70 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST 
careful nursing—the means of saving many 
ewes, which under the old methods would 
have been lost. I send you this with the 
simple desire that what I have found advan¬ 
tageous in my own experience may be 
placed at the disposal of other breeders.— 
T. R. Ellis, Oxnead Hall, Norfolk. — Agricul¬ 
tural Gazette. 
ijorlknliral giprtmxiit. 
THE HARDY SHRUBS OF THE SOUTH. 
BY ANDREW GRAY,SAVANNAH,GA. 
In my present communication I shall con¬ 
fine myself chiefly to a short notice of our 
hardy shrubs ; but in doing so I do not mean 
to trouble you with a minute description of 
them, as I deem that trite and unimportant; 
all or nearly all being fully described in the 
botanical or gardening works of the country. 
What I presume will most interest your 
readers will be to know what constitute our 
hardy shrubs. 
The Camelia. —I shall commence with the 
Camelia, as, all things considered, it is cer¬ 
tainly the most beautiful and elegant of the 
collection. The plant is perfectly hardy, 
but the blooms will not stand the frost, 
and even the buds are destroyed by a 
severe frost, say 18°, causing the petals 
to loose their hold on the receptacle ; 
they are also liable to be bruised with 
the wind and rain, and but seldom do we 
procure as fine flowers as when grown under 
glass ; but then imagine a plant eight feet 
high and eight feet in diameter, with some¬ 
times 150 blooms on it, in January, growing 
in the open ground, in the midst of neigh¬ 
boring shrubs, almost divested of their fol¬ 
iage, and you have an object worthy the ad¬ 
miration of the connoisseurs of beauty and 
perfection. 
Magnolia fuscata is a most magnificent 
shrub, perfectly hardy and grows rapidly: 
we have it eight feet high and as much in 
diameter at the base, forming a sort of pyra¬ 
mid. In March and April it bears a profu¬ 
sion of flowers close on the young wood, and 
consequently do not appear above the foliage, 
but emit an agreeable odor resembling the 
smell of the fruit of the banana. In fact, it 
is known here by its lady admirers as the 
Banana shrub. 
Pittosporum tohira, a well known denizen 
of the green-house and conservatory, stands 
our severest winters with perfect impunity ; 
growing almost to a tree. Its fine dark 
green foliage renders it a very desirable 
plant for the south, and is admirably adapted 
for hedges and for forming groves, as it 
stands cutting in well, and is also of a spread¬ 
ing habit. 
Myrtus multiplex, communis, 6pc., are all 
hardy ; the former is a very desirable plant; 
grows here with surprising luxuriance. We 
have some plants seven feet high, and eight 
or ten in diameter, which in spring and au¬ 
tumn bear fine trusses of flowers on the 
young wood, and are exceedingly pretty, 
especially before they fully expand. 
Taxus chinensis, or Chinese Yew. —If I mis¬ 
take not, Loudon called this plant Podocar- 
pus macrophyllus ; be that as it may it is a 
very desirable conifer for the south ; the dis¬ 
tribution of its foliage resembles the Irish 
yew, but is broader, stiffer, and stands more 
erect on the branches, and is equally per¬ 
sistent. The plant is of slow growth and 
straggling habit naturally, but bears the knife 
well and can be pruned into a very pretty 
bush. 
Eunymus japonic a, var. variegata and fim- 
briata are all hardy here : fimbriata has not 
been long enough out here to speak of its 
merits ; variegata is ten or twelve feet high, 
and owing to its peculiar foliage is a rather 
conspicuous looking object, and among other 
things has a fine effect, but at times grows 
so rampant as to run entirely out of the va¬ 
riegation ; both varieties are proof against 
the effects of salt water ; hence its adaptation 
for planting near the sea coast. 
Viburnum tinus and lucidum, are both 
hardy ; the former is so well known and as 
it differs nothing from those cultivated in 
greenhouses at the south, I need pass no re¬ 
marks regarding it; lucidum is a very strong 
growing species with large shining leaves ; 
the plant is of a spreading habit, somewhat 
like the laurels. There is one plant here 
about 15 feet high and perhaps 12 in diame¬ 
ter, and when in flower presents one com¬ 
plete mass of white); but emits not a very 
agreeable odor; it has, however, a very 
grand appearance at a little distance. 
Erobotyra japonica is a small tree, with 
very'little that is ornamental about it; has 
large rough leaves, under side downy; it 
bears a raceme of insignificant flowers ; its 
fruit, (about the size of a gooseberry) when 
ripe, is of an acid, somewhat agreeable 
taste. 
Gardenia fiorida, and others of the genius, 
are hardy. This species thrives remarkably 
well and flowers most abundantly ; the flow¬ 
ers sometimes three and four inches in 
diameter. When first expanded they are 
creamy white, but change to yellow, which 
gives the plant a peculiar appearance. When 
these plants are in May, they fill the whole 
place with a spicy odor, but are a little too 
strong for a hand-boquet. 
Nerium oleander, 6fc., all chiefly known by 
the appellation of oleanders, (for we are not 
very nice in our nomenclature at times) are 
nearly as hardy as the orange trees, bearing 
about 14° of frost with merely having their 
tender twigs destroyed. They are some¬ 
times cut down to the ground, but their roots 
survive, and they spring up with surprising 
vigor. When uninjured by the frost they 
flower very freely, and to see them waving 
their pink trusses in the breeze, impregnat¬ 
ing the air with their genial odor, is suffi¬ 
cient to inspire us with the hallowed feelings 
that inspired Linnaeus when he saw the field 
of broom, (Cytisus scoparia) and kneeled 
down and thanked the God of Nature. 
Metrosideros floribunda, dpc., are also 
hardy, except in extremely severe seasons, 
when it gets killed down. This is an ex¬ 
ceedingly fine shrub ; its waving branches 
and the peculiar looking brush-like flowers ; 
it has also the seed capsule adhereing to the 
wood, tending to make it a conspicuous and 
admirable plant for this latitude. 
The foregoing are the most important of 
our evergreen shrubs. Tree Box, Ligus- 
trum, and some others I will omit. I shall 
only mention two or three of our deciduous 
shrubs. 
Lagerstceemia indica is the finest and 
stands our winters well; indeed, it is hardy 
several degrees north of this ; grows almost 
to a tree, flowering very freely in May, June, 
and July. 
Stuartia pentagynia is a shrub of consid¬ 
erable merit, a native of the south ; flowers 
in April; at which time the plant has a very 
delicate and pretty appearance. The bark 
smooth, light colored ; branches, dichoto- 
mus ; leaves, villose, alternate ; flowers, 
sessile, somewhat resembling the mallows ; 
but the distribution of its stamens places it 
in the natural order Nymphae, at least in the 
Linnasan Polyandria class. Its seeds and 
seed capsule resemble the Cammelia. Of 
Deutzia, althaea and a good many others 
I shall say nothing. 
From what I have said it will be seen that 
th |j Japanese and Chinese plants are well 
adapted to this latitude, and why might not 
the tea plant be cultivated with propriety 1 
Thea viridis is growing in the neighborhood. 
In 1851 I visited Dr. Junius Smith’s tea 
plantation, in the vicinity of Greenville, S. 
C., in hope to see the tea plant in something 
like perfection, but I must confess I was 
disappointed ; at the same time what I saw 
was sufficient to prove the thing possible. 
Mr. Smith had some plants about three feet 
high and looking pretty well; he said the 
drouth was more injurious to his plants than 
the cold or heat. His integrity and enthu¬ 
siasm, for a gentleman of his age, were re¬ 
markable, but his appliances and practical 
workings were insufficient for the undertak¬ 
ing. Since his decease I have heard nothing 
of the tea planting.— Hovey's Magazine. 
SHADE AND ORNAMENTAL TREES. 
The season is approaching for tree plant¬ 
ing in the Northern States. In the matter of 
shade trees a great work remains to be done. 
Every traveler in England is enchanted with 
parks, and with highways and streets lined 
with trees. It is thus very much that Eng¬ 
land has acquired the name of an extensive 
garden. YVith us it is otherwise. Our 
fathers used their axes and knives quite too 
freely, and we must restore what they de¬ 
stroyed. There are villages in New-Eng- 
land that give us some idea of what they all 
may become by generous tree-planting. 
Those of Concord, Hanover, Charlestown, 
New-Hampshire, of Northfield, Lancaster, 
Deerfield, Northampton, and other towns 
in this State, are pretty well in this respect. 
And we do not forget the “ City of Elms,” but 
as a whole, our villages have only begun to 
be beautified with trees. As for the road¬ 
sides, scarcely any thing has been done ; 
and only where the native forests are left, 
is the summer traveler much cheered by the 
grateful shade of trees. 
The work of ornamenting New-England 
with shade trees on an extensive scale, has 
begun. Some five years ago the first orna¬ 
mental tree association was formed at Chel¬ 
sea. Since then others have been formed at 
East Boston, at South Boston, Haverhill, St. 
Albans, Vermont, etc., for the purpose of 
planting trees on every street of the several 
places. The results have been most happy. 
Take East Boston alone. Within three 
years 1,250 forest trees have been planted, 
at an expense of about $4,000, or at a little 
more than $3 each. The change in that part 
of the city is wonderful, and the rise of the 
property on some streets has advanced five 
per cent through the trees alone. 
Let these tree societies be formed in every 
town in our country, and what a change 
would come over our land during six months 
or more of each year. The mode is so sim¬ 
ple and the work to be accomplished is so 
easy, that it is worthy of attention. Let one 
or two persons in any town become inter¬ 
ested in the matter, and write and talk up a 
general interest. Next let a public meeting 
be called to promote the object. After a 
meeting or two, a society can ordinarily be 
formed with the usual officers. The Treas¬ 
urer will at once begin to receive funds 
from the members, at say $1 a year, or 
from public spirited individuals who will give 
more. The work of tree-planting may soon 
begin. The interest will increase with the 
sight and growth of those trees, until most 
persons will pay all the expenses of planting 
trees in front of their residences, while the 
wealthy will begin to give considerable sums 
into the treasury until there will be a plenty 
of money to adorn the entire village or town. 
This has been the practical working of 
things at East Boston. In a smaller place, 
the work would go on more slowly, but no 
less surely, for the ladies will always be 
ready to lend a helping hand in this work of 
beuty, whenever their assistance is needed. 
