carious anrl unprofitable. If they get a little 
money they are restless till, they spend it, 
and no matter how imperatively the crops 
need their labor, if they have an idea of a 
frolic, it must be had. and lasts its long as 
their money holds out. This we have found 
a characteristic: of thoBe we have employed 
North. Freedom is a new thing to them, 
and but few know how to use it judiciously. 
Unaccustomed by habits and education to 
work themselves, the planters here an* at the 
mercy of their employes. A fiue field is 
prepare to alight as tins is our present, termi¬ 
nus—1,086 miles from home—where we shall 
rest a while ere resuming our journey. 
Schnn, Ala,, March K. — Geographically, 
tlii; town is situated on the west bank of the 
Alabama River, 258 miles from its mouth ; is 
the. seat of justice for Dallas Co., has a popu¬ 
lation of about 10,000, and is a place of con¬ 
siderable business. The surrounding country 
is fertile, and well adapted for agricultural 
purposes. The business portion of the town 
is substantially built of brick ; was almost 
Juilustvial ITr.tu'ler 
TODEA WILKESIANA 
RANDOM LEAVES FROM MY NOTE BOOK 
Tms is an exceedingly pretty tree fern, and 
one which is quite distinct from all others in 
cultivation. In Australia tree ferns are said 
to have trunks that often reach some sixty 
feet in bight and four or five feet in circum¬ 
ference ; and even in our English nurseries 
and private gardens we sorae- 
times find giant specimens of 
tree ferns, the trunks of which 
f r have been rooted out and im- 
ported like logs of wood. The 
^ subject of nur illustration, how¬ 
ever, acquires no such dimen¬ 
sions ; on the contrary, its trunk 
attains only a highl of some two 
feet, and its diameter a little 
more than an inch. Like other 
species belonging to the same 
genus, it is particularly partial 
to A close, moist atmosphere. A 
minimum temperature of 15° in 
winter seems to suit it admir¬ 
ably, and even fr ,m ft few de¬ 
grees less it sustains no injury. 
The specimen of this plant, now 
in the Royal Exotic Nurseries 
lias a trunk nearly thirteen 
inches in high! and a wide- 
spreading crown consisting of 
over a dozen large and fine 
fronds of last vein's growth and others in 
course of development. It is grown m a 
large gloss case in a shady corner of the fern, 
ery, in a coinpost consisting of peat, chopped 
sphagnum and silver sand, the pot being 
plunged in another containing vphagmun, so 
as to prevent too rapid fluctuations (if tem¬ 
perature or moisture. The case is not kept 
close : on the contrary, one side of it is gen- 
BY THE WANDERING JERSEYMAN 
Feb. 28.—At dawn this morning we bud 
we have passed over the Suite of Tennessee 
and entered the nort hwestern part of Georgia, 
and at 7 o’clock reach Dalton, the terminus 
of this road, and receive the 
pleasing information that this 
town will cheerfully furnish us 
aeoommodat iou- for (he day, at y®|J|| 
the Largest and best hotel just 
across the street. From the win- ' 
dow of our room we see evi- /r*'' 
deuce of fortifications on the 
hill a quarter of a mile distant. 
so we sally out to take a view 
of the situation. In half an 
hour we reach its summit and 
find an area of about two acres, 
the remains of 
one of which 
on which arc 
two earthworks, 
contains the ruins of a brick 
mansion evidently of no mean 
pretensions. Near by stand 
two or three tall chestnuts, one 
of which has a row of railroad 
spikes driven in its side, by 
which, no doubt, many an as¬ 
cent has been made, to watch 
the movements ol' the opposing 
forces. Up among the branches, where you 
would be likely to perch for an observation, 
a shot has struck and shivered it, and we in¬ 
stinctively* shudder as we wonder If any un¬ 
lucky fellow occupied a place there at. the 
time the shot struck. Wo take our observa¬ 
tion from term firma. and find this hill occu¬ 
pying a central position of a basin several 
notes in extent, the mountains surrounding 
us being much higher than we are, the rail¬ 
road from Atlanta coming in the valley below 
ns on one side and the (Sebrifi, Rome and Dal¬ 
ton Railroad on the other. In our pursuit of 
knowledge under difficulties, we found far 
more that didn’t know, and want “yer,” 
than those, that were “yer” and did know. 
We however learned that Col. JOHNSON com¬ 
manding ft regiment, or body of colored 
troops occupied this hill, and, on leaving, de¬ 
stroyed the dwelling which had just been 
completed by a Mr. Cobh, for his own use. 
The main object was the holding of the rail¬ 
roads by which supplies were obtained. 
We. return to town and look it over; the 
swine and freed men dispute for the best plac¬ 
es to bask in the sunshine, and the stores ap¬ 
parently are more numerous than the cus¬ 
tomers. In looking at some grass seed the 
proprietor asked if we ever saw any* clover 
seed l On replying in the affirmative, hesaid 
lie was trying to introduce it here, and had 
mighty ha rd work to do it. We assured him 
sve could see no reason why it would not grow 
hero, if it had a fair chance. lie reckoned it 
would, but the customers of the county were 
averse to new tilings. 
Most of the buildings destroyed during the 
war have bean rebuilt, but occasionally* a 
heap of ruins remains as a memento of the 
conflict. 
March 1.—At daylight this A. M., we find 
ourselves gliding along through the forests of 
Northern Alabama, land rolling, well wa¬ 
tered, and in places magnificent pine timber. 
Acres on acres of bottom lands, bonlciiug the 
streams we have passed, for the last. 50 miles, 
ware planted in cotton hist year, the stalks 
still standing. Freedmen. boys and girls are 
visible on eitlu-r side with their mule and 
plow* breaking up the same ground for the 
same crop. I he cows arc turned out to get 
their food from the stubble of a com field or 
the dead w*ild grass of the uncultivated field. 
We. pass a lumbering region, where we saw* 
the first white men at work since leaving 
Washington. As far as we have yet seen the 
manual labor of the farms is performed by 
colored men, hoy T s and girls. W e stop at 
every village or settlement to leave the mail, 
take up and set down passengers. 
From their conversation we should judge 
every other one of them was going to emi¬ 
grate. After the surrender they had not a 
dollar ; but they* had speculated a little in 
cotton or something else and got. alittle ahead 
more than a living and wore going to Texas. 
The freedmen have control of the State 
Government and the whites fail to see or 
armreCiate their abilities, and arc disgusted. 
entirely destroyed during the jr 
war, but has been mostly re- il 
built. Its large iron foundries I Xj 
were of immense service to the h 
Confederates during the war ; ill 
these, with the arsenal located \f 1 
here, were the primary cause 1 r l 
of its capture and destruction. A j 
The city is regularly laid out, / )J JJ 
with wide streets, well lined 
with beautiful shade trees, such 
tie. Mock Orange and Water Oaks, Elms and 
China trees. Most of the private residences 
are low, one-story affairs, set. on piers, v*ith - 
out cellars, which look odd to Northern eyes. 
The more modern structures of t he wealthier 
class expand to two and throe stories in 
liight, and much taste is displayed among 
all classes in the ornamentation of their front 
yards with dowel's and shrubs, deciduous and 
evergreen trees. These yards are almost in¬ 
variably laid out with beds and walks of al¬ 
most every conceivable design, bordered With 
brick set on the corners ; in some instances 
the monotony is relieved by whitewashing 
the top edges. In one or two y*ards inverted 
stone porter bottles were used for the same 
purpose. While our Northern home is still 
locked in the embrace ol Old Winter, here 
peach trees are in full bloom, and Violets, 
Narcissus, Hyacinths, blue Bells, Spirea 
pmnifolia, Japan Quince, Forsythia and 
Flowering Almond announce the advent of 
spring ; frequently, in the midst of all these 
stands, sentinel-like, the beautiful Magnolia 
graudiflora, 30 to 40 feet high, with its luxu¬ 
riant, deep-green foliage presenting a pleas¬ 
ing contrast with the bursting buds uud open¬ 
ing flowei 1 * around it. This tree is indigenous 
here, and we learn of specimens upward of 
100 feet high, 3 to 4 feet in diameter at the 
base, and half its length without, a branch. 
Garden peas arc 2 to 4 inches high ; beets, 
radishes and lettuce coming up. The chief 
staple crops of this section are corn and cot¬ 
ton ; the bottom lands bordering the streams 
are those mostly cultivated, on account of 
their great fertility*. 
Last season being unusually wet, the rivers 
were extremely high, overflowing the greater 
part of these lands, and destroying the crops ; 
hence, planters hereabouts are poor—very 
poor—and discouraged, aud times are hard. 
But fur this, there would probably have been 
corn enough raised for home consumption. 
We hear of one gentleman, an M. D., who 
lias an estate of 5,000 acres, which he runs, 
and practices his profession at the same time. 
Last year he hud about 5,000 bushels of corn, 
nearly ripe, and a large crop of cotton in 
prospective ; the rains came, the river rose till 
only the tassels of the corn were visible above 
its surface ; consequence, a total loss. Thou¬ 
sands of acresof cot ton shared the same fate. 
To make matters worse, planters had pro¬ 
cured large advances on their crops to live on, 
and brokers are cautious about making fur¬ 
ther advances—a wholesome comment on the 
pernicious principle of spending money be¬ 
fore it is earned. 
This condition of tilings, which is not likely 
to occur again soon, has tended largely to 
discourage planters, and nearly every other 
one you meet is anxious to emigrate. 
The negroes are so demoralized that the 
running of large plantations has become pre- 
advantages of wood, water, 
Mecrayss**, schools, churches, civilization, 
LKESIANA. and a mild climate; where the 
ground can be worked the year round, and 
where the whole season’s crops are not re¬ 
quired to subsist on during the winter. 
What is needed Is an improved system, 
backed up bv intelligence, energy and muscle 
of laboring men. 
A gentleman here who has worked three 
farms the past season, told ns the other day 
lie had sold all bul one, which he should 
plant this season, and in the meantime visit 
Florida, and see what .ulvantages that State 
offered for making ft good living with little 
labor. If not suited, he should go to Texas, 
his object being to find a locality where he 
could fare sumptuously without work—or as 
near it as possible. Another, a Northerner 
by birth, hearing we were in town, called on 
us, and in conversing on agricultural topics 
and contrasting the customs of the people 
here with those North, said he “Would be. 
delighted to see several car-loads of erui- 
SHADING FOR GREENHOUSES 
in warm weatlier—something that will wash 
off easily* < I see raw linseed oil and white 
lead recommended. Will it wash off ?—A 
Reader, Lies Moines, Iowa. 
We have always used thin whitewash, 
which of course, washes off quite readily. 
We have never tried the raw oil and white 
lead recommended by some of our florists, 
but should think that it would adhere too 
firmly* to be readily* washed off. The best 
screen is one made of lath, nailed an inch or 
two apart, and laid upon the sash. These 
screens can be moved from one place to an- 
A SPORTING CAMELLIA 
I HAD a rathe: singular sport in a Peouae- 
flora Camellia tills winter ; one of the flow- 
ers was perfectly white. I have never seen 
a sport of the kind before.—Jos. Caldwell. 
It is supposed that the original stock from 
Which all of our choice varieties of the Ca¬ 
mellia have been produced, were plants with 
either single red or white flowers. If this is 
true, and we have no good reason for disbe¬ 
lieving it, then an occasional sporting back to 
the original type would not be a very strange 
or wonderful phenomenon. 
FLORICULTURAL NOTES 
A Support for Hyacinths in Glasses is 
t herewith illustrated and 
thus described by* one who 
devised it:—“ I have a cir¬ 
cular, flat piece of wood 
about four inches in diame¬ 
ter for the glass to stand 
on ; into this is inserted a 
. piece of iron wire, which is 
carried upright until about 
r rauET four inches above the top 
'raw of the glass, and is then 
bent round and round like 
a corkscrew, each circle be- 
ing about three inches in 
im\ diameter.” 
/Ml A Black Lily with three 
f /j iil large blossoms, each nine 
UM inches long and perfectly 
I » ®™t ' black, was grown last year 
£* L ’ by J. B. Rineharts of 
Santa Clara, Cal. The out¬ 
side of the leaves were green, while the inside 
edges were black. 
House Plants Wanted. —J. N. G. of Ten¬ 
nessee, Hi,, should address any* of the florists 
who advertise in the Rural New-Yorker 
| for the plants desired. 
