SOUTHEKN CULTIVATOR. 
m 
Native Tea — The Yopon and Holly. — A botanical friend 
in the interior says : 
“Very ^lad indeed to see in your May number, the ar- ; 
tide on “Yopon.” There is no doubt, we could find ex- ! 
cellent substitutes for the compound called “Tea,” much 
more wholesome than the Chinese article. It seems, the 
whole Ilex tribe is fit for it. The famous “Paraguay tea” 
is a Holly, and our common Holly {Ilex opaca) will make 
a tolerable tea. I had forgotten all about it, until I saw 
this article, but went out and gathered a small lot of the 
young leaves, now starting.” 
Gardening for the South.’' — We are pleased to find 
our opinion of this new work of our friend. White, en- 
dorsed by the very competent critic who writes us the 
following ; 
“I have been reading ‘Gardening for the South,’ and 
though I must, in some points, differ a little from the au- 
thor’s opinion, still I acknowledge it to be an excellent 
work. I have, therefore, addressed him a complimentary 
letter. Amongst other points which struck me, he calls 
the ‘Red Astrachan’ apple sour. This I cannot under- 
stand, if he ever tasted the genuine kind. It is one of my 
old favorites, and, in my opinion, better flavored than 
most other apples, except the ‘Gravenstein,’ which, un- 
questionably, is the queen of all apples, when in perfec- 
tion; I fear, however, it is not suited to our climate.” 
Wild Peach of Texas. — “Do you know the ‘Wild Peach 
of Texas!’ A lady correspondent at Gonzales is praising 
it very highly as a beautiful evergreen tree, and offers me 
seed of it. Shouldn't it be our common ‘evergreen wild 
Cherry,’ alias ‘Wild Olive V ” 
[Yes. It is the tree here called “evergreen,” or Wild 
Olive — properly the Cerasus Caroleniensis. — Eds j 
The P remium List. — One of our correspondents is dis- 
posed to be facetious and somewhat severe upon the list 
of Premiums, published in our May number. Hear him ; 
“Are you going to take the premium for the largest cof- 
fee plantation ! 
“What is the ‘native Gooseberry!’ — presume it is a 
kind of huckleberry, worth about 10 cents per bushel. 
“The Executive Committee is certainly composed of 
sti'ong temperance men, such as do not want to have any 
Southern wine exhibited. It is the same old premium 
list, as usu^l; in fact we have not made one single step 
forvjard for the last three years. If I were fond of criti- 
cism, I could write a nice little article, but I'm not. But 
more about it verhatim.” 
Fruit — Frost — T'ime of Ripening. — An experienced 
pomological friend, of Athens, Ga., says : 
“I have been looking over my peach lists and tj-io^^ of! 
iNIr. W . How much more susceptible to frosts some 1 
varieties are than others. For instance, the Late, Admir- 
able, Blood Cling and Baugh have, with us, nev?r failed 
to bear, more or less. Even the slight frosts of this spring 
have entirely or nearly destroyed the promise of some 
few varieties, while others will have to be thinned or break. 
“The same effects of frost are witnessed in the case of 
the different varieties of Pears, and I have noticed that 
drouth acts in the same manner. 
The upshot of all this is, I want you to call over in your 
mind what kinds of fruit have borne at all these 
late frosty years with you, and those of good quality that 
proved most abundant. And, further, whether this is the 
-elfect ofa better position or owing to a greater constitution- 
al vigor in the variety. I believe our native peaches, as a 
general rule, do not flower quite so early and are hardier. 
But we will talk this over hereafter.” 
The Cottox Harvester. — The Marshall RepvJblican 
notices a new invention on exhibition in Marshall — a 
machine fw picking cotton in the field. That paper says 
ofit : “We have seen it in operation, and are satisfied that 
it will do. It is the very thing our cotton growers need, 
and now that it is on hand they must have if, or be behind 
the times. It weighs only about eight pounds, and is- 
easily carried by means ofa strap across the shoulder, 
like a shot pouch. A little wheel is turned with the right 
hand, the muzzle, (something like an elephant’s snout,) is 
guided to the bolls by the left hand, and it drinks down 
the cotton like a toper. No humbug, sure. One hand 
accustomed to it can pick, (or rather take in) from ten to 
fifteen hundred pounds a day.” 
[We saw this machine at the Montgomery (Ala.) Fair, 
last November, and were impressed favorably with it, but 
preferred not recommendingit until it had been fully test- 
ed in the field. — Eds. So. Cult. 
iinrticultiiral Sfpttintnt. 
THE CATAWBA GKAPE-— YINEYARDS IN OHIO 
AND GEORGIA—LETTER FROM ROBERT 
SUCH AI? AN, ESQ. 
Editors Southern Cultivator — The past winter was 
the most severe ever known in this climate. From the 
23d of December to the 15th of March, the thermometer 
was down to freezing at some period of every 21 hours, 
during that time; and several times 5 to 20 degrees below 
zero. Even as late as the lOth of March, the mercury 
was as low as zero. Much alarm prevailed amongst the 
vine planters, and many supposed that the fruit buds of 
the vines, and even the vines themselves, would be de- 
stroyed by the intense cold. I am now happy to .say that 
the vineyards have escaped injury much better than was 
anticipated, and after all the croaking, we have the pros- 
pect, in this region, of a fair crop. The vineyards on the 
hills generally look remarkably well, whilst some in the 
valleys and in warm exposures have been injured by the 
winter — doubtless, owing to the premature swelling of the 
j buds in autumn. The Cadawba has proved to be hardier 
than the Co.pe or Isabella, and is, beyond all doubt, the 
most valuable variety for vineyard culture in this latitude. 
How it will do as far South as Augusta, has yet to be test- 
ed by the public-spirited gentlemen of that vicinity, who 
have determined to try it. 
This Grape came from latitude 35 1-2^^ — in Buncombe _ 
county, N, C. — and has been found in Arkansas, in the 
same paralleI*of latitude; it may, therefore, be presumed 
that it will bear. removal a few degrees further south, as 
well as north.- -If has no fault here, except a disposition 
to suffer from rei.,’ or mildew, in wet seasons, and even 
then, it is so great a bearer, that if only one third the fruit 
that sets is left, a pretty fair crop may be gathered. 
I have often thought that the mountainous districts of 
Tennessee, North Carolina and Georgia, would prove to be 
! the very best in the United States for the successful culture 
of this valuable Grape. It is, therefore, with great plea- 
sure that I observe the efforts of patriotic gentlemen of the 
South to extend its cultivation in that direction. If they 
succeed, it will nT)t only afford them a pleasant hobby and 
the gratification of presenting to their friends a glass of 
