26o GEOLOGICAI. SURVEY OF NEW JERSEY. 



It contains, however, a larger amount of nutritive matter than 

 other fruits, and is excellent for pies and puddings.* 



The beach-plum {Prunus inaritimd) grows in sea-sand, close 

 to the ocean, and in the driest, most inhospitable places, and at 

 the same time bears a large crop of plums, which are excellent 

 in flavor. It is only a shrub, but well worth planting in sandy 

 regions. In addition to the above fruits there are many others 

 of more or less importance for food, flavors and wines. 



The floor of a cedar swamp is usually covered with a mass of 

 sphagnum-moss. This is collected, baled in hay presses, and 

 sold to nurserymen for packing purposes. This material is 

 remarkable for its ability to retain moisture and is extensively 

 used in the shipment of plants. 



Large quantities of holly, mistletoe, cedar, etc., are sold in 

 the cities. Many thousands of the most beautiful and sym- 

 metrical young conifers are sacrificed annually for Christmas 

 trees. If the trees were raised for this purpose it would be a 

 legitimate business, but the Christmas-tree gatherer, in order to 

 secure extra fine specimens, cuts the tops out of large-sized red- 

 cedar trees, just as fishermen peel the inner bark from the butts 

 of the white-cedar for fish-strings. 



Many flowers, especially those . of Magnolia glauca, are col- 

 lected in large quantities and sold. 



The cultivation of the willow for basket work is in its infancy 

 in New Jersey. The wood of the white-oak {Q. alba), when 

 split into thin slivers, is an excellent basket material, f These 

 baskets are strong and durable. The common American market- 

 basket is not woven. It is extremely cheap and simple, and 

 goes with the contents. 



There are many plants of more or less value medicinall}-. 

 Perhaps the most important, which is common throughout the 



• The persimmon grows luxuriantly in the old fields of- South Jersey, where animals have carried the 

 seeds. It is possible to bud or graft these trees with choice varieties of the persimmon, which produce, 

 when in the proper stage of ripeness, a very delicious and salable fruit, 



■f-The basket-tree of the South, however, is Quercus miciauxii.lhe basket or swamp- white-oak. 

 This tree is very closely related to Quercus platanoides, if not a southern form of the same. It grows 

 in the swamps of South Jersey, but is not abundant. It is one of the most magnificent trees of the oak 

 family. A few years ago it was plentiful on rich southern swamp bottoms. Its wood is of very fine 

 quality for constructive purposes, and- possesses a peculiarity which especially fits it for basketry. Each 

 annual ring may be easily separated in the form of a thin flexible strip of great pliability and strength. 

 The thousands of baskets used in the cotton fields of the South were woven from ribbons of this wood. 

 This, together with the facts that it requires rich land, and does not reproduce itself freely, is about to 

 cause its extermination. 



