1875.1 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
267 
boat announced its approach to the landing, and 
offered us a prospect of a much needed dinner; 
the water had fallen sufficiently to allow us to be 
conveyed to the wharf upon a hand-car, and so we 
embarked for Apalachicola via Cambridge. That 
is, we went up the Flint River about 40 miles and 
thence back, in the night, past the place of em¬ 
barkation. 
I will not here give any account of a delightful 10 
days’ episode, beginning with the voyage down the 
brimming river, bordered with almost unbroken 
green of every tint, from the dark background 
of Long-leaved Pines to the tender new ver¬ 
dure of the Liquidambar and other deciduous 
trees in their freshest development, interspersed 
with the deep and lustrous hue of the Magnolia 
grandiflora, and, when the banks were low, domi¬ 
nated by weird naked trunks of Southern Cy¬ 
press ( Taxodium ), their branches hung with long 
tufts and streamers of the gray and sombre South¬ 
ern Moss ( Tillandsia ) below, while above they were 
just putting forth their delicate foliage. Along the 
lower part of the river, occasional Palmettoes gave 
a still more tropical aspect. Then followed a week 
and more at dead and dilapidated, but still charm¬ 
ing Apalachicola, where the Post Office opens on 
Monday evenings, when the steamboat arrives, and 
•closes for a week the next morning, when she de¬ 
parts,—where the climate, thanks to the embracing 
Gulf, is as delicious in summer as it is bland in 
winter ; where game, the best of fish, and the most 
luscious oysters are to be had almost for nothing, 
and blackberries come early in April when the 
oranges are gone ; and where, far from the crowd 
and bustle of the world, with Bill Fuller for ca¬ 
terer, and his wife Adeline for cook, the choicest 
fare is to be enjoyed at the cheapest rate. Then 
there was the pleasure of renewing our acquaint¬ 
ance with Dr. Chapman, and botanizing with him 
over some of the ground which he has explored so 
long and 60 well, of gathering, under his guidance, 
the stately Sarracenia Drummondii in its native 
habitat, and, not least, acquiring from him fuller 
information respecting the localities where Tor¬ 
reya grows. 
The return voyage up the river was not less en¬ 
joyable than the descent. It was so timed that the 
bold bluff of Aspalaga, where the tree was first 
found, was reacned after sunrise. But it was sad 
to see that the Torreya trees, which overhung the 
river here in former days, had been cut away, per¬ 
haps for steamboat fuel. So I did not land ; but 
leaving the boat a few miles above, at the upper 
Chattahoochee landing, while it made the run to 
Bainbridge and back, I had a long day to devote to 
Torreya. Following Dr. Chapman’s directions, I 
repaired to the wooded hluff to the north of the 
road, where I soon found abundance of the trees, 
of various ages, interspersed among other growth. 
The largest tree I saw grew near the bottom of a 
deep ravine ; its trunk just above the base measured 
almost four feet in circumference, and was propor¬ 
tionately tall. But it was dominated by the noblest 
Magnolia grandiflora I ever set eyes on, with trunk 
seven and a half feet in girth. 
After long search one tree was found with female 
flowers, or rather with forming fruit, from which a 
few specimens were gathered. Seedlings and young 
trees are not uncommon, and some old stumps 
were sprouting from the base, in the manner of 
the Californian Redwood. So that this species may 
be expected to endure, unless these bluffs should 
be wantonly disforested—against which their dis¬ 
tance from the river and the steepness of the 
ground offer some protection. But any species of 
very restricted range may be said to hold its exist¬ 
ence by a precarious tenure. The known range of 
this species is not more than a dozen miles in 
length along these bluffs, although Dr. Chapman 
has heard of its growing further south, where the 
bluff trends away from the river. At least the 
Yew-tree grows there, which Mr. Croom found 
with the Torreya near Aspalaga, and I heard of 
it (identifying it by the description) as growing five 
or six miles away. 
Returning to the boat at nightfall, I brought 
with me thirty or forty seedling Torreyas, which, 
being too far advanced to be safely sent far north 
this spring, have been successfully consigned to 
the excellent Mr. Berckmans’ care, at Augusta, 
Georgia. I hope that one or more of them may in 
due time be planted upon the grave of Torrey. 
A woi'd or two of Mr. Croom and his sad fate. 
His name merely is known to botanists as the dis¬ 
coverer of Torreya taxifolia and of Groomia pauci- 
Jlora, and as the author of a monograph of Sarra¬ 
cenia, in which the handsomest species, S. Drum¬ 
mondii, was originally described and figured. He 
was the first to find this in blossom, Drummond 
having seen and collected the leaves only, in a win¬ 
ter visit to Apalachicola. Of the botanists who re¬ 
member and personally knew him, only Dr. Chap¬ 
man and myself survive. Mr. Croom, originally, I 
believe, of Newborn, North Carolina, had a planta¬ 
tion at Quincy, Florida, and another at Mariana, 
east of the Apalachicola river ; and it was in pass¬ 
ing from one to the other that he discovered the 
tree of which I have been discoursing, as well as 
the herbaceous plant which bears his name. He 
was an accomplished and most amiable young man, 
full of enterprise and zeal for botany, and much 
was expected from him. But, just as he was enter¬ 
ing upon his chosen field, and had made prepara¬ 
tions for a thorough exploration of Florida, in con¬ 
nection with his friend, Dr. Chapman, he was lost 
at sea, with his wife and all his children, in the 
foundering of the ill-fated Pulaski, between New 
York and Charleston. 
I have been told that two seedling Torreyas 
which Mr. Croom planted near his house at Quin¬ 
cy, and which had become stately trees, have re¬ 
cently been demolished by the present proprietor; 
also that a tree of Mr. Croom’s planting still flour¬ 
ishes in the grounds of the State-house at Talla¬ 
hassee. 
THE MdMSEME®. 
(For other Household Items, see “Basket ” pages). 
Household Inquiries. 
Dish Washing. —“Mrs. E. P. W.,” wishes to 
know if we ever heard of such a thing as a dish¬ 
washing machine.—Yes, we have heard of such a 
machine, and seen an engraving of it. After it was 
invented, described, and figured iu one of the pa¬ 
pers devoted to inventions, that was probably the 
last of it, for we never heard of one in use, and 
never expect to. The great trouble about a ma¬ 
chine is that it can not think, and will give the same 
treatment to a delicate China saucer that it would 
to a large heavy platter. To be sure, dish-washing 
does not demand a high order of intellect, but it 
requires some thought, and there are many differ¬ 
ent articles, each of which must be handled differ¬ 
ently.—The same lady asks for a rack upon which 
to drain dishes and save wiping. If any of our 
housekeepers have an article of this kind that they 
have found useful, we hope they will tell others of it. 
Dusting Ornaments.— “ Mrs. T. M. L.” The 
best way to remove dust from delicate articles, the 
parts of which can not be readily reached by an or¬ 
dinary duster, is by blowing. The city furnishing 
stores keep small and exceedingly neat bellows, 
which, when we first saw them, we supposed were 
some child’s toy, but learned that they were made 
expressly for dusting mantel ornaments and similar 
articles ; they give a small but strong stream of air 
which, reaching every minute crevice, very cleverly 
dislodges the dust. 
Keeping Sausage Meat. —“ Miss C. N. C.” Af¬ 
ter trying several methods, we have found one 
which will keep the meat in perfect condition for 
several iTionths. In cold weather there is no diffi¬ 
culty, but as soon as it becomes warm, it will spoil 
unless the air be perfectly excluded. As soon as 
the sausage meat is made, we make up into cakes 
that which is to be kept, and cook it the same as 
for the table ; the fried cakes are then placed in a 
stone jar, and the fat which comes from them is 
poured over them, and as this is not enough, more 
lard is melted and added, to thoroughly cover the 
Cakes. They should not be pressed against the 
sides of the jar, but so placed that each will be 
completely surrounded by the fat. When needed 
they require only to be wanned through, and they 
are ready for the table. We do not know how long 
the meat will keep in this way, but the writer has 
kept it perfectly well until the middle of June; not 
caring for sausage in warm weather, we do not 
usually put up enough to last until that time. 
Ice Cream.— Mrs. Hartshorne. We do not re¬ 
commend one freezer over another; have used 
those by two different makers, and can see no dif¬ 
ference in them. Probably one of the leading kinds 
will freeze as quickly as another, and we do not 
regard very rapid freezing as desirable. The cream 
requires a certain amount of beating and stirring in 
order that it may have the proper smoothness. The 
fineness of the ice has much to do with the rapid¬ 
ity of freezing. We remember seeing a maker ex¬ 
hibit his freezer to show that he could make ice 
cream in three minutes. We noticed that he 
started with cream which had been for some time 
kept upon ice, and was consequently nearly ice- 
cold ; he used fine salt and ice reduced to the great¬ 
est possible fineness ; with these he made short 
work. Ice is generally used too coarse. Have a 
strong bag and a heavy wooden mallet; place the 
ice broken into small lumps in the bag, and then 
pound the ice through the bag, laid on some solid 
place, with the mallet; this will make the ice very 
fine. In keeping the cream after it is frozen, larger ice 
maybe used, and only a moderate quantity of salt. 
Cleaning Marble. —“ R. H. S.” The question 
“ How to clean marble,” is very indefinite. In re¬ 
moving stains of all kinds it is necessary to know 
what caused the trouble. If the marble is soiled 
by grease, pipe clay mixed to a paste with water 
spread over the stain, and allowed to dry and re¬ 
main for several days after it is dry, may be of use, 
but it is a very difficult matter to remove grease or 
any other substance that has entered the pores 
of a material of such close texture as marble. 
Tin Weddings. 
Passing an extensive furnishing house twice 
daily, we most always give a glance at the show- 
window. Some months ago we saw a most beauti¬ 
fully fashioned shoe on exhibition, which appeared 
to be made of the finest planished tin. We won¬ 
dered what it could be for; it was too large for a 
smoker’s ash-receiver, and could hardly be an arti¬ 
cle for kitchen or table use ; several days after, and 
before we had time to step in and solve the matter, 
there appeared by the side of the shoe an elegant 
fan of the same material, at least so far as fine 
workmanship could make a tin-fan elegant; this 
added to the mystery, but in a day or two all was 
made plain by the displaying of a card reading “ Ar¬ 
ticles for Tin Weddings.” All that we know of 
“ tin weddings ” is that the fifth anniversary of 
marriage is by some people celebrated, as a sort 
of burlesque upon silver weddings, by a party, at 
which the guests made presents of tinware. The 
presents were formerly of useful articles, but now 
it seems that the burlesque itself is travestied, and 
much ingenuity is expended in making articles for 
tin weddings which can be of no possible use to 
those who receive them. Quite a large number 
of these articles are now imported from France ; 
two of these have already been named ; besides 
these we found on inquiry there were ridiculous 
bouquets of tin flowers ; preposterous necklaces, 
and other jewelry of skillful workmanship, but all 
of the same cheap material; a tin saw and other 
tools for a mechanic ; instruments supposed to be 
emblematic of the medical profession, and other 
curious, expensive, and equally useless articles 
are offered. Now we believe in innocent amuse¬ 
ment, and if any fun can be had out of a tin wed¬ 
ding—if the parties most concerned are so dis¬ 
posed—so be it, but there should be some sense 
even to our nonsense, and we must say that we re¬ 
gard this matter of tin shoes, tin bouquets, and the 
like, as carrying the matter just a little too far. 
