Philosophy of Botany. 255 



open here to capital in buying up such tracts for forest cufture. 

 Many tracts of land in East and Middle Tennessee are so ex- 

 cessively rugged that only here and there may small patches 

 admit of plowing. The surface, although in the main level, 

 is full of rocks of all sizes, like a mighty convulsion had stirred 

 up the surface of the earth. The cause of this phenomenon 

 is the geological structure, consisting of alternating thin 

 strata of fossil limestone and shale, which, unequally corroded, 

 and the latter partly washed out, causes displacements under 

 all degrees of angles, and this rough-and-tumble aspect. The 

 surface is so deeply rifted that the far-reaching cedar roots 

 find moisture in the depth when the surface is parched. This 

 region is naturally reserved for the cedar, especially so as it 

 is also unfavorable for the growth of other conifers on account 

 of the great dryness of the air in the summer season in the 

 middle division of the State. Cedar and hackberry would be 

 the forest composition. Very recently an enterprise has been 

 planned which, if successfully carried into execution, would 

 immensely benefit our State. An association coftiposed of 

 citizens of several States, known under the name of the 

 National Park Association, has addressed a petition to Con- 

 gress explaining the desirability of establishing a national 

 park in the Southern Appalachian region. Petitioners state 

 that upon unquestionable authority of our foremost botanists, 

 like Prof. A. Gray, Professor Sargent, and others, no more suit- 

 able reservation could be selected anywhere within the bounda- 

 ries of the United States than the one to be described here- 

 after. There is a greater diversity of hardwoods and conifers 

 within limited areas in the Southern Appalachian Mountain 

 chain in the grandest development of growth than could be 

 gathered over the whole of Europe, or in the latitude of Phil- 

 adelphia, from the Atlantic Coast to the mountains of Col- 

 orado. 



This area is also blessed with the embellishment of the most 

 gorgeous and peculiar species of herbaceous plants, and an ex- 

 ploration of those high summits will always leave in the mind 

 of the lover of nature's scenic grandeur emotions of enchant- 

 ment and fascination. 



The forests of this region are all of a " mixed stand," to give 



