[Greenwood Plantation Accounts: 1858-1859] Page: 3
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DESCRIPTIVE AND PRICES) CATALOGUES
OF THE
jtui an @nmnta r3ve an Iants
(LLTIVATED AND FOR SALE AT THE
WASHINGTON, ADAMS COUNTY, MISSISSIPPI,
W ILL Bl VORWAII)E1) ON APPLICATION.
THE N URSERIES have been established a nmlober of ears, ndl have securcd a renp ati n lr (rVrP tne'. for the excellent quality 1f
trees and plants, and for perfection in packing, which the subscriber hopes to maintain by increased care and attention. The supply Uf tree
for sale, is at no time large, as none but Southern-grown trees, and of thrifty, good growth, are, at any time, sent cut.
Prices may be somewhat higher than in some Northern nurseries; this it is doubtful.
reater value of labor in the South, the higher rates of wages, and the greater cost of living
But the advantages are so many of being able to purchase good, thrifty trees and plant
mate, and from a responsible party, near enough at hand to correct any errors that might occur, and whose manifest interest it is to grow an
sell stock which will do credit to his establishment; together with the still greater advantages of avoiding the ex
distant and tedious transportation, that the greater first costis but a secondary matter
1 of the varieties of fruits most noted at home and abroad, are to be found in the SOUTHERN NURSERI
Apples and Pears, each over 200 varieties ; Peaches, 60 ; Nectarines, 10 ; Apricots, 10 ; Cherries, 30 ; Plums, -so
Quinces and Medlars, each 5; Grapes, 15 ; Strawberries, 20 ; and of Raspberries, Pomegranates, Pecans, Walnuts,
Filberts, Almonds, Mespilus, &c., &c., a number of varieties.
Of those fruits which have proven themselves entirely adapted to the climate, large stocks are grown. In suLlppJrU U tiw Vicos uo t husc 11
believe that to grow good fruit in these Southern States, we must depend solely upon Southern grown trees, the following extract is given front
an able thil t g Fruit rw tm n th 8Bna" whieh appo ri in the i (nr, of 2(th Sept.. 1854. from the pen of a skillful amate
fruit-grower
If, as I contend is the case, both the soil and the climate of the planting States are better adapted to produciit. a ta ser }r i s to tic arc of the irduts titat of
Massachusetts, why, you will ask, this general neglect in the South of so important a branch of our industry Te answer, it strikes .e, is plain, ant easy of solution: and it
is. that the South, until very recently, has been entirely dependent upon Northern nurserynen for their seeds and their fruit trees. This is a matter of grave consideration
with us. 1 do not doubt that the planting States in the last thirty years, have purchased from European and Northern nurserymen. to the extent of many millions of dollar:
and the almost universal failure in the growth, and indifferent quality of the fruit from imported trees, have given rise to the belief so prevalent, that the soil and climate ci
the South wereunsuited to the production and maturity of the popular fruits.
I grant that the Peach may be transplanted from the North to the South. and do well, and in some instances te Apple; and that, under a favorable combination of circuro
sances, such as the early lifting of the trees at the North in the fall, short voyages out, and a propitious season for transplanting, even the Pear may have succeeded in soite
hands; but where one has met with success, thousands have made failures, and have erroneously deemed the climate or soil of the South at fault. f
I cannot better illustrate this point than by giving my own experience. Souse fifteen years ago, 1 inpeted from England one hundred trees of the lear dwarfed upon tin
,it sice; at that time a great novelty, and not to he procured front Northern nurseries. The trees opened sound and healthy:; were carefully planted out, and as carefully
milched and cultivated. Most of tien, however, died tre first summer; saine few for years made feeble attempts at growth, asd at this day but two trees out of the whole
stipment are living, and these have never yet borne fruit; while buds I have inserted from these trees into house-grown stocks, have made trees of luxuriant growth, and borne
frut worthy the gardens of tihe IHesperides.
Agaiin- imported from different Northern nurseries in all about one thousand trees: and finding in the first shipments, put up with matting in bundles, that rats hol
larked the roots of most of them, 1 ordered subsequent shipments put up in tight boxes; paid 30 cents per foot for freight by steamer, but again met with the loss and disti-
I intusent ; for although the trees opened sound and healthy looking externally, the black streak in the pith, when the wood was cut, foretold too plainly their fate when plan it
I. Nearly all died, as they had undergone a heating or sweating process in the voyage through the Gulf, and out of my whole importation, not one-third of the trees are nt
livig; and such even as have lived, have neither grown so vigorously, nor borne specimens of fruit so large and healthy, as I have raised from their scions grafted into nati e
seedlings. Per contra-wishing to procure some European varieties of the Pear and Apple of great variety: and knowing that Mr. Affieck, of this county, had imported the
genuine sorts from the famous English nursery of " Rivers," and propagated them upon native stocks, I ordered from his nurseries two hundred trees of the Pear, and one hui
tired of the Apple, and out of this order I lost but a single tree ; all grew off luxuriantly, and many of then have borne fruit which may be equalled, but not excelled, in any
region of our country. In looking over the Patent Office lieports for the answers to the inquiries upon the subject of fruit-growing in the South, I find complaints of Northern
' trees noted in every volume.
Mr. Van Buren, of Georgia, states as follows : " Southern raised trees succ'ed much better, come into bearing sooner, and are more durable than those imported from
~J Northern nurseries."
Mr. Morton, of Virginia, says: "Northern trees, however fine their fruit in their appropriate climate, seldom yield good fruit here. I have 12 or 13 acres in fruit trees, ands
while I do not believe I have lost one native tree by the weather, several of Northern origin die annually-most of them die from the freezing of the sap bursting the bark froin
use wood, which happens in hard weather after one of the warm spells in winter.
Mr. Whitfield, of Hancock county, in our State, asserts that thirty thousand dollars have been thrown away in that county, in the importation of fruit trees from the North.
This view of the subject is corroborated by Mr. Chisholm, of South Carolina, and Mr. IHarwell, of Alabama, and indeed by all the horticulturists of any eminence in the South-
cest States, whose opinions have been made public.
rIf it is so slai then, that the want of success in the South in fruit culture has been mainly owing to our dependence on Northern nurseries, it is no less plain that the rem-
It till be the establishment and support of nurseries In the South. *~ * * . *
1s this connection, allow me to make a few remarks upon the subject of acclimating fruits in the South. It is well known that all our popular fruits originated in climates
as warm as our own. The peach, the apricot, the cherry, the pear, and the apple, are all of them natives of warm regions in Asia and Europe. It was the skill and cultivation
of the ancient Greek and Roman that first subdued the harsh and sour crab into the mellow, crisp and breaking apple ; the bitter and austere hazard into the fleshy, luscious
~id nectared cherry. The Romans, in their burning climate, two thousand years ago, successfully cultivated no less than thirty-six varieties of the pear, twenty-two varieties
f the apple, and eight kinds of the cherry. Upon the overthrow of the Roman Empire, and the advance of civilization into more temperate latitudes, these fruits were gradu-
uirlly introducd, and in time acclinsated to colder regions.
In the animal kingdom, we find that when man or the domestic animals are transported from a cold to a tropical latitude, exercise is attended with extreme fatigue, and the
important functions of the body are deranged; and it is not until they undergo a period of seasoning, or acclimation, as it is called, that they can brave the climate with impu-
pity, or exert the prolonged strength of the native. And so in the vegetable kingdom ; a tree grown in the cold regions of the North, with its dense woody fibre, and constricted
sap vessels, when transported and exposed to our burning sun, is unable, from the texture of its wood and circulatory system, to radiate through the leaves, and effect throughthem those changes in the sap necessary to the deposit of woody fibre.
If a section is taken from one of our forest trees, say the sassafras or the locust, the annular rings will be found to be twice the width, and the calibre of the sap vessels
toubly as large, as in the same species of tree grown in a cold climate. However, then, the philosophic may speculate as to the cause, the fact is undeniable, that a tree grown
from the seed of an exotic fruit, or a bud from such tree inserted into a native grown stock, will grow off more luxuriantly, and bear fruit of a healthier character, than an)
Northern tree transported to our climate. In support of these views. 1 have noticed that the few varieties of the pear and the apple which were introduced into this county by
the early Spanish colonists, and first grown from seed, and continued by repeated grafting in native stocks, are remarkable for the healthy and vigorous growth of their wood
,e exemption of their fruit from rot, and its holding on to the tree to full maturity, which is rarely the case in tvees not fully acclimated.
The late Mr. Downing, int a private correspondence with the writer about ten years ago, upon the subject of acclimation, and after learning the character of our climate
-ai the mineral constituents of our soil, predicted that our planting States would, in time, originate nee varieties of fruit, rivaling those of temperate latitudes, and that even
xotic sorts would be found to improve by grafting or budding the saute variety through successive generations upon native stocks. In confirmation of his opinion, the horti-
culturists of Georgia have described and brought to light about twenty native varieties of the apple, many of which have been classed as "best" by the fruit conventions at
the North In our State I have learned of several excellent varieties of fruit cultivated in perfection fifty years ago, but which, frost change in ownership of property, have
died out and been lost, from want of attention to propagating them; and in our own county, I have discovered in early pear, ripening is May, of the highest excellence, and no
doubt a native seedling fruit."
OF ORNAMENTAL TREES ANI) S lRUtTBS there is a large and choice collection.
HARDY EVERGREENS, NEW & BEAUTIFUL SHADE TREES, FLOWERING SHRUBS, &c., &c.
Of ROSES, a great variety, including all of the finest and most beautiful perpetual blooming.
Trees and Plants are sent each fall and winter to the most distant parts of the South, even hundreds of miles into the interior of Texas,
lacked with such care and skill, that it may be said not a complaint has ever been made: but, on the contrary, numberless assurances have
ieen received that even the most tender plants have been received in perfect order.
Purchasers are assured that all Trees and Plants, sent from these Nurseries, are entirely clear of that ruinous pest, BITTER i1s:nt't
I oco, (Cyperus hydra,) a species of nut grass, which has been spread by such means ace cn(In (triil t< tie S 1ot I i their tin ir riit i t
any other than grazing purposes.
It is decidedly to the interest of purchasers to send in their orders as early as possible ; lsignatittg tie l'ears outp t stuows, vt otn 1uwttt
the Apples on seedlings, or on Doucin stocks, &c.; and if possible, permitting other kinds, ripening at the same season, to be substituted, if
needful.
Purchasers have expressed thengves so almost unanimously pleased with the stock sent out hitherto, that confidence is felt in being able
ti -ive equal satisfaction in future. ?
It must be understood that sales are made only for cash, or its equivalent. Orders may be sent through responsible business houses, or sight
drafts accompany the orders.
All shipments are made at Natchez, free of expense ; and when so shipped, all responsibility on the part of the subscriber ceases. If no con
toee is named in New Orleans, shipments will be made to careful forwarding agents. Bills of lading will, in all cases, be sent, per mtil. i
consignee.
consigneet ; t" IT THOMAS AFFLECK.W
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Wood, Green. [Greenwood Plantation Accounts: 1858-1859], book, 1858/1859; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth611821/m1/3/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Private Collection of Elsa Vorwerk.