14 



ing a sort of glacis) has been found as deep as 

 the bed of the river. The hills are clothed with 

 a thick forest of trees, consisting of whiter red 

 and black oak, hickory, ash, chestnut, poplar, 

 sassafras, dogwood, and the grape -vine. The 

 bottoms are covered with a heavy growth. The 

 largest trees are button-wood, called here 

 sycamore, elm, black walnut, tulip tree, and 

 beach. The smaller trees consist of hickory, 

 white walnut or butter-nut, locust, honey-locust, 

 buck eye, mulberry, sugar-maple, cherry tree, 

 crab-apple tree, plumb tree, papaw, and willow. 

 The grape vine abounds on the bottoms, and y 

 grows to a prodigious size, ascending to the 

 tops of the loftiest trees. The passenger, glid- 

 ing down the river in the summer, is amused 

 and delighted with'the appearance of these vines 

 on the upper branches and tops of the trees, 

 forming large canopies, festoons, arbours, 

 grottoes, with numerous other fantastic figures, 

 Some of the trunks of these vines are of a size 

 which will admit them to be split into four rails 

 for fence. 



The sugar-maple is a tree of immense value 

 to the people of this State. It ought to be a 

 first object with every man, when he begins to 

 cultivate his land, as much as possible, to pre- 

 serve these trees. Each tree, from eighteen to 

 twenty inches in diameter, will yield four 

 pounds of sugar every season. The process of 

 making is to tap the tree with an auger, drive 



