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WESTERN SPY.

success, by the application of coffee grounds to my trees.

when all others are killed by frost; it is a moderate grower and throws out numerous branches along the body when in the nur- My method is, to take away a little of the sery, but after being transplanted in the top soil from around the body of the tree, orchard it forms a good spreading top, mak-putting the coffee grounds in its place, in ing a handsome tree. The fruit ripens in the tenth month, and keeps till mid-winter; it is a fine large cooking apple, but not firstrate in flavor, though some admire it. SMITHFIELD, Ohio.

Egeria.

DR. WARDER:-As it is the object of your valuable Review to communicate to your readers any hint that may be useful as a remedy against evil, as well as that which

may
be of service to promote the growth of
fruit and fruit trees, I send you the follow-
ing simple recipe for preventing the depre-
dations of the peach-worm.

the proportion of a quart to a large tree, and a pint to a small one. This I do twice in the year-the first week in June and the first in September. I will venture to say, that if properly attended to, this will prove a sure preventive against the ravages of this relentless destroyer.

Now, there is scarcely one family in this country but could save enough of this article, in one year, to apply to fifty trees; and there is as much thrown away in the city of Cincinnati as would supply all Hamilton county. Yours, respectfully,

A FRUIT GROWER.

In the last ten or fifteen years, much has been said and done on this subject, and after Accounts from California state that many all nothing has been gained. I have experi- thousands of acres of wheat have been sown mented for two or three years with great in that state the present year.

THINGS SEEN IN ARKANSAS.

313

The Garden.

THINGS SEEN IN ARKANSAS.

in hight, are composed almost entirely of sand alternating with alluvial soil, curiously stratified, and giving unquestionable evidence of the successive overflows of this sand bearing river.

HAVING been absent during the month of February on a southern tour, in pursuit of health and business, I may have been supposed to have forgotten my horticultural friends, the readers of the Review, and their interests. Such however has not been Back from the stream, depressions in the the case; the material for the March Num- surface are of frequent occurrence; these ber had been placed in the hands of the are either deep, with bold banks and filled printer, and owing to the attentions of a with water constituting the lakes, or more kind friend it was able to make its appear-shallow they are the cypress swamps of this ance promptly, as though introduced to the region. The river banks frequently expose world by its legitimate sponsor. Some cor- ancient cypress swamps that have existed respondence, it is true, which arrived after at a lower elevation, long since buried by an my departure, was necessarily deferred, and afflux of sand, showing that the river has will now appear rather out of season. By repeatedly changed its course in its devious the absentee, however, you were not for- wanderings through this wide-spread plain; gotten; on the contrary, with watchful eye, indeed, so apparent is this, that the river-men he was constantly seeking for something constantly assure the observant traveler, that would interest you. But alas! the that "the whole country has been made." young state of Arkansas possesses little in Another curious feature of the banks, is the the way of horticultural development, but is distinct stratification which is everywhere chiefly interesting on account of her natural exhibited, not unfrequently presenting a low position, climate, and productions. water mark of stiff, dark loam, which still Entering the state from the great Father contains the remains of majestic cypressof Waters, and pursuing his tributary which trees buried in sand, and occupying an uptraverses and gives name to the state, the right position; above this a sandy loam of observer finds himself in the midst of an several feet in thickness, which has the apextended plain but little elevated above the pearance of having been once a fertile surwater and liable to frequent inundations.-face soil; superimposed upon this are many The stream is rapid, and in its devious alternating layers of virgin sand, each of course is constantly cutting into the alluvial soil in such a way as to show its fluviatile origin. The banks, averaging twenty feet

which is covered with a layer of dark soil, showing that they have been separately exposed to the action of the atmosphere

to the decay of vegetation. Shooting up the credit of being the best practical hortithrough all these successive formations, with culturists in the country. his towering head extending to the summit of the forest, still stands the ancient cypress, which has escaped the ravages of time that had destroyed so many of his original companions at a lower level. Surely this is a rich field, in which a disciple of Lyell may find abundant evidence of the sufficiency of present causes to account for the various transmutations of the surface of the earth; nor need he trace back the life of a cypress tree, for within the recent history of this state many of these changes have been witnessed. Farms that were yielding abundant crops were overwhelmed with heavy deposits of sand in 1833; that was again entirely swept away from some fields by the flood of 1844,

which enabled the farmer to resume his labors upon the fertile soil beneath. The constant falling in of these sandy river banks afford frequent opportunity for observing the stratification wherein is written, in distinct characters, the history of the

stream.

There will also be found a frequent succession of cut-offs, where the river has shortened its course many miles, while the old bed of the stream is rapidly filling up with sand, and sustaining a thrifty growth of young cottonwood; while the absence of old trees is the only evidence that the stream had ever pursued its course in that direction. In some positions, the banks of the river are so elevated as to be entirely beyond the reach of the ordinary annual inundations. Here we find extended plantations on an exceedingly fertile soil, furnishing large crops of the great staple, cotton, which enable the proprietors to erect handsome dwellings for themselves, surrounded with comforts and adornments, and also to provide neat and substantial outhouses for their numerous servants, who in such cases, have

In the neighborhood of Pine Bluff a new feature presents itself, although the peculiar alluvial characters of the stream, as already described, continue to mark it throughout, except where interrupted by the older formations, as at this point, where low ridges of an old tertiary [?] deposit cross the stream, and make up a considerable portion of country from here to the Wachita Hills. formation consists chiefly of alternating layers of colored clays and sand, capped by a very thin soil bearing pines and oaks, and resembles in many respects the Chickasaw Bluffs on the Mississippi.

This

The next feature of geological interest is the formation of slate and sand rock at the capital of the state, where the horticulturist will find something of more interest, in the

Gardens at Little Rock.

After a tedious trip up the Arkansas river, through the wilderness of low alluvial lands, wending our way among thickly set snags, or fenced in by broad sandbars and thick forests of tall cottonwood, it is pleasant, when landing at this point, to set your feet on terra firma, and witness the taste manifested in the gardens and cultivated grounds on this more elevated plateau. Even in the winter they are enlivened with evergreens, some of which are not sufficiently hardy to endure the rigors of a more northern climate. The Magnolia grandiflora looks well here; the wild olive, Lauri mundi, is beautifully fresh and green; so are the different Pines, Cedars, Euonymus and Box; the Bodark or Maclura, the Bignonia catalpa, the Robinia pseudo-cassia, and the Pride of China, are equally thrifty as street trees; and the Fig endures the winter, and bears abundantly its luscious fruit. The Weeping Willow waves gracefully above the rich green

THINGS SEEN IN ARKANSAS.

of the Holly; the China Roses retain their leaves after blooming most of the season, and are now pushing out vigorous shoots of new wood for the spring blossoming. The pear and the apple appear to grow with vigor, and are said to fruit well; while the peach bears a venerable appearance, and is free from the attacks of the Egeria.

315

natural resources that the legislature should not be slack to develop by a thorough geological survey, the report of which will be read with avidity throughout the country, and thus do an immense service to the state, by indicating to the enterprising everywhere, numberless opportunities for excellent investments of capital and labor. Nor need The garden of Mrs. Ashley, upon the the governor look far for a man well qualimain street, contains many fine specimens, fied by activity and knowledge to conduct among which are the evergreens already the survey which will conduce to the agrimentioned, and others of equal beauty. cultural as well as mineral developments of Fine plants of the Yucca gloriosa and Yucca the state. Dr. G. Shumard, of Fort Smith, filamentosa adorn this garden with their is already familiar with the country, and a magnificent parade of white bell-shaped devoted student of geological lore-both flowers in their appropriate season; while now, in February, the Cydonia japonica displays its scarlet flowers upon leafless branches. Great expense has evidently been incurred upon these grounds, which, with their appurtenances, constitute a complete homestead in the midst of the city, and occupy a large space.

Opposite, is the residence of the oldest editor in the state, Mr. Woodruff, who established the first newspaper, then at Post Arkansas, which was an old French fort of the sixteenth century. Mr. Woodruff now edits the Democrat, and enjoys the garden attached to his residence, where are several fine specimens of southern growth that appear to take excellent care of themselves. Among them is a simple but attractive object-a Bignonia radicans, attached to a cedar post twenty feet high, branches and droops in every direction like a weeping tree.

Further up the main street, on the western side of the city, is the beautiful StateHouse, which presents finely to the river, as well as to the street running south of the public square. It is a collection of buildings in the Grecian syle of architecture, and does credit to this youthful state, rich in

that obtained from books, and that written

upon the rocks themselves.

Opposite the public buildings is the residence of Roswell Bebee, Esq., a prominent citizen, who has endeavored to encourage the internal improvement of the state. His enterprise deserves acknowledgment. May the projects for the benefit of the state, in which he is engaged, meet the attention they deserve. His quiet but elegant residence is surrounded by beautiful trees and shrubs, among which are many of the natives the Holly, Bodark, etc.

I should have stated that the city is situated upon a high cliff of slate formation, overlaid by a deposit of drift, consisting of clays, sand and gravel, which presents a gently uneven surface that adds charms to the surface of an interior city. The depressions furnish admirable drainage, and the elevations are beautiful sites for residences, many of which are neatly improved.

My friend R. Wait is becoming fired with horticultural zeal in the arrangement of his new garden in the south-west part of the city, which he is stocking extensively with grapes. and other fruits obtained from the nurseries of Cincinnati. To the south, on an elevated position, is the ancient residence of the John

son family, neat and well kept; near which at Van Buren, near the western boundis quite a little orchard of healthy looking ary of the state, at the base of a range of apple-trees. To the south-west may be hills, a pleasant village is found, with indifound the quiet and dignified residence of cations of considerable mercantile activity. Colonel Fowler, surrounded by fine trees, As an evidence of the prosperous state of and near it one of the most gardenesque this town, snug inclosures, neat gardens and establishments of the city, belonging to Cap- comfortable residences may be cited. Here, tain Pike, well known as a poet and prose too, is a real nursery in the hands of Rev. writer. W. K. Marshall, who conducts its cultivation as the means of diffusing good, and a taste for good things, rather than as a source of profit. This gentleman assured me that everything grew with remarkable facility, and that the seedling peach had not unfrequently presented flower buds at the end of the first year's growth from the stone, and that the trees bore a considerable crop in their third summer. It may be here stated that the soil and climate of Arkansas are particularly adapted to the peach, which does not appear to be subject to any disease nor to the depredations of insects. In hundreds which I personally examined there was scarcely a trace of the Egeria, which is troublesome in our latitude.

At almost every turn some neat cottage presents itself, surrounded by trees and vines, and at this season enlivened with the snowy and roseate blossoms of the plum and peach. Just beyond the city limits, the substantial inclosures, excellent buildings, and benignant shade trees, (wisely preserved and encouraged in this latitude,) indicate the site of the United States Arsenal, and constitute an interesting feature, where everything is in complete order.

Pursuing the stream beyond the capital, the scenery presents an altered appearance; and as we here enter the hilly or mountainous parts of the state, it may be divided into the upper and lower river. It is true that the cottonwood, cypress, sweet gum, Leaving this point, the river cuts abruptly and cane-brake, characteristic of the allu- through the range of hills which shelter the vium, still continue along the banks; but a town, and after the traveler has watched the more hilly country makes its appearance, last beautiful cliff, he turns and enjoys the bearing a larger proportion of oaks and pines, prospect before him. A few miles up the and presenting, when cut by the river, fine river, he sees the thriving village of Fort bold cliffs of sandstone, and when seen in Smith, finely situated upon a high bank at the horizon forming beautiful peaks and a the mouth of the Poteau. This town has real mountain outline. Here also we find a the advantage of the public buildings of the poor, thin soil, characteristic of the rock government. The fort was erected when upon which it is based-the Ozark moun- this was the frontier of civilization, and the tains being a coal formation, with a large substantial buildings over which the stars proportion of sandstone. Here, too, is an and stripes ever float, give a bright and explanation of the sandy soil below, found cheerful air to the town. The background in the immense amount of excavation which of this view is peculiarly beautiful, being a has occurred in these hills. Leaving in bold grand mountain outline, from the midst of relief the cone of the Mammelle, towering like which, at the distance of forty miles, rises a volcanic peak-the extended escarpment the tall cone of the Poteau, like some vast of the Petite Jean, the massive Magasin volcanic peak projected against the sky.

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