464 INDIANA HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS 



friends and readers of the Cultivator that in a very 

 short visit I found here. It was then my intention to 

 return, which circumstances prevented. Although I 

 would not make distinctions among friends, yet I may 

 be permitted to signalise Mr. Jenkins, the P. M., and 

 Wm. Battel, Esq., whom I found most active and anxious 

 to encourage the reading of agricultural papers. 



A few miles west of Benton I called upon John M. 

 Cullen, who has invented, as he thinks, an improved 

 cotton scraper — it being a small piece of steel attached 

 to a plow in such a manner that he can "bar off" and 

 "scrape" at the same time. I witnessed a trait in Mr. 

 Cullen's character that I desire to mention, together with 

 the wish that others would do likewise. 



He owns a pond, which is the only watering place for 

 teams upon the road for a long distance, and which he 

 necessarily had to enclose; but instead of shutting the 

 public out, he has gone to considerable expense to pro- 

 vide for their accommodation, and has put up a sign of 

 "Bethesda," the meaning of which Bible readers will 

 understand. 



But let us go on with our wonders. To-day I first 

 met with the "Spanish moss" regions, which, contrary 

 to the opinion entertained by many, that it only grows 

 upon trees in swamps, is found equally abundant upon 

 the hills. I don't know that it shows any preference in 

 the kind of tree it grows upon, for it is not a parasite; 

 that is, so far as I could observe, it appears to have no 

 connection with the tree, but hangs loosely upon the 

 limbs, sometimes hanging down two or three feet. Its 

 color is silvery grey, and when all the trees in the forest 

 are thickly covered, it gives a curious appearance. Al- 

 though at the north we esteem it valuable for mattresses, 

 etc., it is here but little used. 



This evening I crossed the "Big Black," a stream large 

 enough for steamers in high water, but for want of im- 

 provement but little used. It runs through a wide, rich, 

 overflowable bottom, entirely uncultivated. During two 



