^IQ Correspondence of the Cincinnatus. [September, 



three dozen on a piece of ground about four rods sliort of an acre, 

 and our sheaves were very hirge indeed. The wheat sown after the 

 English method was sown hiter and on poorer ground, and in far 

 poo'i-er tilth ; but the return is highly satisfactory. I know not 

 which to prefer, the German or English method. They are both 

 good and under equal circumstances might probably be equally so. 

 As it was, the German outdid the English method; but the cause 

 for this might be found in the superior excellence of the soil on 

 which the German experiment was made. 



In conclusion let me say, I have found the White Perky (White 

 Perk) the hardiest wheat to stand the winter of any I ever saw ; its 

 vitality is wonderful. It will recuperate after the severest handling 

 of winter in a manner that is quite astonishing. I have no hesita- 

 tion in saying that it combines more good points than any wheat 

 known to me. Respectfully, B. W. Watkins 



CORRESPONDENCE OF THE CINCINNATUS. 



The tide of summer travel sets very slowly from Cincinnati in the 

 direction of East Tennessee, by way of the Cumberland Gap. In- 

 deed, I know not of one Ohioan except myself who seeks this cool 

 mountain region as a summer retreat, or who retreats hither at any 

 other season ; yet it is a country of great natural beauty, abounding 

 in wonderful scenery and natural curiosities. I came hither as a 

 naturalist, with the design especially of investigating the vegetation 

 of these mountains and vallies, nor wholly neglecting the geological 

 phenomena of the journey. I need not say that my excursion has 

 been abundantly successful in both these particulars. The rugged 

 cliffs and precipices in which this country abounds, and the deep, 

 cool ravines cherish many a specimen of floral beauty, rare and 

 strange, and alas ! still more rarely observed by any mortal eye capa- 

 ble of appreciating its characters or pronouncing its name. As I 

 came in hither last evening, for instance, in the twilight, along the 

 precipitous banks of the Cumberland river, the rocks were festooned 

 at every cleft with the " Cumberland Blue-bells" (as I would call the 

 Campanula divaricata), and the shrubs were blooming with the mag- 

 nificent clusters of the '' laurel" (as the people here call the Rhodo- 

 dendron maximum), and the snow-white flowers of Stuartia pentagy- 

 nia and Clethra acuminata. 



