USA > New York > The natural, statistical, and civil history of the state of New-York, v. 1 > Part 44
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Pickerel-The pickerel, which resembles the pike in dis- position and habits, dwells in lakes Champlain, Ontario, Eric, and some other waters of this State. It weighs from three to upwards of thirty pounds.
Bass-The bass of lakes Erie, Ontario, Oneida, Otsego,
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HISTORY OF THE
George, &c. weigh from two to five pounds. The kind known by the names of Otsego and Oswego bass, is a delicious fish, equalling the best fish taken in the ocean.
The white fish is an inhabitant of lakes Ontario and Erie. In form it very much resembles the shad. Its weight varies from three to six pounds. They go in shoals. 'The white fish is in considerable estimation. It, however, is inferior in rich- ness and flavor to the salmon, salmon trout, and bass. They are usually caught in nets and seins. ,
Sciscoes-These fish also go in shoals, and are about as large as the herring taken in the Hudson. Great numbers are, annual- ly caught with nets in Chaumont bay, and other places around Lake Ontario.
Upwards of four thousand barrels have been salted in one year at the latter bay.
Lake Erie is well replenished with white, and other fish.
- Lake Sturgeon-This fish is found in lakes Champlain, Ontario and Erie. It is a fresh water fish. Its usual size is from four to six feet.
Chubb-There are two kinds of fish called by this name, the lake and river chubb.
The lake chubb, called by some the dace, inhabits lakes Champlain, Ontario, Erie, Oneida, Cayuga and Seneca, and most of the rivers and streams passing into those lakes. It is a beautiful fish, weighing from one to four or five pounds.
The dace at present inhabits the Mohawk, but it is a new comer. The first ever seen in this river, were, after the con- struction of the canal at Rome, which unites the latter river and Wood creek. Since then the numbers have greatly increased.
Perch-Yellow and white perch are abundant in lakes Eric, Ontario, Champlain, Oneida, Cayuga, Seneca, and Canandai- gua. They are also found in our rivers and streams. They weigh from half a pound to two or three pounds.
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* STATE OF NEW-YORK.
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CHAPTER XV.
TREES, SHRUBS, PLANTS, &c.
IN this chapter we intend to do little beyond giving lists of such trees, shrubs and plants as are native, and such as have been imported, and are known, in a measure, to our citizens. These lists, we think, cannot fail to interest a portion of readers. The same course has been pursued by those who have written histories of some of our sister States.
White cedar
· Red cedar
Pine
White pine Yellow pine Pitch pine or Black pine
Larch
Hemlock
White spruce
Black spruce
Fir, or balsam
Ground hemlock, or creeping hemlock Pepperidge
- Tamarac
Tamarix
Oak
Quercus
White oak
Quercus alba
Red oak
Quercus rubra
Black oak
Quercus nigra
Chesnut oak
Quercus prinus
Swamp oak
Quercus humus
1. Quercus fruticosus
Shrub oak VOL. I.
Thuja occidentalis Juniperus Virginiana
Pinus
. Pinus strobus Pinus pinea Pinus tæda, Pinus nigra
Pinus larix
Pinus abies
Pinus candida Canadensis
Pinus nigra Canadensis Pinus balsamea
Pinus abies terrestris
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522 1
HISTORY OF THE
Dwarf shrub oak
Quercus pumila
Chesnut
Chesnut
Red beach White beach
Swamp beach, or
· blue beach
Fagus- Fagus castanea Fagus rubra Fagus candida
Fagus humus
Walnut, or white hickory
Shag bark walnut
Black walnut Butternut
Button wood, plane tree
Horn beam, or iron wood
Sugar maple
Red maple
Acer rubrum
White maple
Acer negundo
Curley maple
Swamp maple
Mayberry, a small tree bearing red berries.
White ash
Fraxinus excelcior
Black ash, or swamp ash Fraxinus nigra
Prickly ash Fraxinus aculeata
Mountain ash
Birch
Betula
Black birth
Betula nigra
Yellow birch
Betula lenta
White birch
Betula alba
Alder
Betula alnus
White elm
· Red elm
Slippery elm
Bass wood, or lime tree
Juglans alba
Juglans alba cortice squamosa. Juglans nigra Juglans alba cortice cathartico
Platamus occidentalis
Carpinus betulus
Acer saccharinum
Ulmus alba, aut ulmus · Americana Ulmus rubra
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Ulmus lubrica 1
Tilia Americana
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White wood, or tulip Linden Black locust
Tulipa '
Robinia pseudo acacia
Laurel
Laurocerasus laurus
Sassafras
Laurus sassifras -
White poplar, or aspen
Black poplar, or balsam
White willow
Yellow willow Red willow
Weeping willow
Fragil, or crack willow
Dog wood
Cornus sericæ, aut Florida
. Button wood, button tree, or pond dog wood
Cephalanthus occidentalis, aut cephalanthus Americana
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It is rather a shrub than a tree, and does not attain much height.
Black cherry tree
Prunus Virginiana, cerasus nigra Cerasus strangulans
Choke cherry tree
Red cherry tree Cucumber tree
Cerasus rubra
Magnolia acuminata
Antna triloba
Papaw Red plumb tree Yellow plumb tree Thorn tree
Prunus rubra
Prunus lutea Prunus spina. 2or more species
Crab apple tree
Juniper Hazelnut (tree)
Pyrus caronaria Juniperus sabina Corylus avellana Hamamelis
Witch hazel
Moose wood, or leather wood Brush wood
Vimen, or salix viminales
. Several species Lignum aromaticum Felices. Several species
Spice wood Ferns,
Populus tremula Populus nigra Salix alba Salix
Salix rubra Salix babylonica, aut salix flens Salix fragiles
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HISTORY OF THE
Shoemake
Large shoemake Small shoemake Cranberry
Bush cranberry
Vaccinium
Black currant
Ribes nigra
Smooth gooseberry Prickly gooseberry
Ribes plana grossularia. Ribet spinosa: Several varieties
Vaccinium magnum
Vaccinium parvum
Sambucus nigra
Sambucus rubra, aut viburnum opulus
Barberry
Berberis vulgaris
Mulberry
Morus nigra
Vaccinum corymbosum
Blue berry
Vaccinum
Choke berry
Black raspberry
Red raspberry
Rubus Canadensis
Patridge berry
Arbutus veridis
Pigeon berry
Cissus
Rubus fructicosus
Rubus ascensus
Rubus occidentalis
Rubus moluccanus
Running blackberry Cloud berry
Rubus camæemorus
Black grape
Vitis labrusca Vitis cærulea
Fox grape
Vitis vulpina
Wild hop
Humulus lupulus
Strawberry
· Fragaria vesca. Several varieties Rubus cæsius
Esculent Plants, &c.
Wild leek
Wild onion Wild oat
Zizanicea quatica
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4
Billberry
Vaccinum
Rubus nigra
Upright blackberry
Climbing blackberry Brambleberry
Blue grape
Dew berry
Vaccinium oxycoccos
Large whortleberry
Small whortleberry
Black elder
Red elder
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Wild pea Indian cucumber Mandrake
Medeola
Medicinal Plants, &c.
Angellica
Arsmart
Blue flag
Sweet flag
Acorus calamus
Black snake root
Blood root
Actea racemosa Sanguinaria
Seneca snake root
Polygalia senega
Elecampane
Inula helenium
Garget
Phytolæca decandra
- Ginseng
Panax trifolium
Spikenard Sarsaparilla
Aralia
Gold, or golden thread
Nigella
Clivers
Gallium spurium
Dragon root
Lobelia
Arum - Several species
Lilly
Many species Nymphæa
Pond lilly
Marsh lilly
Nymphæa palustre
Liquorish root
Marsh mallow
Mallow
Maiden hair
Petty morrel
Pleurisy root
Solomon seal
Serma
Skunk cabbage
Wild rose
Burdock
Plantain
Malva rotundifolia Adianthus pedalus Aralia nigra Asclipias decumbens . Convallaria Cassia ligustrina Arum Americanum
Rosa sylvestris
Arctium Plantago. Several species
Angellica sylvestris Pollygonum saggittatum Iris (cæruleo colore inflectus)
Nardus
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HISTORY OF THE
Perula Cochlearia armoracia
Poke weed Horse raddish Water horehound Winter green (upright) Running, or creeping winter green Worm wood
Colts foot Euphorbia Rheubarb
Thorn apple Hen bane
Night shade
Creeping ivy
Swamp sumack Baneberry White hellebore
Great plantain Marsh plantain Comphrey Bittersweet Cow parsnip
Spice wood, or fever wood Slippery elm
Marsh rosemary Adder tongue Black elder Red elder- Sassafras Prickly ash Dog wood Horse mint Water mint Penneroyal -
Artemisia absinthium
Euphorbium Rheum
Datura stramonium Hyoscyamus niger Solanum nigrum Rhus radicaus Rhus toxicodendrum Actæa spicata Veratrum album
Said to be possessed of valuable medicinal properties
The bark is a most excellent mucilage
Sambucus nigra Sambucus rubra Laurus sassifras Fraxnius aculeata Cornus Florida Mentha
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Hedge nettle Motherwort Tansey
Wormwood May weed White walnut
Butternut Swamp willow Spieen wort Lung wort
Of medicinal plants, &c. we have enumerated about seventy, but these falls far short of the number. Our catalogue extends but little beyond such as are known to most persons. There is scarcely a section of country but what affords some variety.
Alimentary Herbs or Plants, &c.
1. Such as are Indigenous.
:Indian corn* (Maize)
Zea mais. Many varieties, such as the white, the yel- low, &c. Folle avoine. Zizania
Wild rice
Potatoe
Potato. Solanum tuberosum.
:
Pumpkins
Several varieties. Cucurbita pepo. Several varieties Cucurbita melopepo. Several varieties
Squashes
Tobacco
Nicotiana
Broom corn, or broom rape
Orobanche. Exotic
* In the eastern continent, wheat is the most common grain, but in the western, corn has always been and still is the most general ; it is produced in all parts of Canada, the United States, and their territories, in Mexico, Guatimala, Peru, Chili, Columbia, the West Indies, &c.
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* HISTORY OF THE
2. Such as are Exotic.
Wheat
Rye
Barley
Oats
Buck wheat .
Pease-pea
Pisum sativum. There are se- veral species, each of which contains varieties
Faba, aut vicia. There are many species. The varie- ties are almost endless. They are both bush and climbing
Brassica rapa. There are several varieties
Brassica
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Swedish turnip-ruta baga · Cabbage
Musk mellon
Water mellon Cucumber
Cucumis sativus. " There are
· several species, and many va- rieties
Gourd
Beets
Carrots
Wild carrot
Triticum. Two species, the winter and spring wheat. These are subdivided into varieties Secale. There are two species, winter and spring Hordeum. There are two spe- cies besides varieties
Avena. Several varieties Tragopyrum
Bean
Turnip
Cabbage turnip
Brassica ' · Brassica. Several kinds
Cucumis melo. There are varieties Cucumis. Several varieties .
Cucurbita. Several kinds Beta. There are several spe- cies and varieties
Daucus.
There are several
kinds
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Daucus carota
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Parsnip
Pastinaca sativa. There are
Wild parsnip Raddish
Pastinaca Raphamus sativus. Several species and many varieties
Artichoke
Onion
Cynara scolymus Allium cepa. Several species and many varieties Allium sativum. Several vari- eties. Porem Canadense
Leek
Scives-chives-cives
Allium schoenoprasum
Celery
Apium graveolens
Asparagus
Asparagus officinalis. There
are two varieties
Parsley
Apium petroselinum. varieties
Several
Endive
Cichoreum endivia. There are two or three varieties
Rape, or coleseed Sallet
Brassica napus Acetaria. Several species and
Lettice
", many varieties Lactuea sativa. There are many kinds
Mustard
Sinapis
Sage
Salva officinalis
Savory
Satureja
Saffron
Crocus. Two species
Red pepper
Capsicum
Camomile
Anthemis nobilis
Papaver
Poppy Tansey Hoarhound
Tanacetum, aut athanasia
Hops
Lupulus
VOL. 1. 67
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several varieties
Garlic
530
HISTORY OF THE
Extotic trees, bearing fruit, &c.
. .
Apple tree
Quince
Apricot
Pear
Crab apple tree: Peach
1
Plumb tree
Prunus -
Black blumb .
Blue plumb
Prunus nigra Prunus cærulia
Damseu
Prunus damascena
White plumb
Prunus alba
Red plumb
Prunus rubra
Damask
Prunus. Several varieties
Blue gage
Prunus
Green gage
Prunus .
Prunus
Cerasus
Cerasus nigra. There are sev- eral varieties Cerasus rubra. Several varieties
Cerasus
Ribes
White currant
Ribes candida Ribes rubra 4
Ribes grossularia
Ribes uva crispa
Rough fruited gooseberry Ribes spinosa
Grape. Several varieties of each
* Whether the gooseberry, cultivated in our gardens be exotic, or indigen- ons, we are unable to say : one thing is certain, and that is this, it is found in all its varieties in the woods.
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White gage Cherry tree Black cherry
Red cherry Tartarian cherry Currant
Red currant * Gooseberry
Smooth fruited gooseberry
Pyrus malus. There are nu- merous varieties Malus cotonea, vel cydonia Several varieties Maulus Americana. Several
· varieties Pyrus communis. There are several varieties · Pyrus caronaria Malus persica. There are num -. . erous varieties
STATE OF NEW-YORK.'
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All the fruit trees yield abundantly, and their fruit is as fine as in their native country. Some have improved in quality. Most thrive, and do well in all parts of the State, while others · are found to flourish only in particular districts. The peach may be instanced. This tree thrives, and does well in the maritime counties, and those along the Hudson, as far north as forty-two degrees. In the west, it is found to flurish in the country south of Ontario, and north of the hills of Chenango, Cayuga, and the Chatauque ridge. The best are in the county of Genesee. Here the fruit is very delicious, and not . inferior to that along tlie Potomac.
Apples, pears and quinces have a much finer flavour, are richer and larger, and afford more nutrition than those of England. The maritime, Hudson, and western counties, yield the best fruit. -
. Cultivated Grasses.
Timothy
Phelum pratense
Fox tail grass
Alopecurus
Bent grass
Many species
Wire grass
Fowl meadow grass
Many species
Rye grass
Lolium peuenne
Green sward grass
Blue grass
Crabb grass
Hair grass
Sedge grass
Cavex
Red clover
Trifolium pratense
Yellow clover
Trifolium
White clover
Trifolium rupens
Lucerne St. Foin
Hedysarium onybrichis
Hemp
Datiska. There are two species
Hemp
Datiska cannabina
Datiska hirta
Hemp, or bastard hemp Flax
Medicago sativa
Linum. Several species
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HISTORY OF THE. 6
Indigenous grasses that are not cultivated. 1
Vernal grass Anthoxanthum odoratum
Timothy, bulbous, cat's-tail,
puss grass
Hair grass
Sofa grass
Meadow grass
Poa. Several species
Quack grass, quacking grass - Several species
Beard grass
Several species
Millet
Several species
Cock's foot grass
Dactylis glomerata
Oat grass
.
Several species
Fesque grass
Several species
Barley grass
Reed grass
Several species
Broom grass
Couch grass, or dogs grass
Rush grass
Many species
Carex. Sedge grass
Numerous species. Mostly in fresh and salt marshy grounds
Remarks on some of the trees, &c.
Cedar occurs in the Oneida and Seneca vale, and various other parts of the State. The white is most abundant. In certain instances, it covers swamps, containing several thousand acres. Some of the trees are large, being four feet in diameter. Trees of two feet are common. Cedar is used for fencing, and va- rious other purposes. The red cedar is not so abundant as the white. It is in high estimation for ship timber, and other uses, on account of its lightness and durability.
The white pine is the tallest tree in our forests, frequently attaining the height of one hundred feet. It is chiefly found in the primitive and transition formations. It used to be very abundant in the counties situated along the middle and upper parts of the Hudson. It is still abundant in the forest between the Mohawk and St. Lawrence rivers. It grows mostly on loamy, sandy and gravelly soils.
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STATE OF NEW-YORK.
White pine, in some of our counties, has formed a consid- erable item in commerce, under the denomination of lumber. It is extensively used in building houses, barns, &c.
In some parts of the State, the pine is remarkable for an excresence, which grows from the body. This excresence is round, sometimes attaining eighteen inches in length, and a diameter of six of seven inches. Its external colour is a light- ish grey, and its internal, whitish, resembling, in appearance, dry rotten wood. The cover is a rind. It is very bitter .- When grated or pulverized, and put into spirits, and taken as a bitter, it is considered strengthening and wholesome. The people call it pine bitter.
The yellow pine and pitch pine are used for the floors of houses and the decks of vessels. The former grows in the same kinds of soils with the white pine, but the latter is found principally on sandy and gravelly soils. The Albany, Sara- toga, Oneida, and other sandy and gravelly plains are mostly timbered with it. Its diameter rarely exceeds two feet, and its height seventy. When burnt in kilns it makes the best of charcoal ; its knots and roots being full of terebinthine oil, when kindled, afford a brighter light than candles; its soot is collect- ed and used for lampblack. Tar is also made from it.
Pines occasionally attain the height of one hundred and seventy feet, with a circumference of twenty-four.
Hemlock grows on most soils ; it is, however, found in the greatest abundance between Lakes Champlain and Ontario, and the Mohawk and St. Lawrence rivers. It is frequently an at- tendant of the pine. In general, there is very little of it in the secondary formations. It is at present made into boards and planks, and is used for buildings in those parts where the white and yellow pine have become scarce. The hemlock often attains great magnitude. It is no unusual thing to see trees eighty or ninety feet high, and four or five feet in diameter, at the base. The trunk is straight.
The ground hemlock seldom exceeds two or three feet in height. It grows on cold, moist lands. In some places it co- vers the ground.
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HISTORY OF THE
1
Spruce is of most frequent occurrence in the country between - the Mohawk and St. Lawrence rivers. It constitutes no incon- siderable portion of the forest trees. Boards, planks, and shin- gles are made of it in those parts where there is no pine, or where there is a scarcity. It is also used for masts and spars .- Sprace beer, a cheap wholesome beverage, is made from a de- coction of its leaves and branches. The spruce is a slender tree, gradually ending in a point. There are two kinds, the white and the black. Both grow in the same forest.
The fir, or balsam, grows in the same region, but it is not so frequent as the spruce. It affords a resinous liquid sub- stance, which is highly efficacious in several disorderi The liquid is obtained from pustules by incision, during the sum- mer months.
The oak occurs in all the counties in the State, but it's more plentiful, and of greater magnitude and beanty in the secondary formation. In several of the western counties it is the predominating timber. The trees are tall, straight, and vigorous, and are occasionally six or seven feet in diameter. The white oak is found in greater numbers than the other kinds, and is made into staves, plank, rails, &c. Since the opening of the Erie canal, large quantities of staves and tim- ber have been floated in rafts upon its waters, to the navi- gable parts of the Hudson, and from thence to the city of New- York.
The black oak is a stately tree. It is used by the farmers for fencing. Coopers sometimes use it in the fabrication of hogsheads, barrels, &c.
The shrub oak grows in sandy and gravelly plains, and is of little value. It abounds in the plains along the Hudson, and in those on Long Island.
The chesnut is a majestic tree, with a straight trunk and wide spreading branches. The only use made of the timber is for fencing. In Europe, the chesnut ranks next to the oak, and is used for mill timber, rafters, columns, bedsteads, tables. chairs, &c.
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STATE OF NEW-YORK.
In Italy, Sicily, Corsica and France the chesnut is planted in groves and cultivated solely for its fruit, which is considered wholesome and nutritious. As an ornamental tree, it pos- sesses considerable beauty. Between the Erie canal and Lake Ontario there still remain many fine groves. The chesnut occasionally attains a diameter of eight feet.
The black walnut grows in some of the western and south- ern counties, but it is not so large and stately as in Ohio, Ken- tucky, and other southern climes. The wood is in considerable request for gun-stocks and furniture. It takes an elegant polish.
It might be easily introduced into most of the counties, and naturalized, since it has been found to thrive very well in several places, where planted as an ornamental tree. On the borders of Lake Erie it has occasionally attained the diameter of six or seven feet.
The butternut is both useful and ornamental. The fruit is nutritious. The wood is used for several purposes, , and the bark for dying, &c.
€
The white ash is a tall stately tree. It grows spontaneously in most or all of the counties. It is used for various purposes. It attains the largest size in the secondary formation.
The white elm abounds in the transition and secondary for- mations. In the western and northwestern counties, it grows ' to a very large size. The circumference of some trees, five feet from the ground, measures from eighteen to twenty-one feet. The trunk is usually straight and the top large.
The button wood, or plane tree, is indigenous to every coun- ty in the State. In the primitive and transition formations it grows along the banks of rivers and streams, and in the alluvi- ons bordering them, but it seldom attains much magnitude. In the secondary formation it is of most common occurrence, and of greatest dimensions. On Oswego, Seneca and Genesee rivers, trees have measured between thirty-five and forty feet in girth, five feet from the ground. In the great plain between Genesee and Niagara rivers, the button wood grows spontane- ously.on most of the uplands.
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HISTORY OF THE
The sugar maple is a beautiful and stately tree. It grows chiefly in the secondary and transition formations. It prefers a deep rich soil. Sugar is made from its sap, which nearly equals that made from the juice of the cane. The trees are tapped early in the spring, usually the first of March. The sap is received into trouglis and tubs, and collected together and boiled. The sap, however, never runs in quanity but in clear weather, and when it freezes by night and thaws by day. A tree of middling size yields, in a good season, from twenty to thirty gallons of sap, from which may be made from five to six pounds of sugar. The season ordinarily lasts from four to six weeks. Individuals have, in some instances, made from eight to ten thousand weight in a single season. The usual quantity, however, is much less, seldom exceeding four or five hundred weight. Many families have long supplied themselves plentifully with this sugar.
The Indians in this State and Canada are said to have made sugar anterior to the colonization. The quantity made less- ens as the woods are cut down. There are many districts, in which large quantities were formerly made, which, at present, do not afford a pound. In general, no attention has been paid · to the preservations of the trees. In addition to this, the snow, where the lands are cleared, go off much earlier, and the sea- sons have become shorter and more irregular : hence, the trees do not afford so much sap as formerly.
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A variety of white maple, called curly maple, is in high es- timation amongst cabinet makers. The wood is hard, and very close grained, and takes an exquisite polish. Tables, bureaus, side boards, and other articles of furniture, fabricated from it, vie in elegance with those made of mahogany. Gun and rifle stocks are also made of it. This variety grows in various parts of the State, chiefly in the western counties, and in the Oneida and Seneca vale.
The soft maple grows on moist and swampy lands. When tapped in the spring. it yields abundance of sap, but as it con- tains very little saccharine, no account is made of it.
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STATE OF NEW-YORK.
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The tulip, or white wood grows in the transition and secon- dary formations, mostly in the latter. . In the counties of Ni- agara, Erie, Chatauque, Genesee, Orleans, Munro, Livings- ston, Ontario, Wayne, Cayuga, Oswego, Onondaga, Madison and Oneida it is very abundant. In the two latter counties it is found mostly in the low grounds. This remark, however, is applicable to some of the other counties. We rarely see it scattered over the whole country, and growing in all situations before we approach Genesee river from the east. It also oc- curs in a few places in the county of Herkimer.
The tulip is a stately tree, with a wide spreading top. The trunk is straight, and an ordinary sized tree, rises fifty or sixty feet without a limb. The circumference of a large tree, four feet from the ground, is from fifteen to twenty feet.
The timber is sawed into boards, and used in building honses, barns and sheds. It is in high demand for carriage tops, sleigh boxes and other uses.
The black locust is indigenous to some of our southern counties. It occurs at Randolph, in Chenango ; at Windsor, in Broome ; also, in Orange, and the counties south of the Highlands.
It has been introduced from the south, into several counties, and cultivated as an ornamental tree. The wood is used in ship building.
The sassafras grows spontaneously in every county in the State, but it is only in some of the western counties, that it rises . above the rank of a shrub or bush. In some of the counties, between Genesee and Niagara rivers, it attains a circumference of upwards of four feet and rises to the height of sixty. In- stances of seeing trees in the forests, from ten to fifteen inches in diameter are by no means unfrequent. It has considerable beauty. The magnitude of this tree exemplifies in a very strik- ing manner, the difference between the climate of this section of country, and the rest of the State. The transition, however, - along the line of the canal, and along Lake Ontario is gradual. In setting out from the county of Herkimer and travelling VOL. I. 68
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HISTORY OF THE
westwardly, the sassafras increases imperceptibly in size, till it has attained the dimensions above stated.
The black cherry tree grows in every county in the State. In the transition and secondary tracts, it attains the height of seventy feet and upward, with a girth of from four to six feet. The trunk is usually Straight and free from limbs. The tim- ber is eagerly sought after by cabinet makers. It is close grained and hard, and takes an elegant polish. Sideboards, bureaus, desks, tables, bedsteads, &c. made out of it, possess great beauty.
The red plumb tree is found in various parts of the State. . It is cultivated in gardens with other fruit trees. The red plumb tree, in general, grows on river and creek bottoms, and on the borders of marshes.
The yellow plumb tree grows in situations similar to the pre- ceding.
The bush cranberry grows in and around marshes. The fruit is highly acidulous, and makes excellent preserves. The bushes on the marshes, especially those between the Mohawk and St. Lawrence rivers, are in small coppices.
The black currant bush grows in the woods. The fruit is as large as the red or white currant which grows in our gardens, but the flavour is not so good.
The smooth and prickly gooseberry have for a long period been cultivated with success. There are several varieties. In the domestic state the fruit is considerably improved.
Of grapes, there are at least three kinds ; the black, the blue, and the fox grape. These, in general, grow along rivers, creeks and streams. The vines, in some instances, attain a diameter of three or four inches.
Strawberry-Of this plant we have several varieties. The common strawberry grows in meadows. and moist places. The fruit is red and equals the domestic cherry in size. It is luscious and exquisite. Very little attention has been paid to the cultivation of this plant, in consequence of the predilec- tion for foreign.
STATE OF NEW-YORK. . ៛39
Wheat, rye, barley, oats, buckwheat, pease, beans, &c. grow remarkably well. Most, if not all, have improved in size and quality. It seems that the soil and climate, in many parts of the State, are more adapted to their nature, than those from whence they were imported.
The same observations will apply with equal force to most exotics. All have improved, where proper care and attention bave been bestowed to their culture.
Corn (maize) was cultivated by the Indians who inhabited the country, before the arrival of our ancestors. The quantity grown, however, was very inconsiderable, and formed but a small part of their aliment.
Wild rice-This aquatic plant grows spontaneously in some of our rivers and lakes. It occurs in Seneca river at Montezu- ma, and around the outlet of Cayuga lake. The grain it bears is little inferior to that of the rice grown in and near the torrid zone. This plant might be cultivated on some of our marshes.
Within a few years, wild rice has been transplanted to England and France, where it has been found to thrive and do well.
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FRRATA.
Page 34 --- line 10 from bottom, for leaves read laves. 60 -- line 10, for has read have.
72 -- line 7 from bottom, for Chemug read Chemung.
331 --- line 8, fur and perhaps more read and more. 336 --- line 4 trom bottom, for Pulstine read Palatine. 344 --- line 2 from bottom, for Lower read Upper Canada.
353 -- 1.nes 11 and 14 from bottom, for county read country. 385-line 15 from bottom, for unparalled read unparalleled.
447 --- line 12 from bottom, for corum read eorum, and for appellenter, appellantan.
445-line 15 from bottom, for canus read canis.
477-line 8, Fr distinct read extinct.
47S-line 9, for small read tall.
F851.53
5156
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