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and let in the sun and air, the grasses took pos
session. Keep out the undergrowth now, and
let in the sun and air again, and the woods will
again be covered with native grasses, or if seed
ed properly with richer and better perennial
grasses, green in winter.
Reason and experience, in many places in mid
dle Georgia, go to establish the fact that these
grasses can be successfully grown upon our ori
ginal forest land and on our best open land, and
if so, horses and mules, and hogs, cattle and
sheep, with all their valuable products can be
profitably reared in Georgia.
The prices of horses and mules have steadily
and rapidly risen, till we can hardly realize the
fact that a pair of horses which could be bought a
few years ago at S3OO, would bring to-day SBOO.
We complain loudly; but it is all right,
for it takes just such astonishing develop
ments, and just such enoanous burdens to
make men forsake the old and beaten paths of er
ror, though leading directly to poverty.
But says the “ croaker ” if this system of hus
bandry be adopted generally, there is danger
that there would be no demand for hay, and but
ter, and beef, and mutton, and horses and mules,
as every body would raise their own, (a consum
mation most devoutly to be wished) while for
cotton there is an unlimited demand, and local
markets, and if the price does not suit at one
time you can hold till it does, without injury or
cost; while if horses and mules are not sold
they will “ eat off their own heads,” and bread
stuffs if not consumed perish on our own hands.
These are indeed most admirable and valuablo
conditions which have always made cotton a fa
vorite staple. But there is another product
which equally with cotton, possesses all these
with one immense advantage over cotton, that it
can be raised on poor land with little labor ; that
staple is wool, worth in all markets about three
times as much per lb. as cotton. There is good
reason to believe that in this region it can be
raised with much larger profit. Sheep possess
in a most remarkable degree all the requisites
for profitable husbandry. They are very prolific,
of early maturity, and transport themselves
even to distant markets at little cost, and best
quality of all, they will live where other domestic
animals would starve.
It is a fact, not generally known, that all oyer
Georgia many varieties of herbs grow, on which
sheep feed, which no other animals touch.
They are browsing, as well as grazing animals.
In our old fields, wherever a few tufts of broom
sedge grow, or a patch of briers, or even that
badge of sterility, a thicket of sassafras bushes,
there sheep will exist.
You cannot find any where a hundred acres of
land, which will not sustain a hundred sheep in
the spring and summer, and with winter grazing
on our forest lands, all the year. If this be true,
our old exhausted lands can be made to pay an
annual profit, which would make the usurer open
his eyes in wonder.
These lands (extensive old fields with small
quantities of original forest, and strips of branch
bottoms) can bo bought readily at three or four
dollars per acre, or even less. Throw together
a thousand acres of such land, put 1000 sheep
upon it, obtain 3 lbs. of wool from each worth
one dollar, and a lamb worth one dolllar and a
quarter, and you may pay a shepherd to protect
them from dogs, and realizo a clear profit of 30
or 40 per cent.
Then how, rapidly these wasted lands might
be enriched, by hurdling a thousand sheep upon
them at night, instead of paying enormous pri
ces for manures, brought from the distant
islands of ocean; for it is a fact, established by
careful experiment, that a given weight of food,
fed to sheep, will produce greatly more enriching
manure, than when fed to any other domestic
animals.
Let us then like sensible people, use the lands
we have in raising such staples as they are
adapted to, and soon we can change the tons of
broomsedge and other forage found in abundance
into pounds of meal and wool, for the food and
raiment of men.
—
BENEFITS OF AGRICULTURAL FAIRS.
Everything from the lips and pen of Daniel
Webster still continues to be read with interest.
The following is an extract from an Address of
his, delivered at the Annual Fair of the Norfolk
Agricultural Society, at Dedham, Massachusetts,
intho year 1849:
“ The principle of Association —the practice
of bringing men together bent on the same gen
eral end, uniting their intellectual and their phy
sical efforts to that purpose is a great improve
ment in the present age. We saw it years ago
—perhaps I might say centuries ago. It began
in the professional associations of the world—in
the legal, the medical, the theological. But it
was long, in that country and in this, before the
principle of combination came to bo acted upon
in tfie great system of Agriculture—before it was
brought to that pursuit of life—before agricul
turists were brought to act in unison. And the
reason is obvious. In the city, communities
strive together. The merchants and ship own
ers can come together at the sound of a bell. —
The mechanics, generally living in populous
places, may do the same. They have the oppor
tunity of interchanging sentiments every hour
and what ont knows, all know, and what is the
experience of one, all soon become acquainted
with. But the agn^ ( itural population is scat
tered over all the fields ye tho country. Their
labors and their toils are in sou>* degree isolated.
They are in the midst of hills ana the valleys,
and the recesses of every solitary forest. There
is no 'Change for them to assemble upon at uoo n .
There are no Atheneums for them to meet at in
tho evening and converse on their interests.
“ Why, gentlemen, every man obtains a very
great portion of all that he knows in this world,
by conversation. Conversation, intercourse with
other minds is the general soul, of most es our
knowledge. Books do something, but every
man has not opportunity to read. It is cover
sation that improves. If any one of us is here
to-day. learned or unlearned, should deduct what
ho has learned by conversation from what he
knows, ho would find but little left, and that lit
tle not of the most valuable kind. It is con
versation—it is the meeting of men face to face,
and talking over what they have common in in
terest—it is this intercourse that makes men
sharp, intelligent, ready to communicate to others,
and ready to receive information from them, and
ready to act upon those only which they receive
by this oral communication.
“ Therefore, if there wero not a thing exhibit
ed—if there were not a good pair of steers, nor
a fine horse, nor likely cow in the whole country,
if there be ladies, wives and daughters —if there
be those connected with the tillage of the land,
I say that these annual meetings are highly im
portant to progress in the art to which they re
fer. I come as a poor farmer, to meet with
other better farmers, to receive from them any
intimation their experience may teach, and de
sirous only of suggesting something for their re
flection which now or hereafter may draw it use
fully, to something in the agricultural art”'
TMM SOIHEFK3S3U& MMQ 3flfl3UßßX3)£.
FARMING.
An intelligent cultivator of the soil has lately
expressed some excellent thoughts, in forcible
style, which we here subjoin, hoping they may
be attentively read:
The life of the farmer has ever been consid
ered by himself, one of toil and drudgery, but
with how much reason, it may be well to ask, to
investigate, and to become justified. It is the
lot of man in general to have an occupation. If
not necessary for a living, it is made a means of
obtaining wealth, fame or power. A few, bom
to wealth or titles, pursue no calling but that of
pleasure. Such lead miserable lifes, and do little
or no good in the world. It is appointed unto
all men to work. It is necessary to health,
strength, comfort and happiness. But to work,
it is not necessary to guide tho plough or har
row, to wield the axe or scythe, to sow or reap.
There are other kinds of work, equally laborous
and fatiguing, other occupations more wearing
to the system, and attended with less pleasure.
In this country, there are more men engaged in.
farming than in any other occupation, and in the
rural districts they constitute a large majority
of the inhabitants, and as a consequence, see
and know little of the drudgery of other occu
pations. In their visits to the mechanic or man
ufacturer, they see him sheltered from the storms
and cold, they notice that his skin is less taw
ney, his hands softer and whiter, and his clothes
perhaps less soiled and torn; and it is but
natural that they should think his labor less
hard than theirs. They see the merchant be
hind his counter, smiling to his customers, or at
his desk counting his money, and they cannot
think he works; and they go away, wishing
that Providence had been as kind to them.—
They see the lawyer advocating the cause of his
client, uttering with eloquence witty or grave
sentences, bringing tears to tho eyes, or laugh
ter to tho countenances of judge, jury and spec
tators, and they go away repining that the gifts
of Providence are so partially bestowed. They
see not tho mechanic at work by his lamp, while
farmers are reading by their firesides; they see
him not with his accounts, anxiously looking
forward to the time when his payments become
due, or his flour barrel empty, or his pork bar
rel out, they see not the anxious and care worn
countenance of the merchant, while alone in his
office just before his bank note becomes due
and no money to meet it; and they see not the
lawyer in the still hours of the night, with ach
ing head and wearied eyes, looking up authori
ties to sustain his cause on the eve of trial.
It is they themselves — the farmers —that have
set the stamp oi drudgery upon their occupa
tion. No one else admits or believes it. The
lawyer, the doctor, the merchant and the me
chanic, envy the farmer his farm and his happi
ness, —his bread, butter and cheese, —his fruits,
meats and grains, the product of his own labor,
that he can eat with an appetite sharpened by
muscular exercise, and knowing that they are
pure and healthy. Ask the mechanic what he
is striving for, and what is his aim. For a home,
a piece of land that I can cultivate and eat the
fruits of my own raising; the merchant will
tell you that he hopes to end bis days on a tarra ;
and the lawyer and doctor will tell you the
same. What if their faces are blanched while
the farmer is tawney,—their fingers delicate and
supple, while the former are dingy and clumsy—
their garments fine and clean, while his are
soiled and coarse. Each is appropriate and
equally respectable. A chimney sweep in
white, or a farmer at his plough in broadcloth,
would be an object of ridicule, equally with the
lawyer in rags. More men make themselves ri
diculous by overdressing than the reverse. If
the farmer has not delicacy, he has strength, and
power of endurance—far more valuable. If ho
is not educated and refined, it is no fault of his
occupation, did ho himself not think so; for no
one has more leisure for reading and study.—
If he mingles less with the world, and learns
less of etiquette, he has an opportunity for
thought, and learns less of deception, intrigue
and chicanery, which make no one happy.—
Whose sons make the most enterprising and
successful merchants, the most profound states
men, tho most eminent engineers, the most
learned lawyers and divines? The farmers.
They go forth from the farm, with healthy blood
in their veins, inherited from healthy parents,
and consequently have healthy and vigorous
minds. Who are looked up to as defenders of
our homes in case of invasion ? Whose names
are in our jury boxes, and whose are sought for,
(aye, little too successfully,) on a bank note?
Brother farmers, let us not repine at our lot; let
us not envy others while they envy us; honor
our calling, and it will honor us:
“ Ilonor and fame from no condition rise,
He that would win, must labor for the prize."
— Goward's Register.
Danger of Lucifer Matches. —The New
York Sun says that the operatives employed in
factories where Lucifer matches are made, aro
subject to a malignant, and often fatal complaint,
which is known as the “ match disease.” It is
produced by the inhalation of the phosphoric acid
used in the factory, seriously affecting the jaw
and teeth. The Sm says:
“We learn from the physicians that the dis
ease is quite common among those who work
in match factories, and that it is dangerous for
any one who has diseased teeth to be employed
in the manufacture of lucifer matches. They al
so state that the disease may be contract ed by
those who have diseased teeth by lighting cigars
or a pipe wilh lucifers, and inhaling the phos
phoric acid which is liberated by their ignition.
It is well for people to understand this fact, and,
as tho doctors say, if a person has a diseased
tooth, he or she should have it removed at once,
«"id thus escape all danger of the match dis
ease."
Remedy foh Poison. —A correspondent of
the London Literary Gazette, alluding to the
numerous cases of accidental poisoning, says:
“I venture to affirm that there u not a cot
tage that does not contain an invaluable obtain,
immediate remedy for such events, nothing mor«
than a dessert spoonful of mado mustard, mixed
in a tumbler of warm water, and drank imme
diately. It acts as an emetic, is always read}’,
and may be used in any case where one is re
quired. But take this simple antidote, and you
may be the moans of saving many a fellow-crea
ture from an untimely end.”
Porcelain Faced Bricks. —The New York
Tribune has been shown a porcelain faced brick
for which Mr. D. W. Clark, ofVermont, received
a patent on the 10th ult. The patent, he says,
consists in the employment of zinc as a flux for
the felspar and quartz with which the ordinary
porcelain is made. These bricks can be furnish
ed, he says, at forty dollars per thousand, or a
building can be faced with them at less than
one-third of the cost of marble. Tho material
is very beautiful, and might be used for an in
side as well as an outside finish with fine effect.
The same flux can be applied to articles from
the coarser kinds of clay, which gives it a finish
equal to any English ware imported into this
country..
HORTICULTURAL.
WM. N. WHITE, Editor.
SATURDAY, OCT. 22, 1159.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Catalogues have been received fom the fol
lowing Nurserymen:
Annual Catalogue of Trees, eutivated at
Gloaming Nursery, 1859 and 1860. Sarksville,
Habersham county, Ga. By Jarvis Tan Bcren.
Supplental Catalogue, of Fruit Tnes, Grape
Vines, Strawberries, Roses, Shrubs, Sc., cultiva
ted at Fruitland Nurseries, Augusta, Ga., by P.
J. Berckmans Sc Co., for 1859-60.
Catalogue of Fruit and Ornameital Trees,
cultivated, and for sale by Peters, larden &
Co., Downing Hill Nursery, Atlanta Je., 1859-
GO.
Catalogues of Roses, Ac., 1859-60. J. A.
Mawge, Augusta, Ga.
Descriptive Catalogue of Fruit Tnes and Or
namental Shrubbery .cultivated and fer sale by
Fleming Sc Nelson, at their Nursery on the
Sand Hills, near Augusta, Ga.
Other Catalogues received 'are of Verbenas
from Dexter Snow, Chicopee, Jlass. Vines from
Bissel Sc Salter, Rochester, 1. Y. Seeds at
Wholesale, J. M. TnoRBURN & < 0., N Y. City.—
Strawberries, W. R. Prince A (a., Flushing L. L
Our Nurseries aro offering y< irly an increased
stock, so that nearly all we nee can now be ob
tained near at hand.
NEW APPLE—'WINTE BELLE.
We are exceedingly pleased rith a new apple
sent us by J. Van Buren, Esq the well known
nurseryman at Clarksville. lie calls it the
Winter Belle. We quote from ns letter:
“Itis a new apple, which found about a
week since in my rambles : ong the side of
Aleck’s Mountain in this com ;y, and about 7
miles from home, in my searcl after new native
grapes.
I passed across an old field ow grown up in
pines and by the side of a attle path came
across the tree with about a l isliel of fruit on
it. It is probably an accident 1 seedling which
has grown up where some one ias thrown a core.
The field has been lying out f< r 20 years to my
knowledge. I think I have pu ed the fruit some
two or three weeks too early From its very
fair appearance and unusually firm texture, I
have scarce a doubt, it will prpve to be one of
the best, if not the very best winter apple we
have at the South. I think it will keep sound a
year.
I can hardly give an opinio* as to flavor yet,
although it is now very pleasant.”
When this apple becomes fit for eating, should
its merits equal the promise of its present ap
pearance, we shall give it a fill description. It
will be a remarkable keeper, judging it now
in comparison with Nickajack, and is more prom
ising in this respect than eve* the Shockley.
In the same box Mr. vln Bcren sent us
handsome specimens of the Hickajack, Bachelor,
Tenderskin, World’s Wonder, Chestatec, Dish
aroon and some unnamed voieties, for which,
and other like favors, he will please accept our
thanks. The World’s Wonder and Chestateo
are of but fair quality, the others are excellent.
VARIETY. SPECIES AND GENUS.
These are terms that wa shall have frequent
occasion to use in the rural departments of this
paper, and as in common language, they are of
ten loosely used, we will concisely define them.
Rightly understood and omployed they give
greater precision to our ideas.
A species includes all those individuals so es
sentially alike that they evidently have sprung
from common parents. Each species is char
acterized by a peculiar form and liable to vary
only within certain narrow limits. They may
differ in size or color, or in certain other unim
portant respects,but no other individuals so close
ly resemble them as they do each other, and
they can be permanently continued by natural
propagation. They “are distinct forms origi
nally created and producing by certain laws of
generation others like themselves.’ ’ Tlius the
Horse and the Ass are distinct species of ani
mals ; tho red and white Oak, distinctspecies of
trees.
Animals when domesticated, and plants when
brought under cultivation, being placed in new
conditions manifest a tendency to “ sport ” as it
is called, that is, to vary from the original type of
the species more or less, and while under culti
vation, or the care of man, these variations can
often be perpetuated, and thus, in the same spe
cies, distinct varieties are produced. All these
have more or less tendency to go back to tho
original type when left to themselves. Exam
ples of varieties among plants, are the differ
ent sorts of apples, pears and comellias. Among
animals the different breeds of cattle,as Devons,
Shorthorns Ac., so of dogs, horses and sheep.
Never talk of a species of pear, apple, or horse,
but use the word variety or breed. A breed, or
race is where a variety originally strongly mark
ed, has been kept pure for a long time by breed
ing in and in, so that its tendency to return to
the original type is greatly diminished. Varieties
in the animal kingdom can only be kept up in
this manner. In tho vegetable kingdom the
strongly marked ones can thus be continued by
seed, rejecting all that sport back to the type of
tho species, but the only generally certain way
of continuing them, is by division of the plant,
as in grafts, cuttings, layers, bulbs, and tubers,
Ac.
Certain species, evidently not originating from
a common stock, having common features of re
semblance, are associated in what is called a
genus. A genus, then, is an assemblage of spe
cies possessing certain characteristics in common
which distinguish tham from all others.* Thus
in the animal kingdom, the ass and the horse
are two species having certain features or re
semblance with each other, which distinguish
them from other animals, and are hence included
in one genus. For the same reason wolves and
dogs go into another. In botany all the species
of a genus agree in their parts of fructification,
and have at the same time a general resemblance
•Sometimes * single species is so strongly marked, as
by itself to constitute a genus, as for instance, man.
in habit Thus the oak is a natural genus in
which the species are all characterized by the
peculiar acom and its cup, so different from the
seed vessels of other plants, whilst the individ
ual trees of the two hundred and thirty odd spe
cies all have certain points of resemblance in
common; so of roses, pines, lilies, Ac. Species of
the same genus can nsusually be cross-bred, or
hybridized. Thus the mule is the result of cros
sing two species of one genus, the horse and the
ass. In the animal kingdom hybrids are seldom
if ever fertile. In the vegetable kingdom crosses
are rather more frequent, but even here hybrids
produce very few, or no seed, and if left to
themselves soon die out, but can be continued
indefinitely, by budding, grafting, Ac.
Varieties of the same species, can be readily
crossed, and the offspring is fertile, buj seldom
will this be the case where the cross is between
species of the same genu3.
Families or orders.—Several related generally
make up an order or family. Thus the oak,
chestnut, filbert, and beech, are classed in one
family; so the firs, pines and larches, all bear
their seeds in cones, and hence are placed in one
family, and called conifera. So in the animal
kingdom, lions, tigers, cats and leopards, from
certain common points of resemblance, are like
wise thrown into one order.
The orders most resembling each other, are
also thrown into classes, as fishes into one class
birds into another, Ac.
CONSTRUCTION OF A COLM»IT FOR PROTEC.
TING PLANTS.
We were preparing an article on the construc
tion of cold pits for re-interring plants, but find
the matter fully treated in the article below from
an old paper.
Many persons who are fond of plants are dis
couraged in their attempts to preserve them dur
ing the winter, not having the accommodations
of a green-house and are forced to abandon this
gratification, as circumstances will not permit
them to provide such a structure. A correspon
dent so circumstanced wishes some information
to aid him in the formation of a cold-pit, capable
of protecting plants over winter, without the use
of any artificial heat. Many half-hardy, or par
tially tender plants may be secured in a wooden
frame, made a little deeper than usual, and well
protected by heaping soil and stable litter against
its sides, to such a depth as to prevent the frost
from penetrating; and covering it closely in
winter when the nights are severe, by straw
mats and boards. Such a frame; nine fee't long
and four wide, furnished with three sashes,
could be readily constructed by morticing tho
end and side boards, or furnishing them with
hooks and staples, which would admit of their
removal if necessary. The frame should have a
slope from back to front of about eighteen inches,
with a southern exposure. If it is not intended
to remove it, it may be made more firm by mor
ticing tho end and sideboards also the sash
boards, and corner posts which driven into the
ground givo it stability. This will serve for the
preservation of many valuable bedding-out plants
such as verbenas, pansies, geraniums, carna
tions, mignionetto, polyanthus, auriculas, and a
variety of others not sufficiently hardy to sur
vive the winter. All they would require in such
a situation would be the occasional admission of
air, when possible, and attention to avoid damp;
very few applications of water would be found
necessary, the plants being kept as much as
possible in a state of rest. The inside of the frame
should be covered with coal ashes or gravel as a
bottom on which to stand the pots. When shel
ter is required for tall plants, a sunk pit is no
cessary; about 20 feet would be a convenient
length, and four feet wide; less than this would
not be worth the trouble of building. It might
be sunk three feet below the level of the ground,
if facilities existed for draining off the water
which would accumulate; this must first be pro
vided for, as the inside of the pit should be per
fectly dry. The wall should be built of brick ;
the back wall six feet high including three be
low the surface, and the front four and a half,
which would allow eighteen inches above the
ground. The wall would require a wooden plate
into which the sash posts are to be morticed,
which could be so constructed as to be moveable,
so as to afford facilities at any time for filling
the pit with forcing material, for which purpose
it might be conveniently used.
In severe weather it would require to be close
ly covered with mats and boards for the exclu
sion of tho frost, and only exposed when the
weather would admit of it.
In a pit of ‘this size many valuablo plants
could be wintered, such as geraniums, fuchsias,
orange and lemon trees, tender roses, salvias,
ageratumo, azeleas, and many other favorite
plants, not able to withstand exposure during
the winter. The plants required to fill the flow
er borders each season could there bo secured,
and would not require to be renewed at the nur
sery. By dividing the pit into two compart
ments, one would be appropriated to the raising
of plants for removal to the kitchen garden, when
the season would be sufficiently advanced, by
which means tomatoes, melons, cucumbers, and
many other vegetables could be procured at a
much earlier date than they would if sown at
once in the open ground. The flower garden
would be furnished with choice annuals in bloom
in June, which had been forwarded and trans
planted early in May, and would by this treat
ment be worthy a place in the garden.
The saving would in a few seasons make up
for tho outlay in renewing each spring wjiat the
previous winter had destroyed.
Artificial Honey. —Take 20 lbs. Sugar, 3
qts. water, 6 lbs good Honey, 1 teaspoonful es
sence peppermint, 1-5 ounce of cream of tartar :
dissolve the cream of tartar in a little of the
water, put all the ingredients in a preserving
kettle, bring them to a boil, skim off the froth
that arises; let it cool, and it is fit for use. The
better the sugar, the nicer is the honey.
Frost. —This has been a remarkably co v Eum ‘
mer at the North. In some towns in Massachu
setts frost has occurred every mon° t * l ' 3 J ear -
Near Boston they have had fros* eve 'F month
except July.
PusirKiN pumpkin, take out
the seeds, wash it clean an d cut it into small
pieces. They are to stewed gently until sott,
then drained, and seined through a seive. To
one quart of the rulp, add three pints cream or
milk, six beate* eggs, together with sugar, mace
nutmeg, and dnger, to the taste. When the in
gredients a* well mixed, pour them upon pie
plates, having a bottom crust, and bake forty
minutes ® a hot oven
[For the Southern Field and Fireside.]
RECENTLY INTRODUCED PLANTS-NO. 2.
Mr. White: —Os the garden novelties which
are, at the present moment, exciting the atten
tion of Florists, and from being in but few hands,
are sought for with the greatest avidity, Lilium
giganteum, Tritoma uvaria, and cynerium ar
genteum, are among the most prominent; and,
as the latter has just passed through a course of
flowering for the first time under my own eyes,
and, so far as I can learn, for the first time in
Georgia, perhaps it may gratify some of your
readers if I report the result of ray observa
tions. Not having at hand the books and au
thorities for making out its complete history, I
shall merely jot down such details as memory
supplies, without any pretensions to minute ac
curacy.
The Pampas Grass is so called in consequence
of its inhabiting those vast plains of South
America which stretch from the waters of the
Rio de la Plata to the foot of the Andes, where
it was discovered or made known to the scientific
world by Humboldt and Bonplaud, some fifty
years ago, and named by the German botanist,
Kunth, Gynerium, from Greek words expressive
of the wooliness of the pistil, and argenteum,
from the silvery lustre of its plumose stigma. It
belongs to the class and order Dicecia diandria,
aud Natural order graminece. The generic
description reads thus: „
Spikelets— 2 flowered; one flower sessile, the
i other stalked.
Male. —Glumes lanceolate, membranous; keel
unequal; Pale®; 2 membranous, 1 nerved,concave,
beardless; upper one shortest, blcarinate; stam
ens 2; scales 2; minute, collateral.
Female. —Glumes 2, upper one longest; Pale®
2, upper one beset with long hairs; inner one
small, bicarinate; keels pectinately cilicated;
stamens 2, effete; ovaria 2, glabrous; styles 2,
terminal; stigmas plumose; scales 2, membran
ous, subcilicated.
The species thus:
Tall, tufted, leaves spiny serrulated. Panicle
much branched, Spikelets pedicullate.
I have not been able to learn when it was in
troduced into England, but it does not seem to
ha-e been appreciated as an ornamental plant,
until about five years ago, whep it was “brought
out” by a nurseryman, who professed to bold
the entire stock, and advertised for sale, with
the most astounding praises of its stateliness and
surpassing grace and beauty. It made a great
sensation —was noticed by Dr. Lindley with high
commendations in the Gardeners' Chronicle, and
sold at a round price. It soon found its way to
this country. Mr. Raabe, I think, exhibited the
first spike of flowers to the Horticultural Society
in Philadelphia last summer. In the fall of
1857, Mr. Charles Downing most kindly sent me
a tuft of it, to ascertain its adaptation to this
climate. Unwilling to risk out at once so pre
cious a plant, I potted and kept it from frost in a
cold frame till the next spring, when I turned it
into the open ground, where it has stood ever
since—only slightly protected by some dry
leaves about the crown of the roots, and an old
mat thrown over the top in a few of the coldest
nights. It retained its greenth admirably, the
ends of the leaves for a foot or so, and some of
the outer sheaths, only being killed back. I
rank it as an evergreen, and it cortainly present
ed a striking and agreeable object for the eye to
rest upon in the winter garden, standing about
4 feet high, and covering a space of 12 or 15 feet
in circumference, its long, narrow, ribbed and
finely attenuated leaves of a peculiar bluish
green, arching gracefully over a concealed hoop,
till thoir t ! ps swept the ground.
The last summer was somewhat cooler than
the average, and with an unusual amount of
rainy weather. I have never watered this plant
since the day I turned it out; and no weeds
have grown under the dense shade or sweep of
its leaves. It grew slowly, but steadily, send
ing off no stolones, nor apparent suckers, yet
gradually increasing the diameter of the tuft,
its habit of growth being more like that of the
old Lemon grass (Andropogon schenanthus)
than any other. It was not till the last of July
that some of the central stems began to swell
beyond their fellows. Until then, out of some
twenty stalks, I could not have selected one
which I thought more likely to prove a flower
ing one than the rest. On the 10th of August,
the panicle began to burst open its sheath, so
as to show its tip. Six stems rising from the
from the centre, or very near it, had then ac
quired the height of my head, and the thickness
of my little finger. They all continued to elon
gate with equal steps. On the 15th, about a
foot of the panicle had protruded, showing its
silky character, and a few stamens, —small and
inconspicuous, but discharging pollen. On the
20th the whole panicle, (which was from 20 to
24 inches long,) was about 2 inches clear above
the last small leaf, and measured from the
ground to the highest point, as it stood arching
over, (as they all did most gracefully, 3 to the
N. W., and 3to tho S. E.) just » feet. If held
upright, it would reach 3 or 4 inches higher.
They remained for ten days or more, after that,
without any sensible change, although some
small showers intervened, and drew forth excla
mations of admiration from many visitors. I hap
pened to overhear one lady say furtively to anoth
er: “White horse tails!” The color, however, was
not quite so silvery white as I had expected to sec
it. I should call it a pale, greenish yellow, chang
ing as it grew old to alight fawn color; nor was
the lustre quite so splendent. It should be re
membered that this was the stameniferous form:
the pistil bearing is said to be much more beau
tiful, and to remain so much longer ; I can ea
sily comprehend why it should be so, but de«re
greatly to see a specimen of it.
Four of the stems I cut away for xpf friends
to preserve for a winter bouquet. -*"h e two left
standing, although bleached bv Jeavy rains, are
still to-day, October Ist, deadly striking ob
jects, and arrest the atte"* on °f passing near.
The old leaves are and green, and stand
more upright than e 7 dhl before flowering.
The edges and' J<^er m 'drib are armed with mi
nute Bilecioq ,- P* cu^e > and 01111 cut tlie fingers like
a sickle. - had fancied that these sharp points
might t'*‘ n out to be acuminated prisms of real
quar*-! hut under a microscope of high power,
I discover no faces of crystillization. Al
mough as limpid and transparent as barley-su
gar, they appear to be perfectly circular, elon
gated cones, shaped like, and quite as sharp as
a serpent’s tooth. Chemically, they may be sil
icate of lime, or perhaps of potash.
As a forage plant it must be regarded as a
rather rough customer. A donkey who seems
to enjoy the munching of furze and thistles
might, at a pinch, make a meal irom it. And
yet we can conceive that it is precisely this very
grass which yields the elements which build up
the elastic and wiry muscles of the wild horse of
the Pampas.
On the whole, though falling Rhort of the
gigantic bamboo-like characters ascribed to it by
the interested parties who had it for sale, it truly
is, what Dr. Lindley said it was—“ a. magnifi
cent grass,” capable of being used with great
effect in landscape gardening, and well worthy
of introduction into every pleasure ground. It
would appear to great advantage occupying the
175