PLANTS AND TREES IN NORTH CAROLINA. 



137 



more hardy than is commonly supposed. This is the 

 Sterailia platanifolia, the plane-leaved silk-cotton tree. 

 Most of the genus are tropical trees, but this is a 

 Japanese species, and is called here the Japan varnish 

 tree. The only botanical authority I find that says any- 

 thing about it calls it " a Japanese species that has been 



1'he Boardman Apple. 



found to succeed at Savannah, Ga." It is as hardy as 

 an oak here. In winter, when leafless, it attracts atten- 

 tion by its smooth green bark, which retains its green 

 color even on the trunks of trees eight or ten inches in 

 diameter. In summer its great sycamore-shaped leaves 

 (much larger than any sycamore) and great panicles of 

 flowers makes it a conspicuous object. It grows to a 

 height of four or five feet in one season frcm the seed, 

 seldom making any branches until the second season, 

 and in places where it might not stand the winter, it 

 would make a fine subject for subtropical bedding 

 This tree, too, is well worth experimenting with further 

 north. There is one tree in Raleigh in an old garden, 

 which is probably the parent of all in the city. This is 

 40 to 50 feet high, and has a stem 15 to 18 inches in 

 diameter. * * * 



A writer in American Ag^riculturist , speaking of the 

 great tuberose industry in eastern North Carolina, 

 where the bulk of these bulbs are now grown for the 

 trade both in this country and in Europe, mentions the 

 adaptibility of this soil and climate to the culture of many 

 other bulbs now imported, particularly narcissus and 

 lilies. I have long been impressed with this fact. "We 

 have in eastern North Carolina vast areas of deep black, 

 peaty soils of inexhaustible fertility on which bulb-cul- 

 ture would be extremely profitable. Lilies could be 

 grown here, I believe, to greater perfection than in Ber- 

 muda, and all the fine sorts of amaryllis, too. Here in 

 Raleigh where the winter's cold is more severe than it is 

 in these eastern lands, no one thinks of lifting amaryllis- 



bulbs in winter. They make great clumps of bulbs, and 

 produce a profusion of bloom which is never seen on the 

 pot-nurslings at the north. And then our native 

 Amaryllis Atamasco (Zephyranthes) which makes acres 

 of low lands gay here in spring, is well worth cultivating 

 for the wholesale trade. * * * 



Fig-culture is developing in eastern North Carolina, 

 and promises to be one of our leading fruits for canning 

 and drying It is a curious fact which I learned last 

 season for the first time, that in southern South Carolina 

 fig trees are more frequently killed to the ground than in 

 North Carolina. This is doubtless because of their 

 being more easily excited into untimely growth there by 

 the warm February weather. Figs are being largely 

 planted here, and when once the canning and evaporat- 

 ing houses enter the business, ought to be profitable 

 They paid well here in the home market last year even 

 at 75 cents per bushels. * * 



We have had this month (January) the worst weather 

 I have yet experienced here, a constant succession of 

 freezes, rains, some snow and little sunshine. My 

 Oonshiu or Satsuma orange trees have suffered more 

 than they did last winter, having lost some of their leaves. 

 But the wood is still green and sound to the tip of the 

 shoots. I would say that 15° above zero will be found 

 to bo about the limit of the safe endurance of this orange, 

 when fully exposed. I feel pretty well satisfied that in 

 sheltered localities here it will be a perfect success, for 

 my trees are in as exposed a location as I could find for 

 miles around, and yet I believe they will come through. 



Few people appreciate the value of a slight protection 

 in a mild climate. I passdaily a large clump of oleander. 



The Boardman Apple — Cross Section. 



which has never had any protection, The old stump 

 shows that it has more than once been frozen to the 

 ground, and the multitude of shoots has finally formed 

 a cluster which protects some of those within. I noticed 

 yesterday that the leaves cn the outer shoots were 



