THE CULTIVATOR. 
275 
round and seeing large gulfs on both sides, said he was 
afraid to proceed farther, and descended. The ridge was 
so narrow that at a point some 15 or 20 rods farther, 
there was a large hole through it, which we had seen 
during our forenoon's excursion. To reach this point I 
proceeded, collecting mosses, lichens, and specimens of 
Leiophyllum, until finally I found myself on a narrow 
ledge of loose rocks with precipices several hundred feet 
deep on both sides. It was a fearful place. With a pal¬ 
pitating heart I crept back, and hastened down the moun¬ 
tain. 
27th. The day was cool and pleasant. Drs. Hill and 
Hammer returned home, and Rugel and I determined if 
possible, to reach the top of some of the highest peaks.* 
Afler much toil over many dangerous places where a 
mis-step would have thrown us down precipices on the 
rocks beneath, we reached a long narrow ridge above 
the rock which overhangs the sulphate of magnesia lo¬ 
cality. Here we met with a few straggling small trees, 
Betula lenta, (sweet birch,) Pinus fraseri, (balsam fir,) 
which answers well to the description of Pursh, and is cer¬ 
tainly very distinct from the Pinus balsamw of New-Eng- 
land. Such deep gulfs were between the ridges that it was 
almost impossible to proceed from one to another; be¬ 
sides it was too early in the season to obtain specimens 
in flower in that elevated region. Growing in the rich 
vegetable mold of the cove, was the Erythronium 
Americanum , (Dog’s tooth violet,) Dielytra cucalaria, a.m\ 
Dentaria heterophylla. We retraced our steps to where 
we left our horses, and next day returned to Sevierville, 
loaded with specimens, and well pleased with the result 
of our excursion. Yours truly, S. B. Buckley. 
West Dresden, Yates Co., N. Y. 
TRANSMUTATION. 
Mr. Editor — I have been somewhat amused, if not 
edified, by the arguments advanced in your paper from time 
to time by the advocates of the doctrine of the transmuta¬ 
tion of wheat into chess. As a case in point, and some¬ 
thing new to me, I will state a fact from my own observa¬ 
tion. In the spring of 1839,1 laid off* a new garden, and as 
I had no manure of my own as rotten as I wished, I pur¬ 
chased six wagon loads from a neighbor, out of a manure 
bank, upon which, the season before, I observed a quan¬ 
tity of Jimson, or Jamestown weed growing. I detest 
this weed above almost any other, and had never seen 
it growing on my farm; but thinking that it would only 
trouble me for one year, I concluded to venture it. Well, 
the manure was scattered over the garden, pretty well 
worked in, and a good deal of Jimson was pulled up that 
year. Since that, the garden has been in constant culti¬ 
vation; no Jimson weed to my certain knowledge has 
ever been suffered to go to seed, and but one or two to 
get in blossom. I have never found but about two 
stalks on any other part of the farm, and yet, every sea¬ 
son since the manure was first put on the garden, it has 
come up more or less, and this season, which makes the 
seventh, it came up in greater quantity than it ever 
has since the first year. Now, if I had scattered this ma¬ 
nure on my field, and then put in a crop among which 
Jimson would not grow, and so kept it until last fall, then 
sowed it in wheat, and the wheat had been destroyed by 
frost or otherwise, and I had found Jimson coming up 
thick in its place, where it had been never known to 
grow, would not I have been as much justified in con¬ 
cluding my wheat had turned to J mson, as the advocates 
of transmutation are in concluding theirs has turned to 
chess? 
My wheat used to “turn to chess” a good deal, though 
I sowed some little in my seed; yet, I always thought it 
came up five for one in proportion to the wheat. About 
six years ago I picked a half bushel of wheat, head by 
head, in order to get it pure from mixture of every kind. 
I sowed it on a clean piece of ground, and the next sea¬ 
son had not a grain of chess or cockle in it. I have 
* According to M. Nichollett, the Smoky mountain, near the 
Warm Springs, is 5000 feet above the level of the sea, and judging 
from appearances, the range that we visited, between Sevier county, 
Tenn., and Haywood county, N. C., attains an elevation not far from 
6000 feet. 
sowed clean seed now for four years. I have not seen 
cockle on the farm since, and although my wheat has 
been winter-killed more or less every year, it has not 
“ turned to chess” at the rate of more than from one to four 
stalks to the acre, and I think I might possibly have sown 
that much with my wheat without observing it. I have 
now a pile of wheat for seed on my barn floor, in which 
I think there cannot be one grain of chess found to the 
bushel, cleaned through a mill without a screen. 
Piqua, Miami Co., O. S. Widney. 
P. S. As you might wish to know, I will state that 
spring crops here look very fine, with the exception of 
hay, which is but middling. Wheat above an average 
yield, and remarkably heavy to the bushel, generally 
weighing 65 lbs. and upwards. 
THE CULTIVATOR—A FARMER’S LIBRARY. 
Mr. Tucker—I had been a rather irregular reader of 
the Cultivator for several years, failing to subscribe some 
years, and not receiving all the numbers other years, 
until last October, when I resolved to have the whole. 
I procured all the back volumes, neatly stitched, from 
your office, had them well bound, and have been occupy¬ 
ing my leisure time this winter in reading the work in 
course. I began with Judge Buel's little experiment 
sheet, printed in March, 1834, and have examined some¬ 
what carefully every paper down to your excellent 
number for January, 1845, which I finished last evening. 
The result is a most thorough conviction that the Culti¬ 
vator eminently deserves to be labelled the Farmers’ 
Library, and purchased by every tiller of the soil, for 
the very first of his agricultural reading. I say this 
after having read many agricultural books, and several 
of the current agricultural papers, most of which are 
certainly valuable, and merit a high place in the far¬ 
mer’s reading. It is in the hope of inducing others to 
procure the entire work, and read it attentively, that I 
trouble you with this note. 
The Cultivator, though not the pioneer, is certainly 
the standard agricultural paper of the land. And this will 
be cheerfully admitted by most readers, and by every 
conductor, (except perhaps one, almost the last one that 
should not admit it,) of agricultural papers. None can 
tell its value without a careful and somewhat continuous 
reading. It is as a book, or series of books, its real 
worth will be known. I had heard it said, (e g.,) that 
the first vols. were worth little to any persons except the 
tillers of very sandy soils, such as constituted Judge 
Buel’s farm—that later vols. were taken up with the 
chess controversy—with the controversy between the 
advocates of native and imported breeds of cattle, &c.. 
&c. Nothing is more untrue. The vols. conducted by 
Judge Buel, are full of pure wheat; no chaff—no foul 
seed. His care for young farmers is excellent, and this 
department of his paper is alone worth more than the 
price of the whole, especially to every young man, who 
(like myself) has commenced farming since Judge B.’s 
death. The vols. since then are much like the last, 
which I take it the reader has seen, except (hat I thought 
each succeeding one better than its predecessor, and the 
present bids fair, (even saying nothing about the excel¬ 
lent cuts,) to be the best of all. I have been astonished 
to find in the whole work so little valueless matter—so 
little repetition—so little controversy. The correspon¬ 
dents have given a vast amount of scientific and practical 
information, while the labors (both scientific and practi¬ 
cal, if they can be separated,) of the editors, especially 
Messrs. Buel, Gaylord, and Tucker, can hardly be ap¬ 
preciated above their worth. I am sure, I would not 
part with the information and the satisfaction I have ob¬ 
tained from the Cultivator for ten times its cost. And I 
sincerely hope every farmer who has not yet taken the 
paper will do so soon, and every one who has not the 
back vols. will send $10 to Mr. Tucker at once and pro¬ 
cure the whole. And if he does not find, on a careful 
perusal, that each volume is worth more, (counting worth, 
both pecuniarily and intellectually, or in the better tillage 
of his land, and the better culture of his mind,) I will 
agree to refund the sum, and take the library at once. 
Ohio, Feb., I, 1845. H. 
