T^'^i'fyK' 



AKEBIA 



and peat. In Japan the fr., which is very showy, but 

 with us rarely produced, is eaten, and the stems are 

 much used for wicker-work. Prop, by seeds, by green- 

 wood or hardwood cuttings, and 

 also by root division and layers. 



quintlta, Decaisne. Figs 56, 

 57. Climbing 12 ft. or more: leaf- 

 lets 5, oval or oblong obovate, 

 entire, emarginate, 1-2 m. long: 

 fls. fragrant, the pistillate pur 

 plish brown, about 1 m. broad, the 

 staminate smaller, rosy purple 

 in early spring: berry oblong, 3-5 

 in. long, dark purple with glau 

 cons bloom, seeds black -Hard}, 

 handsome, not attacked by insects 

 or fungi. Very graceful and de 

 sirable. China, Japan B R 33 

 28. B.M. 4864. G.F 4 137 A « 

 March, 1891, Figs. 5, 7, and plate 

 E.H. 1853:141. S.Z. 77 



lobjlta, Decaisne. Leaflets 3 

 broadly ovate, 

 coarsely crenate : 

 fls. in longracemes, 

 smaller than those 

 of A. quinaia. Ja- 

 pan, China 

 7485. A.U. 

 1891, p. 140. 

 1%.-A.<:lem<xtifi,ha 

 and A. quetrifdlia^ 

 Sieb. & Zucc, are 

 probably only va- 

 rieties of this spe- 



Alfred I^ehder 



ALABAMA, HORXICUL- 

 TUEE IN. Fig. 58. Commti 

 cial horticulture has not as 

 sumed the proportions in Ala 

 bama that it has in the neigh 

 boring southern states This 

 must be largely due to acci 

 dental causes, since in soils 

 climate and transportation 

 facilities the state presents 

 conditions fully equal to any 

 of the others. At present the <^^ 



most important horticultural 



centers are at the extreme " Akcbia vine 



northern and southern ends 



of the state. Mobile has long been known as one of the 

 chief sources of supply for early vegetables for the 

 northern and western markets, and the truck business is 

 gradually extending from Mobile county to the adjoin- 

 ing counties of Baldwin and Washington. Early cab- 

 bage and Irish potatoes are the most important crops, 

 though snap beans, peas, radishes, and many other vege- 



ALABAMA 39 



Mobile and Ohio, forwarded 343 cars of home-grown 

 fruits and vegetables from the Mobile depot during 1897. 

 These figures do not include the shipments from other 

 stations on this line, nor those carried by the Louisville 

 and Nashville. 



Such, in brief, is the present status of commercial 

 huitii ultuie in Alabama. In attempting to outline the 

 I i! Mil It s of its future development, it will be neces- 

 - I I , _l iiicpat some of themore prominent topograph- 

 1 d I. iiiufsof the state. For our purpose, it maybe 

 iou_l]K dn ided into four regions. First, at the north is 

 the Tennessee Elver region, or, as it is often called, the 

 ..Tiin belt (Fig 58, A) Its strong clay soils produce 

 il undant crops of corn, wheat, clover and timothy, and 

 «. ]i oiiginally covered by a heavy growth of hardwood 

 til 111 \e\t comes the mineral belt (B), including the 



I lilt nil II gion of northeast Alabama, and extending 



II 11 iiu _'ulai way nearly across the state to its western 

 till This isalarge region, containingagreatvariety 



I lis riiismg from rich creek and river bottoms, and 

 1 1 ( fertile red soils characteristic of the Piedmont region 



t iieorgii to barren sands and sterile, rocky hillsides. 

 1 hi surface is very much broken, and great areas are 



till covered with the original forests of mixed pine and 

 h ud woods Below the mountain country, and forming 



111 11 regular belt or girdle across the middle of the state, 

 IS till piaiiie region (Fig 58, C). This is narrow at the 



I i-t where the mountains press fartbestsouthward, but 



II il.iisiutt waul the western border. The soil varies, 

 II III ] 1 I I s I in.; light and sandy, but for the most 

 I II It 1- I Ink iiti-ntne loam, resembling that of the 

 I iilii III I nun s ^\ hile cotton is a staple crop in all 

 I 1 1^ of the state, this is preeminently the cotton belt. 

 I 1 >w the prairie comes the timber belt (D), coveringthe 



uthern third of the state, and extending to the Gulf. 

 L>ctore the advent of the lumberman this extensive re- 



.-Z^ 



is very little gro\\ n '. 

 lenceof bacteriosi-, I : . n 

 Huntsviile,inii..riii-ni. 

 isliing niirsery business, 

 tablishments are located I 



Thi 



niiiiy southern localities 

 ,; hirgely to the preva 

 ■ iiithern tomato blight 

 III. lias a large and flour 

 ?ral large wholesale es 

 and the fertile Tennes- 



River Valley lands prove to be admirably adapted to 

 the growth of a good quality of nursery stock. Over 

 1,300 acres are now devoted to this business in this 

 neighborhood, the annual shipments fill 150 cars, includ- 

 ing 1,500,000 fruit trees, besides roses and other orna- 

 mentals; and the sum of $40,000 is paid out annually for 

 labor. 



Beginnings have been made in fruit and vegetable 

 growing a-t various other points in the state, particularly 

 at Cullman, Montgomery, and Evergreen, on the Louis- 

 ville and Nashville railroad, and at Fruithurst, in north- 

 eastern Alabama, on the Southern railway. No data have 

 been secured as to the total shipment from these various 

 points, but the combined amount is very small, as com- 

 pared with those from the Mobile region. One road, the 



dering the water courses. The surface is rolling, 



