Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1883-02-21

MONTGOMERY, Ala, Feb. Is, 1883

! ED1lOh ANET,ODlnCAN:--lJ III now III
a. m and the mercury stands at 70, in
the shade. 1t falls to about go during
the night We have not bad single
bad day in February so far. For more
than two weeks, now, the days have been
as perfect as Lowelrs June days AS a
consequence most wonderful change has
taken place iii everything Gardens
have come on as if by magic. The mar
rowfat peas, with black eyes, given me by
my good friend, Mr. Doddimead, are al
ready climbing up their bushes We en-
joyed the first fruits of our garden to-
day, in the shape of a mess of green on
ions. Beets, radishes, lettuce, turnips,
carrots and potatoes are coming on rapid
ly. We expect to have strawberries in
about two weeks The early peaches and
plums are in full bios som. This is GER
tainly land of beautiful flowers. On
Monday of this week instead, of taking
my usual rest, after preaching, in the
house, [ started out for stroll about the
city. wish | could give your readers
some idea of the beautiful flowers I saw
and especially of this delicious southern
atmosphere The plum trees snowy
whiteness and the beautiful pink Of the
peach are familiar sights, at the north,
but the magnolia blossoms, in purple and
white, are seem, out of doors, only at the
south. 1t is the dwarf magnolia that is
now in blossom. The tree is about the
size of an ordinary cherry or apple tree
and, before any foliage appears on it, it is
covered all over with beautiful blossoms,
sometimes white and sometimes purple.
The flowers are nearly twice as large as
an ordinary tulip and about the same
shape. They are very fragrant and
great attraction for bees. This species
of the magnolia, although remarkably
beautiful, is not at all equal to the ever
green magnolia The different varieties
of hyacinth and narcisus are lust pass
ing out Of bloom and the crocus, snow
drop and star of Bethlehem are taking
their places. In one yard | saw the
words, "Glory to God in the highest, and
on earth peace, good will towards men"
in letters about Is inches high, made ell
tirely of stars Of Bethlehem 1t was in
a large, old fashioned yard, where once,
/ by the labor of many slaves, everything
/ had been kept in fine condition. But
with the war went master and slaves and
money and now everything has an air of
neglect about it, except this bed which
is kept, with great care, by a survi wing
daughter, as if in memory of better days.
But the most beautiful of all the flowers
now in bloom are the japonicas. The
bushes Of almost every size, from a small
shrub to quite large tree, and the flow
ers are of nearly every shade of color
Some are of soft pearly white, others
very large pink; the most snowy of all
are the cardinals. The Japan ounce is
sometimes seen at the north but there it
blossoms very poorly. Here the large
tree, without any foliage upon it blossoms
so fully that it has the appearance of one
immense flower In short walk, this
afternoon, noticed many roses almost
open and one patch of peas nearly ready
for the table.
spent all day yesterday with some
friends in the country. In point of en-
ioyment and profit it proved to be one of
the best days have had at the South. l
was, most of the time, on the piece Of
ground referred to in my letter of Deem
Der goth. have read good many let
tersI lately from parties in the North max
ing inquiry about real estate, both in the
city and the country, and so have been
looking the matter up little. [ fnd
great deal of excellent city property, of
every description, for sale at very low
rates but with strong upward tendency,
and bargains, without numbers, all dis
tances from the city. The choicest piece
of country property have found, yet, is
the piece | have mentioned already re-
ferred to- called the "Conley tract" I
gave it thorough examination, yester-
day, and can speak with intelligence in
regard to it, 1t is barely outside of the
city limits, not 8 miles from the post of
flee. 1t is on the Western Alabama r.
r. and will, probably, have station up
on it before long. 1t has also, macad
amized road, running through it, that is
kept in such good condition as to be al
most equal to race track It leads from
the city to Picketts Springs, fine water
ing place adjoining the Conley track. All
day long, on these beautiful days, this
road is thronged with gay turnouts I
have spoken of this plantation as lying
! between two roads, with broad cedar ave