Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1888-08-23
SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL.
old-Fashioned Carolina Gardens.

hose words bring one who was so fort
mate as to spend many happy hours
If childhood in the vast spaces of the
Charlestonian "gyarden" in the good
Did days! There was no attempt to
produce dwarf plants covered with
blossoms, and so losing all beauty of
proportion; but there was a generous
allowance of space for each plant, and
generous number of plants TO each
bed, so that visitors might Gull the
lowers to their hearts eontent-and
they always did. The garden was
place, too, where one might take con-
,titutionals or sit in the shade of the
fragrant spice laurel and read the
children might play hide and seek in
ihe sturdy, glossy bushes of the box.
Birds came IN for share of the de-
lights; the spirited cardinal grosbeck
,hone like jewel against the dark
leaves of the magnolia, and tho
lainty humming bird was lost
TO view as it lluttered among the love-
ly, creamy petals of the magnolia's
lueenly blossoms. Thrush and mock
ing bird poured out their songs from
ridden hooks, and the blue jay flew
excitingly near to the well-watched
bird trap, SO skillfully set by ebony
fingers. Among the prominent plants
were camellias in endless variety,
growing TO small trees in favored
localities; the snowy syringa, the
lilacs, red and yellow woodbine Qoni-
cera); the sweet shrub (calycanthus),
It's rich maroon blossoms pertaining
The air; the sweet bay (magnolia
glauca), with its flowers, so soft in
texture, so milky white, SO fragrant;
The oleanders of varied hue; the fringe
rec (chionanthus), with ethereal, al
most unique white blossoms; the Grape
myrtle Qagerstr9mia), originally
from Eastern Asia, its marvellous
quantity of flowers almost fatiguing to
the eye, though lovely in texture
and color; the cape jessamine
(gardenia), with camellia like
flowers and delicious perfume; the
spi9as and SNOWFALL; the semi-tropical
opopanax, with most delicate foliage
and fascinating, fluffy yellow balls
and lasting perfume; the sweet olive,
and one might add the citrina, as
under favorable circumstances its
height was often from five to six feet.
Conspicuous in some gardens was the
wild Cherokee rose, its ambitious
white blossoms and glossy green leaves
waving provokingly from the very top
Of ncighboring trees. Another favorite
rose was the old-time sweet, its petals
pale pink, and remarkably fragrant.
In some soils it blossomed so lavishly
that the gardeners would snap the
roses off at the base, and send them by
the basketful to be strewn among the
household linen or converted into rose
water of excellent quality. A fine
variety of this rose was brought, it is
aid, by General Thomas Pinckney
from France in 1898. Unfortunately it
is now dying out rapidly.
Among the useful as we'll as orna-
mental trees and shrubs of the garden
one must not overlook the oranges,
"sweet" and "sour," the latter by no
means to be despised by mortals sub
.ect to bad colds, for, when properly
treated, it makes most soothing and
pleasant drink. To carve and preserve
these golden balls was matter of no
small pleasure and pride to many a
country housekeeper. There was the
myrtle orange, too, the small size, the
'ich coloring and abundance of both
ruit and foliage making this shrub a
most valuable one for decorative pur-
poses The flavor of the fruit too, is
agreeable. Then there were the true
myrtles, single and double, both worthy
of mention, and wild variety, the
"swamp," which bears q small berry
from which it was the custom at one
time to make candles. To have these
of the required clearness and paleness
of color (green) was matter Of
domestic interest in the good old days
but, alas! these little arts are u thing
of the past, and we now use paraffinC
candles, gelatine preserves and coal
tar ilavorings. If to the above list the
sweet and Ogeechee lines and Olives
are added, some idea of the larger
growth of an old-time garden has beer
given.
Among the bulbs were the snow
drop, daffodil, narcissus, ionquil, al
coming into favor once more. Among
geraniums the hardy varieties wer,
favorites; the rose, whose branches
sometimes grew to the length of five
or six feet; the spice and ottar, gener
ally cut down in the fall and putting
out fresh shoots in the first days o
spring; the fish, commonly planted a
a hedge, growing four to five feet higl
and blooming generously. No garden
in city or country was considered quit,
complete without protecting hedge
and the popular shrubs for this pur
pose were the cedar, arbor vitae, will
, orange, euonymus, box and cassin,
(yapon). The dried leaves of this las
plant were much used as u substitute,
for tea during the war, and when i
comes within our doors now it is as
decoration, the beautiful semi-trans
parent fruit being very effective, anC
its common name of Christmas berr,
is well deserved. Cor. american Gar
den.
The Creamery Business IN Tennes
see.
The present outlook, from the farm
ers' standpoint in Tennessee, is tn
| best we have had for wears A fri