FARMERS^ REGISTER—PRODUCTS OF LOWER VIRGINIA. 



283 



sily of its shade — its earlj^ and beautiful bright green 

 foliage, and the profusion of ricli and delicate flow- 

 ers with which, in its proper season, it is covered, 

 place it in the first rank of ornamental trees. Its 

 perfect freedom from all insects, as well as its harm- 

 lessness to the subjacent vegetation, also give it a 

 preference to most of our flowering trees. 



The growth of this tree is slow, and it flowers 

 late; but, yet, the delay is amply compensated by 

 the exquisite beauty of its bloom. 



This tree is found among our western mountains, 

 ■whei'e it is best known by the name of Buckeye. 

 It may be also procured from the nurseries of Long- 

 Island, and generally from the gardens of our nor- 

 thern arborists. 



Next in the order of beauty, is the Cucumber 

 Tree, (Magnolia Acuminata,) which is frequently 

 found in tlie western districts of Virginia, after pass- 

 ing the first and second ridges in travelling west- 

 ward. 



This tree, at a distance, seems to have tlie beaii- 

 tiful green of its leaves intermingled witii roses — 

 which, on a nearer approach, are discovered to be 

 the fruit or cucumber, exhibiting its reddish tints, 

 partly hid in tlie foliage. Its fruit is highly esteem- 

 ed as an aromatic bitter, and the vigor and luxu- 

 riance of the youthful tree are always admired by 

 those who liave traversed our western woods. It 

 abounds in the neighborhood of the Warm Springs, 

 and I have discovered it in the Valley, between the 

 North Mountain and Blue Ridge. 



The /*o/?Zar, or Tulip Tree, (liriodendron tulip- 

 ifera,) is one of our most majestic forest trees. It 

 belongs to the ftlagnolia family, and of diciduous 

 trees has the tallest and most uniform trunk. In 

 the rich valleys of western Virginia it towers above 

 the other natives of the forest, while its delicate 

 flowers seem to hang from the clouds. 



Hie Candida populus 

 Imminet, et lenta; texunt umbracula vitcs. 



It is not my intention now to do more than merely 

 note a few of our fr.irest trees, so as to call the atten- 

 tion of those who wish to add to the comfort and 

 pleasure of domestic life to the subject. 



I would not willingly thrust my trees in the way 

 of more useful matter, with which the Register 

 abounds, but I may perhaps resume the subject in 

 a iuture number. W. 



The bad taste which W. denounces, is no where so 

 conspicuous as on our Capitol Square, or so destructive. 

 of beauty and grandeur. From this place, almost every 

 forest tree has been excluded, and Aspens, Lombardy 

 Poplars, Pi ide of China, &c. have been planted in straight 

 lines, crossing each other at right angles, with as much 

 regularity, and as little taste, as is displayed in the ar- 

 rangementof the cabbages in a kitchen garden. But, asno 

 more agriculturalknowledge was exercised by the agents 

 of government to enable the bai-ren soil to support the 

 growth of trees, than there was of taste in their selec- 

 tion and arrangement, it is to be hoped, that most of these 

 miserable exotics may continue to languish and die, and 

 that the square may yet be shaded and decorated by 

 trees worthy of the place — which is even now beautiful, 

 in defiance of the deforming taste of the agents of the 

 state, kept in active operation at the public expense. 



[Ed. Farm. Reg. 



REPL.Y TO "j. E. H." CULTURE AND PRO- 

 DUCTS OF LOWER VIRGINIA. 



To the Editor of the Farmers' Register. 



My communication which appeared in your Au- 

 gust No. was intended to con*ect error, not to 

 provoke conti-oversy. I will not assert that my 

 purpose would have been inferred trom its con- 

 tents; because the vindication it has drawn from 

 the pen of your correspondent " J. E. H." would 

 seem to contradict me if I should. Nor is it ne- 

 cessary that I should deny that I was " in an ill hu- 

 mor," when I wrote. But however this may be, 

 I will endeavor to avoid any appearance of such a 

 spirit now. 1 know that I have no taste for con- 

 troversy ; and I willingly concede that I have no 

 talent for it. Were it otherwise, the disclosure of 

 the name of your correspondent, (for I will not af- 

 fect ignorance of the initials,) Avould neutralise 

 any asperity that I could feel an inclination to in- 

 dulge. Further, I would have no objection to re- 

 vealing my name^to "J. E. H." ; but I suspect the 

 public have no wish to know it, and if they have, 

 I am not disposed to furnish the information by 

 abandoning the incognito of" Mockjack." 



I propose now to sustain the position of my for- 

 mer article by a kind of reasoning that I avoided in 

 that. You will remember, that my whole argu- 

 ment consisted of arithmetical deductions from sta- 

 tistics. JMy object in adopting that system, was 

 that the reasoning, as iar as it went, might be be- 

 yond the reach of criticism. How far it went, is 

 another question. "J. E. H." thinks it worth 

 nothing, — I am content to let it remain as I have 

 left it. " 



" The tide-water, or eastern section, is in gene- 

 ral low, level, sandy and unproductive, and parts 

 of it exhibit almost as desolate an aspect as the pine 

 barrens of Jersey." This is the statement in the 

 " General Description," to which I objected, and 

 which I propose now to consider. I suppose that 

 my understanding of this sentence is the right one, 

 and that it is wasting time to analyze the words that 

 compose it. I understand it to mean, in connec- 

 tion with the other parts of the General Descrip- 

 tion, that the tidewater country is far behind eve- 

 ry other portion of the State in fertility. If it does 

 not mean this, I am not inclined to carry this dis- 

 cussion any larther. But supposing that its mean- 

 ing is correctly stated, my purpose is to show your 

 readers, and if I can, to convince the author, that 

 he has too hastily atlopted the opinions of others. 

 I do not understand him as relying on any obser- 

 vation of the country that he has personally made. 

 From some little that I know^ of him, I would in- 

 fer that he has had noopportunity of accurately ob- 

 serving it ; and that he is not sufficiently skilled in 

 judging the characters of soils, to feel any confidence 

 in his own opinion, even with the advantage of oc- 

 ular examination — that he is not, and never was, 

 a/arnier. 



The appearance of the tidewater country, to one 

 who travels on the highways, is far from prepos- 

 sessing. The great quantity of sand which is in- 

 corporated in almost every portion of the country 

 below the falls, gives to the surface an appearance 

 of sterility. Sandy lands do not produce grass like 

 those of a stilfer character. The stranger, who has 

 been accustomed to judge of the soil, by the cov- 

 ering that it bears, concludes at once that the coun- 

 try M'liich he sees from the windows of the stage 



