274 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
addresses. But I totally object to the delivery of a prac¬ 
tical address at such a time and on such an occasion. 
When I attend State Fairs and see collected around me 
the best of every thing the earth or man can produce, 
I want an orator who is competent to describe the scene, 
and who can wake up my enthusiasm to a proper con¬ 
ception of the dignity of my employment, and show 
how much I owe to the talent and ingenuity of others. 
At a time like this, when the choicest productions of 
nature and art are around you, with all the embellish¬ 
ments that taste or genius can add, who would think of 
listening to a man who was lecturing upon the number of 
potatoes you should put into a hill, the size of a barn 
door, or the qualities of a pig, in preference to one who, 
with better judgment and with greater intellect, spoke 
in glowing terms of what man had done to renovate 
the soil and improve his condition. At the meeting of 
Farmer’s Clubs, in social converse, or County Fairs, 
give more practical and useful lessons; but at State Fairs, 
I would join the dulce with the utile, and engraft pleasure on 
profit. If we at all times arid on all occasions are to have 
untiling but the useful, three-fourths of the interest of 
our State Fu-i-rs is gone. By this rule we must exclude 
all the beautiful productions of our Maker and his agent, 
man, and confine ourselves to the exhibitions of vegeta¬ 
bles, or of animals only. I cannot believe the editor 
of the Journal such a cynic, nor that he, when he reflects 
and looks around him, can be disposed to find fault with 
the beautiful productions of our Creator. Surely he 
meant these for the enjoyment of man, and on proper oc¬ 
casions, and when we have around us these beautiful dis¬ 
plays of his goodness and munificence, it is proper and 
rignt that the beauty and force of oratory shall swell our 
hsarts and warm our feelings to a just comprehension of 
our manifold and rapturous blessings. Senex. 
NOTES OF A BOTANICAL TOUR—NO. III. 
Mr. Tucker— On the 24th April, 1842, we started on 
horseback for the Smoky mountains, at whose distant 
tops over which the clouds were almost continually roll¬ 
ing, I had often gazed during the past few days with 
longing eyes. I was anxious to be on those tops, to have 
the glorious mountain prospect—to become acquainted 
with their structure and vegetation—and above all, I 
hoped to discover something new. None but the bota¬ 
nist knows, none but the botanist can feel the joy which 
the sight of a new plant gives, especially if he be its dis¬ 
coverer. At such times he sees beauties unseen by 
others—tastes pleasures unfelt and unknown to others. 
What wonder then, that those who have a taste for natural 
history, rarely, if ever, are addicted to idle or dissipated 
habits, and for that very reason above all others, parents 
should cherish a love of nature in their children, resting 
assured that such love will make them happier and 
better. 
We were provided with pack-saddlebags filled with 
paper for containing the plants; also port-folios and tin 
boxes. Dr. Rugel had a large, square tin box strapped 
to his shoulders and a straw hat tied beneath his chin. 
Rugel’s horse was named Fox. I mounted first and rode 
on, but soon heard the clattering of hoofs, and Fox 
dashed by, with Rugel crying “ whoa, Fox! whoa, Fox !” 
his hair streaming in the wind, with tin box and hat 
dashing up and down at every jump the horse made. I 
was reminded of John Gilpin’s famous race, yet fearful 
of the result, refrained from laughing, until about a mile 
farther I overtook Rugel, who had stopped Fox in as¬ 
cending a steep hill. Equipped as we were, the people 
along the route probably supposed we were pedlers, who 
often travel on horseback through the south-western states. 
The agriculture of this state was in a low state_the peo¬ 
ple seeming to care for little else than to raise enough 
bread stuff for their own consumption, depending mostly 
on raising domestic animals to obtain money. We spent 
the night at Sevierville. 
Early next morning we continued on in company with 
Drs. Hill and Hammer, who had kindly volunteered 
their services, and laid in a good store of bacon, corn 
bread, biscuit, flour, and coffee, with blankets for en¬ 
camping at night. Our route was along the clear wa¬ 
ters of the Little Pigeon river, which forms a fertile and 
picturesque valley among the mountains, and unites itself 
with the Big Pigeon river at Sevierville. We crossed 
the stream some 25 or 30 times, along whose banks the 
large shrub Stuartia pentagynia grew abundantly, wi h 
the last year’s fruit still attached to its limbs. The 
Hamiltonia oleifera, (oil nut,) in flower, occurred fre¬ 
quently, and on small islands in the stream we first ob¬ 
served Dicrvilla sessilifolia (nobis.) Specimens of this 
shrub in flower had previous])' been sent to Torrey & 
Gray, by the Rev. M. A. Curtis, of N. C., and by them 
it was considered a variety of D. trijida. An examina¬ 
tion of the capsules convinced Dr. Gray that it is a dif¬ 
ferent species, and at his suggestion, I published it. We 
arrived at Stephen Hoskin’s Log cabin, 18 miles from 
Sevierville, about noon, when the thermometer stood at 
81 degrees in the shade. Here we left our horses and 
proceeded on foot by a path along the wild, foaming, 
noisy Little Pigeon, whose rocky bed was often forded. 
Six miles from where we left our horses we struck a path 
|to the left, quitting the river when two miles farther; by 
ascending a good deal and descending some, we reached 
ja small cove where epsom salts were made the prece¬ 
ding summer. On the route we found the true Phacelia 
'jimbriata of Michaux, which had not been found by Bot- 
janists since Michaux collected it on the mountains of 
jNorth Carolina. Tn several places it grew in great pro¬ 
fusion, having delicate white fimbriate flowers. Pursh 
supposed a very common but different species (P. Purshii 
nobis) with blue flowers, to be Michaux’s plant, and sub¬ 
sequent botanists were led into the same error. Along 
the small mountain streams grew the Piphylleia cymosa, 
(Mich.,) in flower. This is very common in similar situ¬ 
ations through the mountains of North Carolina. The same 
is true of the Saxifraga erosa, which we first met here. 
Along the mountain sides were several trees, two to 
three feet in diameter, of Halesia tetraptera, in flower, 
attaining a much larger size than H. diptera, (snow 
Idrop) which is common in the vicinity of streams, 
5through the south-western states. It was sunset when 
we reached the small hut which had been used by the 
workmen while experimenting on the manufacture of 
epsom salts. We soon had a blazing fire, and with 
mountain appetites partook of an excellent supper. The 
thermometer had fallen to 32 degrees. The open cracks 
of our dwelling and two blankets afforded but a poor 
protection from the cold. However, I managed to get 
in the middle, and slept well, on a k stone floor, with one 
blanket above and one beneath. 
26th. A cold, misty, rainy day. We were greatly 
disappointed on account of the weather. The cove was 
surrounded by high, rugged mountains, whose rocky 
summits were often destitute of vegetation, over which 
|the stormy clouds were continually rolling. It was only 
through occasional openings in the clouds that we had a 
'glimpse of the rugged peaks. During a short cessation 
of the storm we ascended about two-tnirds of the way up 
the mountain, to the place where the sulphate of magne- 
!sia was obtained for the manufacture of salts. Here 
ibenealh a high ledge of mica slate we obtained beau¬ 
tiful specimens of sulphate of alumina in botryoidal mas - 
sesand capillary crystals. This beautiful mineral was very 
[Jabundant, and the sight of this alone was a sufficient com- 
ipensation for the toil of ascending the mountain, through 
jthe cold, misty rain. We were up among the clouds, 
which came tumbling over the mountains, down whose 
||sidesthey descended until the air was sufficiently dense, 
|when they floated, to be dissolved in rain or driven by 
!the wind against the adjacent mountains. We returned 
ito the encampment cold, wet, and hungry. In the after¬ 
moon, Dr. Hammer and I attempted to ascend a long, 
^narrow, rocky ridge, leading up to one of the main sum- 
jmits. After much toil in crawling over and under dense 
thickets of Rhododendron maximum and Kalmia latifolia, 
'with which the lower portion of the mountain was 
covered, we emerged into an open space consisting oi* 
loose mica sla'e rocks, partly covered by a low branched 
shrub, ( Zeiophyllum serphyllifolium, D. C .) It grew 
from one to two feet high, and was covered with wh ite and 
pale red flowers, a distant view of which had caused us 
to ascend the mountain. Here my companion looking 
