152 
SOUTHERN CULTIVATOR. 
which are noted ; but the list shows at least one hundred 
distinct varieties of noJAve Gropes now in cultivation. 
These comprise nearly all qualities and properties that 
are desirable, either for the table or v^ine; and it will not 
be difficult to make selections from the list suitable to all 
iocaiities in the Union. — Eds. 
For the Southern Cultivator. 
NANTAHALEE.* 
You’ve heard, I think, of the beautiful maid, 
Who fled from Love’s carresses, 
Till her beautiful toes were turned to roots, 
And both her shoulders to beautiful shoots, 
And her beautiful cheeks to beautiful fruits, 
And to blossoming spray, her tresses ! 
I’ve seen her, man ! she’s a’iiving yet 
Up in a Cherokee valley ! 
(She’s an apple-tree ! and her name might be 
In the softy musical Chewkee, 
A long drawn — “Nantahalee !” 
Tis as sweet a word as you’ll read or write j 
Not quite as fair as the thing, yet quite 
Sufficient to start an old Anchorite 
Out of his ashes to bless and hite 
The Beautiful “Nantahalee!” 
T. 
Torch Hill, Ga , April 1, 1859. 
*A famous Southern Apple — Eds. 
FIGS AND GRAPES!— FLORIDA LANDS AND 
Climate* 
Editors Southern Cultivator— Will some of your 
contributors furnish me, through the pages of your valu 
able journal, with some information in regard to the cui 
tureof the F.gl — the best varieties for table use, as well 
as for drying; the most approved mode of drying, &c., 
&c. I am situated in a region of country admirably 
adapted to the cultivation of this delicious fruit, as the trees 
attain a large size and bear very abundantly. Would i' 
pay to raise figs and dry them for market in this coun- 
try 'I 
I also want information with regard to the important 
subject of Grape Culture and Wine Making in this cli 
mate (latitude 29°) 
If any of your readers, Messrs. Editors, wish to find p 
good country where they can make money by raisint 
Long Staple Cotton, Sugar or Tobacco, and' at the samf 
time enjov as delightful a climate as they can find in tht 
world — a climate that perfects the peach, apricot, plum 
fig, grape, orange and lemon, and is yet salubrious in t 
marked degree — let each come to East Florida; nay, le 
them come to Marion county — one of the finest counties in 
the State. 
Now, that Uncle Sain has nearly completed the remova 
of the savage Seminoles from the limits of Florida, an' 
since it is established by statistical evidence that in poin 
of health she will compare favorably with the healthiest o 
her Southern sisters, and is far ahead of the Western 
States ; since there is now no doubt of the speedy compie 
tion of several important Railroads in the State; in view 
of all these things, why should not emigrants from Georgii 
and the Carolinas sometimes turn their steps towards thi.- 
beautiful and fertile “Land of Flowers” instead of rushint 
in crowds to the bottom lands of the Far West, to dn 
with cholera or be washed out into the Gulf of Mexico by 
the spring floods, which, alas, too often blast the hopes oi 
the planter, and, subsiding, leave disease and death behind 
them. 
But I will stop, for fear some m.ay think T have lands to 
sell, and therefore wish to induce immigration But I arm 
not a land-seller. I only want to see this country settled 
up by good law-abiding, energetic, thinking farmers from 
Georgia and the other older States. We want more good 
citizens, good schools and churches, and we want the 
Cultivator and other agricultural papers to teach the peo- 
ple how best to realise the profits of the fai m and to build 
for themselves and their children beautiful and comfort- 
able homes — abodes of elegance and plenty — to teach 
them to combine the useful and the beautilul. 
Hove the Cultivator. In its new and becoming dress 
it is really a gem — a book to be sought after and read and 
studied by all who love good con-mon-sense reading oh 
agricultural topics ; by all true lovers of Mother Earth. 
May success ever crown your laudable efforts for the 
distribution of knowledge, and may you never be without 
“a dollar or two” by way of remuneration for the good 
you have done and are doing. 
Enclosed please find four letter stamps, and mail to my 
address a copy of the book “Grape Growing and Wins 
Making in the South.” Very respectfully, &c., 
W.B H , M.P. 
Wacahootie, Marion, Co., Fla., March, 1859. 
Flowers.— How the universal heart of man blesses 
flowers ! They are wreathed around the cradle, the mar- 
riage altar, and the tomb. The Persian in the far East 
delights in their perfume, and writes his love in nosegays, 
while the Indian child in the far West claps his hands 
with glee as he gathers the abundant blossoms, the illumi- 
nated Scriptures of the prairies. The Cupid of the an- 
cient Hindoos tipped his arrows with flowers ; and orange 
flowers are a bridal crown with us, a nation of yesterday. 
Flowers should deck the brow of the youthful bride, for 
they are in themselves a lovely type of marriage. They 
should twine around the tomb,fbr their perpetually renewed 
beauty is a symbol of the resurrection. They should fes- 
toon the altar, for their fragrance and their beauty ascend 
in perpetual worship before the Most High, 
trusting td a single crop. 
There is no crop that does not fail sometimes, though 
there are a few which are never cut off in any season. 
Grass, for example, always yields a partial crop, and a 
person may, if needs be, depend wholly upon this product 
as a means of subsistence. The same thing, however, can 
hardly be' said of any other staple crop. Innumerable il- 
lustrations might be given of the danger of depending upon 
a single crop. The result in Ireland of relying upon the 
potato crop is patent. The failure of the wheat crop, in 
many parts of this country, has involved thousands of 
farmers in debt,.which it will take years of toil and econo- 
my to liquidate. A friend at the West has been so suc- 
cessful in raising peaches, that he turned his whole at- 
tention to that crop. Last year he realized a large net 
profit, and, looking for still greater results this year, he 
laid out his plans accordingly and incurred considerable 
debts to be paid from the proceeds of his peaches. The 
result is that from some five or six thousandtrees, he 
gathers scarcely two bushels of marketable fiuit. 
A mixed cultivation is the safest in the long run. If 
the potato crop fails, let there be corn, whfat, barley, or 
other grain to fall back upon. The chances of utter fail- 
ure are diminished a thousmd fold where there are three 
or iOur different crops under culture. A season destruc- 
tive to one, is likely to be just the thing for the others. — 
Am. Agriculturist. 
g^“In seaons of war and pestilence, Death seems lo 
exchange his scythe for a patent-mower. 
