USA > California > San Benito County > History of San Benito County, California : with illustrations descriptive of its scenery, farms, residences, public buildings, factories, hotels, business houses, schools, churches, and mines : with biographical sketches of prominent citizens > Part 24
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DEGREES OF HUMIDITY.
A word in regard to humility. In this respect the coast region is very accommodating. Humidity is not indicated by the rain-fall. It is the amount of watery vapor contained in the air. This can be measured pretty well with the wet and dry bulb thermometers. At the beach, and near the surface of the water, the air is almost or quite full of watery vapor at nearly all times. As we recede from the shore toward the sum- mits of the mountains, the air becomes dryer. We may find almost any degree of humidity required within fifteen or twenty miles of the coast.
MALARIA NOT PREVALENT.
There is very little malaria. Possibly in some of the mount- ain and forest closed basins, during the latter part of autumn, malaria may be generated. But generally the air is pure, be- cause these valleys are regularly swept, almost every day, by thic sea-breeze, coming with its ozone as a disinfectant. The sweeping is so gentle that the inhabitants are not disturbed, and yet poisonous gases are dispersed.
Influence of Climate on Pulmonary and Other Diseases.
IT may lie well to say a few words additional in regard to the influence of climate on pulmonary and other diseases tending towards consumption. There are certain conditions of climate where the physician can do but little good, owing to relapses from climatic causes; and with each relapse the hope of recov- ery becomes less. A change should early be made to a climate, the first requisite of which should be pure air. Temperature, elevation aud humidity should next be taken into the accouut, according to the requirements of the case.
For a long time the southern part of France has had a repu- tation as a favorable resort for consumptive patients. The little town of Cannes, and other places bordering on the Mediterra- nean, where a row of hills rises within a short distance of the sca- side, there have been crected, at various altitudes, villas and hotels, to accommodate the numerous persons who resort there for recuperation from disease. Many cases have been cured, and in others the discase has been stayed by moving up into these hills.
Many of those who are suffering with pulmonie fever, obtain almost certain relief by moving front three hundred to five hundred feet higher than where they may be living. This benefit comes not only to those suffering with consumption, but as a rule to all cases of disease accompanied by a quick pulse, high temperature, debility, and deficient state of uutrition.
A RESORT FOR INVALIDS.
Around the Bay of Monterey the elevations rise gradually, with terraces and plateaus, so that almost any desirable eleva- tion up to nearly four thousand feet, can be obtained within a clistance of ten or fifteen miles.
Furthermore, invalids must have some physical and mental employment to the extent of their strength. In this region there is ample scope. Within a comparatively small area there presents a great variety of resources. And the person who will not make an effort, by some active pursuit, to overcome all physical debility, is beyond the help of this or any other climate. These mountains, brooks, forests and fields; the hidden, unex- plored and undeveloped wealth; the sca-shore, with its exhiler- ating air and bathing facilities; mineral springs of undoubted good qualities, tried and untried; scenery that in all its beauty of earth, sky and water, is unsurpassed; all these, and many more, must stimulate and inspire the most despondent with fresh and bright ideas of life, and a resolution to overcome and break the fetters caused by disease.
Stock and fruit-raising, manufacturing and utilizing the abundant natural resources of this region, would give employ- ment to a very large population. And any taste, disposition or
-
PROPERTY OF MRS A.M.CULLMAN.
CENTRAL AVENUE SALINAS CALIFORNIA,
"MOORLAND COTTAGE " RES. OF MRS. A.M.CULLMAN SALINAS, MONTEREY CO. CAL.
117
A VERY DESIRABLE LOCATION FOR HOMES.
skill persons might have, would find congenial opening, for their use.
We do not speak of this region as a place ouly for invalids, as a place for suminer or winter resort, although, in many cases, invalids may be benefited by a short sojourn here; but it is a place to make a permanent home-to recover health and to retain it. There are many persons who have accumulated for- tunes in other lands-perhaps at the expense of health. Dis- abled in that respect, they cannot enjoy their homes. A change of climate becomes necessary. A few weeks or months miglit do grod; but a permanent change in many cases must be deter- mined upon. There are many places with sunshine anıl a genial climate.
But these alono are not all that is needed. Employment and contentment generally mean the same thing, and good health is often their attendant.
A PLACE FOR HOMES.
Persons with ordinary intelligence to guide willing and indlus- trious hands, with or without capital, would scarcely fait to find somewhere in the region thus imperfectly outlined, remunera- tive investments, bodily restoration if needed, and most assuredly comfortable and happy homes.
The following table, compiled from the reports of the State Board of Health, will show the mortality in twelve of the prin- cipal cities and towns of California, having a population of three thousand and over. The record is for 1874, a year of average health throughout the State; except San Jose, which is for 1870-71-twelve months-as no record for 1874 was within my reach.
TABLE SHOWING MORTALITY OF TWELVE CITIES AND TOWNS OF CALIFORNIA.
Deaths per 1.000.
CITIES.
200,000
20.14
San Francisco.
21,600
Sacramento.
20,000
Oakland .
15,000
Los Angeles.
12,000
Stockton ..
5,000
Marysville
5,000
Santa Barbara
4,500
10 40
Petaluma.
5,000
21.20
Napa City
10,000
San Jose. .
3,000
Redwood City
3,500
Santa Cruz. .
16.37
Total mean
By comparison with other years, I find that the results would scarcely be changed from those given, were it possible to present the average for a larger number of years. The table shows Santa Cruz as a place favorable for health, having the lowest
per cent of mortality. It also shows Santa Barbara with the highest per cent, but not necessarily unhealthy, because it is the chief resort for invalids in, perhaps, the last stages of cou- sumption, and other diseases that nu climate can eure, and dying there, have been includ .f in her mortality list.
HEALTHFULNESS OF THIS SECTION.
Of Monterey City, situated so nearly like Santa Cruz, I have no statistics. But there is scarcely a doubt that it would pre- sent figures no less favorable thau Santa Cruz.
While the mean annual mn irtality of fourteen Erstern cities of the United States is set at twenty-five per one thousand inhabitants, the mean of these twelve cities and towns of California, representing a city population of over three hundred thousand persons, is only sixteen to one thousand population.
Of course the mortality of large cities is much greater than that of towns an I rural districts. In great Britain the average of twenty-one large cities is twenty-five in one thousand, while the average of the country population hardly exceeds twelve. and in many localities will go much lower, even down to eight or seven. The average of town, city and country of the cast- urn United States, or what is called the " normal death rate.' is fixed at seventeen. The limit of deaths, considered unavoid- able by statisticians, is fixed at eleven to one thousand. All above this they hold to be preventable in healthy countries. But this limit of healthfulness is seldom reached. City mortal- ity, when under twenty, shows a high standard of health ; but when it reaches thirty and thirty-six, as it does in some years, owing to epidemics, the degree is alarming.
TEMPERATURE AND RAIN-FALL FROM SITKA TO SAN DIEGO. COMPILED BY C. L. ANDERSON, M. D.
REMARKS.
PLACES.
Jun
Feb.
Mar.
AS I MAY.
SEI June.
Aug.
Sept.
& | Nuv.
[2 | Dec.
Son'ly
Mean.
Rain.
Sitka
35 40 42
Steifacoor
41 49.44 5
Astoria
40 43 47 54
Humboldt Bay.
49 51 59 55 55,50 5
47152 53 57 59,67 67 00 64 62 54 47 58.00 19.43
Benicia ...
46 51 51 60,64 11 74 19 69 63 54 41 10. 25 20.06
Sarramento.
62 54 54 56 57|59 01 63 67:59 53 60 59.50[23.00 l'arts of ten years,
Santa Cruz.
52 49 55 58 61 63 08 86 65 57 56 41 51.90 22.05 Two years.
Watsonville
79 74 62 50 45,60.69 12. 00 18723
San Joaquin Valley ..
46 51 53 55.54
68 50 50 58 54 60 55.00 18 27
Monterey.
153 55:55:59 6
:3,63 66 61 52,81.15 14.00 One or two years.
Wilmington t
52 55 69 61 65 13 15 75 15,69 59 60:62.16 13.00 Two years.
51 53 56 66 62 07 12 13 .0 65 54 61,62 11 |10.00 Twenty-one years.
San Diego.
150 50 54 53 36 61 6; 66 80 62130 47 61.46
Hollister ..
Port of Los Angeles.
* A good averageyear in central part of valley.
The foregoing table is compiled from various sources, and shows only approximately the temperature and rain-fall at some points. Many years are required to obtain a correct mean. It gives the average monthly and yearly means of tem- perature. It shows the gradual ilecrease of rain and increase of temperature as we go south from Sitka, and will prove interesting as a comparison.
&t | April.
[ July.
$1 Oct
55,64 50 44 35 33 42.00 95,00
31 82 40 43 50
04 88 51 52 45 39 50.00 90.00
53 00 81 57 52 47 44 45.00 86.36
7,57,53 15 45 51.00 34.00
57 55 57 54 51 53.23 21.19 Twenty seven years.
San Francisco.
52150,51 53 56
06 63 59 54 61.09 14 71 Eight years.
Santa Barbara.
55 57 56 58 62
Los Angeles.
15.60
8.50
Population.
14.90
12.65
21.60
11.30
23.60
24.00
12.60
118
THE RAINY SEASON AND AVERAGE RAIN-FALL.
THE RAINY SEASON.
The season of rain in this section inay be said to commence in October and end in May, though it sometimes rains in June' It is rare that it rains longer than two or three days at a time' and the intervals between rains vary from a few days to a month or six weeks. Old Californians consider the winter the inost pleasant part of the year. As soon as the rain com- inences in October, the grass grows, anl by the middle of November the hills anl pastures are greeu. So soon as the ground is in con lition to nlough, after the first rains, the farmers sow their grain. December is usually a stormy month, with now and then a fall of snow in the mountains, but it is rare that the snow falls in the valleys, and never lies on the ground.
The thermometer seldom gocs as low as thirty-seven degrees above zero; occasionally there is a thin coat of ice over the pools of standing water.
THE MONTH OF HEAVY RAIN.
December is usually the month of heaviest rain-fall. In January we begin to recognize an indescribable feeling of spring in the air; the almond trees blossom and the robins come. During this month grass and early-sown grain grow rapidly. If the carly season has not heen favorable for seeding, graiu may be sown in January, February, or March, and it will produce well. In this county it is often sown as late as the mildle of April, producing a fair erop. As a rule, the bulk of the planting is done either in the fall, or in January, February, and the first half of March.
February is a growing month, and is one of the most pleas- ant in the year. It is like the month of May in the Eastern States. Peach and cherry trees hloom in this month. March is a stormy month; we are liable to have either heavy south- east storms or a dry north wind.
A MONTH OF SUNSHINE AND SHOWERS.
April, as in the East, is often all smiles and tears, sunshine alternating with showers. Nature pushes her work in April, and vegetation grows astonishingly. The turning-point of the crop comes in the long, warm days of this month; the rainy season is about over, and from that time until it matures the erop is sustained hy 'the moisture already in the soil. In June grain matures, and by the middle of July it is ready for harvest.
In April a last shower occurs, and then begins the dry sea- son. From that time until November there is no rain; every- thing is dry and parched; the grass cures and hecomes hay as it stands in the fields, and the dumb hrutes fatten and grow sleek on it. Persons camping out require no tents.
The amount of rain-fall differs in almost every locality. The rain-fall of Monterey. Salinas, and Hollister. will he found
1
under description of those places. No rain-fall tables have been kept for a succession of years in any valley, except at Sacramento, where records have been kept for thirty years, as well as the number of rainy days.
The following diagram shows at a glance the amount of rain-fall for any one year as compared with another :-
DIAGRAM AND RAINFALL TABLE.
Arranged for ELLIOTT & MOORE'S COUNTY HISTORY, showing the amount of rain in inches for each rainy season during thirty years, from records kept by the late Dr. T. M. Logan, and Dr. F. M. Hatch, of Sacramento. These tables are generally taken as representative of the whole State.
[SCALE ONE-NINTH OF AN INOH TO AN INCH OF RAIN.] Rainfall-Inches. 36.00.
Rainy Days, 53.
1850-51.
4.71.
46.
1851-52.
17.98.
48.
1852-53.
36.15.
70.
1853-54.
20.06.
76.
1854-55.
18,62.
71.
1855-56.
13.77.
54
1856-57.
10.44.
61.
1857-58.
18.99.
66.
1858-59.
16.04.
58.
1859-60.
22.62.
73.
1860-61.
15,54.
70
1861-62.
35.54.
83.
1862-63.
11.57.
52.
1863-64.
8,86,
37.
E
22,51.
59.
1865-66.
17.92
69.
1866-67.
25.30.
71.
1867-68.
32.76.
88
1868-69.
16.64.
58.
1869-70.
13.57.
47.
1870-71.
8.47.
37.
1871-72.
24.05.
69.
1872-73.
14.20.
39.
1873-74.
22.89.
80.
1874-75.
23.64.
76.
1875-76.
25,67.
68.
1876-77.
9.32.
45.
1877-78.
21.24.
65.
1878-79.
16.77.
64.
1879-80.
25.65.
75.
Year.
1849-50.
1864-65.
119
LIST OF THE TREES, FLOWERS, AND PLANTS.
The Botany of the County.
ASIDE from rain-gauges, hygrometers, thermometers and such things, all useful in their way, and helps to a correct knowledge of climate, we have a single and more certain test. It can be read and applied at a glance. It is the flora of a country. If we know the plants, we may be able to describe the climate. The botany of this region tells, with peculiar emphasis, the qualities of the cliurate.
The number of plants is so great that to make a full catalogue of them would only be of interest to the professional botanist. I shall not attempt much more than a general description, except to give a list of the trees. They will indicate somewhat the character of the smaller plants. They will also indicate to the horticulturist the kind of plants that may be successfully grown here for fruit, ornament or other uses.
FOREST TREES OF THE COUNTY.
In making this list, it has been a question sometimes where to draw the line between trees and shrubs. Some of what might be called shrubs in less favored climates, grow to be trees bere. There is quite a list of shrubs not included in this list but several shrubs, properly so called, will be found here.
BUCKTHORN FAMILY.
RHAMMUS CALIFORNICA-Alder Buckthorn-Ten to twenty feet high, forming thickets; wood soft, like Alder. The fruit contains a seed like the coffee grain, hence it is called " Wild Coffee." and the seeds bave been used as coffee, but the plant is quite distinct from the Coffee plant.
CEANOTHUS THYRSIFLORUS-California Lilac-Six to eighteen feet bigb; borders of forest; wood bard, makes good fuel; . flowers fragrant and handsome.
C. PAPILLOSUS-Resembles the last; not quite as large; six to ten feet bigb.
C. INOANUS-Hardly a tree, but a large, straggling shrub along crecks.
C. CRASSIFOLIUS- Six to twelve feet high.
STAFF-TREE FAMILY.
EUONYMUS OCCIDENTALIS-Spindle Trec-Eight to fifteen feet high; not abundant.
MAPLE FAMILY.
ÆSQUEUS CALIFORNICA-Buckeye, Horse Chestnut-Ten to thirty feet high. A really handsome and ornamental tree when properly trained.
ACER MACROPHYLLUM-Big Leaved Maple- Fifty to ninety feet bigb; wood soft but valuable.
NEGUNDO CALIFORNICUM-Box Elder-Fifty to sixty feet high; abundant.
SUMAC FAMILY.
RHUS DIVERSILOBA-Poison Oak-From a small shrub, three or four feet high, to quite a tree, twenty to thirty feet high, and six inches in diameter. A great pest on account of its poisonous qualities.
PULSE FAMILY.
LUPINUS ARBORECS-Treo Lupine -- Four to ten feet high, with a variety of fragrant flowers. Serves as an excellent wind- break.
ROSE FAMILY.
PRUNUS ILICIFOLIA-Wild Cherry-An evergreen, fifteen to forty fect high.
NUTTALLIA CERASIYORMIS-OAD Berry-Two to fifteen feet high. HETEROSIELES ARDETIFOLIA-Photinia-Four to twenty feet high, with beautiful red berries, ripening in December.
AMELANCHIER ALNIFOLIA-June or Service Berry-Eight to twenty feet: berries edible.
ADENOSTOMIA FASCICULATUM-Chaparral, Chemissal-Eight to twenty feet high.
CURRANT FAMILY.
RIGES SPE CIOSUM-Will Currant-Six to ten feet high; has beau. tiful Fuchsia-like flowers.
R. SANGUINEUMI-Growing to be a small treo, twelve feet high; beautiful flowers.
DOGWOOD FAMILY.
CORNUS NUTTALLII-A small tree, twenty foot high ; resembles the " Flowering Dogwood" of the East, but more showy; northern part of county.
C. CALIFORNICA-On stream banks; ten to fifteen feet high.
HONEYSUCKLE FAMILY.
SAMBUOUS GLAUCA-Elder-Grows to be quite a tree, ton to thirty feet high, and often a foot or two in diameter.
COMPOSITE FAMILY.
Of this very large family of plants, so abundantly represent- ed iu this county, only one or two assume anything like the proportions of a tree.
BIGELOVIA ARBORESCENS-A shrub four to eight feet high, but growing with the habit of a tree, on dry hills, with Pinos and Manzanitas.
BACOHARIS PILULARIS-Groundsel Tree-The California Botany says, "two to four feet bigh," we have it eight to twelve feet bigh.
HEATHI FAMILY.
ARBUTUS MENZIESSII-A handsome tree, called " Madrona " by the Spaniards, because it resembles the Strawberry Tree of the Old World. One of our most attractive trees.
ARCTOSTAPHYLOS TOMENTOSA-Manzanita-Six to twelve feet bigh; berries abundant, edible.
A. ANDERSONII-A small tree, ten to fifteen feet high. So far only found in vicinity of " Big Tree Grove," near Santa Cruz, by the author of this paper, but probably will be found in Monterey county.
RHODODENDRON CALIFORNICOM-The California Rhododendron is a beautiful shrub or small tree, six to eight feet high.
R. OCCIDENTALE-Azalea-Ten to fifteen feet high, flowering all the year, giving fragrance and beauty to the woods; every- where about springs.
LAUREL FAMILY.
OREODAPHNE CALIFORNICA-Bay Tree or Mountain Laurel-A valuable tree for cabinet and furniture work, thirty to one hundred feet high, and one to three feet in diameter. Beau- tiful for inside finish of houses.
120
LIST OF THE TREES, FLOWERS, AND PLANTS.
PLANE THEE FAMILY.
PLATANC- RACEMOSUS-Sycamore er Buttonwood-In valleys bordering the coast; fifty to one hundred feet high; wood valuable, receives a good polish; durable.
OAK FAMILY.
QUERCI'S LONATA-White Oak-On epen mountain spaces; tim- ber useful; fifty te seventy feet high.
Q. ACHIFOLIA-Live Oak. Evergreen Oak-Abundant; forming groves near the ocean; thirty to ninety feet high.
Q. DENSIYLORA-Chestnut Oak -- Furnishes tun bark ef the best quality.
Q. CRYSOLEPIS-Canyon Live Oak-A valuable timber tree, with tough fibred grewth; next to the Eastern White Oak.
CASTANOPSIS CHRYSOPUYI.L.A-California Chestnut-Generally shrubhy, but sometimes fifty feet high. A variety called Pumila, shrubhy, en sandy hill- sides; " Chineapin."
CORYLUS ROSTRATA-Hazelnut-Eight te ten feet high, bearing abundance of nuts.
SWEET GALE FAMILY.
MYRICA CALIFORNICA-Bayberry er Wax Myrtle-Moist plaees ; fifteen to twenty feet bigh; evergreen.
BIRCH FAMILY.
ALNUS VIRIDIS-Alder-The charcoal ef this tree is used exten- sively in pewder manufacture.
WILLOW FAMILY.
SALIX BIGELOVII-Bigolow's Willew-Ton to fifty feet high; eemmen.
S. LASIANDRA-Shining Willow-With preceding; forty to fifty l'eet high.
S. LEVIGATA-Smooth Willew-With the preceding; a hand- some treo, especially when in bloom; twonty to forty feot high.
S. SITeHENSIS-Sitka Willew-Has a beautiful silky leaf under- neath; near the running streams; ton te fifteen feet high; generally reelining.
S. BRACHYSTENAYS-On hill-sides, where the male plant lights up the herders ef openings with white, woolly eatkins, early in February; eight te twenty feet high.
POPULUS MONILIFERA-Cottonwood, Peplar-Large trees aleng the ereeks; there are probably twe er three species, as yet not fully decided.
PINE FAMILY.
PINUS INSIGNIS-Monterey Pine-Well known as the most com. mon cultivated Pine; of rapid growth, reaching sixty feet high in a few years. Only feund about the Bay of Monterey.
P. TUBERCULATA-Knetty Pine-A handsome little Pine, ferty te sixty feet high, with symmetrical elusters of eones.
P. PONDEROSA-Yellow Pine-High, sandy ridges; a valuable timber, reaching one hundred feet in height.
ABIES DOUOLASII-Deuglass Spruce-Next to the Redwood in size and value for lumber.
SEQUOIA SEMPERVIRENS-Redweed-Sometimes reaching three hundred feet in height.
TORREYA CALIFORNICA-Nutmog Troe-A valuablo timber. The nuts are not like the Nutmeg, excopt in appoaraneo, out- side. The meat is ediblo, but tho squirrols usually get it; grows fifty to eighty feet bigh, and two or threo feet in diameter.
TAXUS BREVIFOLIA-Western Yew-Raro; thirty feet high. At Laguna Falls.
CUPRESSUS MACROCARPUS-Montoroy Cypress-Vory abundant; in cultivation as an ornamental troe; thirty to ono hundred feet high. Nowhoro in the world as yet found savo Rbont this bay, and more fully deseribod elsewhere.
Other trees may be discovered. The recesses of valley and mountain have not all been explored, as yet, by the botanist, and it is likely many additions to the flora of this region will be made.
FLOWERING PLANTS.
The herbaceous flowering plants are so numerous that we ean only speak briefly of the members of a few families.
The buttereups are represented by the Ranunculus Califor- nicus, which, during the whole year, may be seen with its yel- low flowers, in moist, grassy plaees.
A clematis may be seen elimbing over trees and bushes aleng our creeks. When the white, silky flowers are gone, the fruiting, with its long, white tails (one to two inehes), gives the trees over which it twines, a beautiful appearance during the winter months.
We bave the little "wind flower," Anemone Nemorosa, so much loved in the East. With us it grows larger, and none the less beautiful.
The columbine, Aquilegia truncata, has a beauty not inferior to any of its relatives, and the larkspurs, of which there are four or five species, all perennial, have great beauty.
Of the barberries, we have three or four shrubby plants, all worthy members of that family. Some are used in medicine, and others have berries not unpleasant to eat.
The poppy family is represented by three or four beautiful speeies, worthy of cultivation, the Eschscholtzia and two speeies of Plutystigma being among them.
There are four speeies of beautiful violets, three in the woods and one in the fields.
Two species of "Spring Beauty," Claytonia, are found in abundanee. Also a beautiful mallow flowering early in the spring in fields, quite attractive, and among the first spring flowers.
The lupines are numerous, and nearly all handsome-about ten species of the forty to fifty belonging to California. We have also a large proportion of the clovers-ten out of the twenty-six eredited to California. Many of them are showy and singular in shape; besides, they furnish good forage for horses and cattle. We cannot say as much for the lupines. Wild peas abound, and cattle get fat on them in the mountain ranges.
1
1
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W.W. ELLIOTT & CO. LITH. S.F. CAL.
BUENA ESPERANZA RANCHO. RE 12 MILES FROM SALINAS
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1
ESIDENCE. OF MICHAEL LYNN. AS. MONTEREY CO. CAL.
121
A BRIGHT AND BEAUTIFUL FLORAL SCENE.
WILD FLOWERS AND VINES.
Two wild roses, onc in the woods, and the other on the open lands, are found. They are hoth very fragrant, both beautiful, hut not as showy as cultivated roses.
Evening primroses, two or three members of the family, are well worth cultivation, especially Zouschneria, Clarkin, one or two species of Enothera and Godetia.
Twining over trees and undergrowth, there is a vine some- what like a eneumber. It is Megarrhiza, commonly known as " Big Root." It bears a fruit about the size of a peach, covered with prickles. Often the root is twelve to fifteen inelies in diameter, and four or five feet long, whilst the vine may be fifty feet long.
Another vine, often found with the ahove, is a eonvolvulus (C. occidentalis). It has white flowers, large and handsome.
Conspicuous along the shaded streams and moist hill-sides, are several species of the " Monkey Flower," Minulus Douglasii, M. lutens, M. moschatus (the musk plant), and on dry grassy hills, the M. glutinosus. With the latter, and about moist cliff's, the Collinsia bicolor grows. This has a beautiful flower, and is often cultivated.
THE SEA MOSSES.
But if we choose a different scene, we may find it in all its strangeness on our beaches at low tide. There we shall, at all seasons, find abundance of sea plants-the algie. The coasts abound in the greatest variety of sea moss, and other marine plants. First of organic forms, these grew in the sea, when there was no place for the flora of the land. These are the pioneers of the vegetable kingdom, the first-boru of creation. They deserve our especial and particular attention, not only for the beauty that many species possess, but as coming more directly from the Creative hand, in that day when the waters were commanded to " bring forth abundantly."
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