MARCH. 



135 



Pride of India tree, (MeUa Azedarach.) The latter, when 

 in flower, is an object of considerable merit. It grows to 

 about thirty or forty feet high, of a spreading habit ; leaves 

 bipinuatifid, deeply serrated ; flowers, racemose ; color, light 

 purple. When these, in profuse masses, are pending from its 

 twigs, it is indeed a most ornamental object ; and in addition, 

 it answers well as a shade tree : in fact, it is planted on some 

 of the streets of Savannah for that very purpose. 



The further outlines which I shall notice at present is an 

 avenue from the stables which forms almost a circle, but has a 

 branch leading out at each end of the lot, and a setoff" which 

 leads to the front door of the mansion ; one half of this cir- 

 cuitous avenue divides the lawn from the orchard, and is 

 lined on each side with the Cerasus caroliniensis and orange 

 trees. 



I shall now speak of* the orchard, and I hope you will not 

 be disappointed if I cannot tell you of heavily laden trees, 

 with luscious fruits of the " sunny South." At the same 

 time it may not be wholly barren of interest to know what 

 experiments have been made here, and what results have 

 been accomplished. There are oranges, lemons, pears, plums, 

 peaches, pomegranates, apples, apricots, olive and fig trees all 

 planted on the same piece of ground ; but their remunerative 

 value will be seen from the sequel. 



Oranges and Lemons are nearly of the same nature, the 

 lemon being a little more tender than the orange, but both 

 grow here luxuriant and would bear fruit abundantly were 

 it not that we at times feel a little too much of the cold North. 

 Our thermometer generally indicates 12 and 14° of frost 

 sometime during every winter. The orange trees will stand 

 12° of frost with merely shrivelling the leaves ; 14° turns a 

 good many of the leaves yellow and destroys the tender 

 twigs ; anything above that greatly injures the tree, and 18° 

 is their death blow. For a number of winters previous to 

 1851-52, the temperature had not reached that low point ; 

 consequently the orange trees had attained a good size, and 

 were bearing fruit pretty well ; but that winter, all the trees 

 here and in the neighborhood were cut down to the ground. 



