winter, and' 

 rises occasionally as high as 72°. The 

 Irish potatoes, as they are called to 

 distinguish them from, the sweet pota- 

 toes, were at the time of my visit about 

 .a foot high. The^-c come in about the 

 middle of April, and are also sliipped to 

 northern markets. 1 did not see any 

 large plantations of strawberries, which 

 ripen here in March. The soil did not 

 seem to me to be at all equal to our 

 own in quality, yet I)y the use of phos- 

 phates these truck farmers are produc- 

 ing surprising crops. The rain fall 



from January to March, inclusive, av- 

 erages 1 8 inches, which is favourable to 

 the production of fine ci'ops of vege- 

 tables during this'part of tlie year. 



It was my privilege also to visit 

 some of the parks and flower gardens 

 in the vicinity of the city, and it was a 

 novel experience indeed to walk among 

 avenues of Oleanders, and in groves of 

 Camellias, these now indeed beginning 

 to drop their petals, yet still gorgeous 

 with their lovely flowers ; the air laden 

 with the perfume of the Fragrant Olive, 

 mingled with the odor of roses, which 

 were here blooming in greatest profu- 

 sion. Here I saw fine specimens of 

 Laurestinus just coming into bloom, 

 with Pittosporums, Vincas,and Fig trees 

 the latter just putting forth their leaves, 

 while a Rhyncospermum jasminoides 

 clambered upon the verandah trellis. 



The Pecan, Carya olivoa/orniis, I also 

 saw growing here, though I believe 

 that it must have been introduced. Its 

 home seems to be in Western Texas, 

 below latitude 32°, from whence large 

 quantities of the nuts are exported, 

 reaching an annual value of from 50,- 

 000 to $60,000. It is now being cul- 

 tivated in Louisiana for the sake of 

 the nuts, growing rapidly and bearing 

 fruit at about four years after being 

 planted. 



I was informed that the residents are 

 now seeking to encourage immigration, 

 and to that end are circulating pamph- 

 lets in English and German, setting 

 forth the advantages which tl.ey can 

 offer to both capitalists <nnd laborers to 

 come and settle among them. Cotton 

 is no longer king. A mixed husbandry, 

 adapted to the peculiarities of that cli- 

 mate, is now accepted to be the neces- 

 sity of the country. The old time resi- 

 dents are not sufiiciently skilled in 

 general agriculture to develop fully the 

 resources of that land, and to bring 

 out its capabilities ; hence, they long 

 for the settlement among them of skill- 



