The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1890-09-03
Gaattbman 4 Journal.
A Botanical Excursion.

the service, with wide reputation for
all sorts of learning; the Statesman,
new in this line; the Doctor, not more
worthy of the title than many other
M.D's, or DDS, but whats in
name?" the Hunter, young and and ex-
pectant.
Place-Mount Mansfield.
Time-Four days.
The obiect-For some years it has
been said that on Mount Mansfield
were twenty-six rare species of plants
whose exact locality was perhaps known
only by one man. We were determined
to find some of them.
The starting point was the old Half
way house on the north side of the
mountain. The objective points were
the Summit, the Chin, the Lake of the
Clouds, Smuggler's Notch, the Half
way house, on the south or Stowe side,
the Summit, and home again. The
impedimenta consisted of the fifty
pounds allotted to Roman soldier. If
any one doubts that we carried as much,
let him take it, and follow our foot
steps. 1t included for each a heavy
blanket or shawl, rubber blanket,
such press for plants as each chose to
carry, and his share of provision for the
company. The veteran Professor was
of course in charge of the commissariat,
and before we started he proceeded to
inspect our various contributions for
the common stock. And here personal
characteristics began to appear. The
Statesman had provided himself with
two market-baskets and long rope,
with which he proposed to sling them
over his shoulders, holding one in each
hand. The baskets were loaded with
canned salmon, loaves of bread and
several apple-pies on plates. The Doc
tor and the Hunter had salt pork
enough to last Vermont farmers
family a week, salt enough to supply a
tribe of Indians for month, several
junk bottles of milk, ETC., etc. The
Professor carried, mostly in paper bags,
oatmeal, coffee and baked beans. His
constituents would hardly have recog-
nized the Statesman's usually benign
countenance if it had been photo
graphed at the moment when the Pro-
fessor figuratively kicked the baskets
into the bushes, tumbled out sundry
packages from small tin pail and pro-
ceeded to empty into the pail pie after
pie, jamming them down one after the
other with the bottom of a teacup.
The Doctor was little wilful at the re-
lection of his arrangement for palatable
coffee, but, not being a surgeon, sundry
word pictures of hideous cuts about the
neck and spine, caused by pieces of
broken glass bottles, soon silenced him.
Cdching provision supposed to be
sufficient for one good square meal on
our return, we were at last on our way.
One characteristic of the Professor,
however, should not be overlooked.
The Doctors manual of botany was,
somehow or other, left in the cache,
and of course when we found it there
on our return Gas in our Vermont " first
offence" liquor cases), we could find
no record of any past court decisions
or of appeals against such decisions.
volume of " Pilgrims Progress" as we
started at last, bending under our huge
packs, and grasping stout poles in our
hands. The likeness was not quite
perfec' however, for Pilgrim didn't
carry such presses, and the Professor
and the Hunter had each fine-looking
revolver, such as Pilgrim never saw.
To the Summit, over the Chin, and
down to the Lake of the Clouds, was
our first days march. The storm
swept Summit is wonderfully rich in
vegetation. But it was already a ia.
miliar locality to us. The little Green
land arcnaria was unusually beautiful,
tufting the bare rocks with its CHEEKY
white blossoms. And who ever passes
that way without wondering whence
came that soft, brown soil which sc
fills up the hollows in the rocks, and
what makes it so fertile, with its pro.
fusion of rare species, like the little
mountain cranberry, the twin flower
the bearberry and the black cranberry
And those little dwarf balsam frs! We
brought home one, perfectly symmet
rical tree, just four and one-half inches
high, and apparently six years old.
One new species only the Professor al
lowed us for the day (the potentilla tri
dentata), though some grasses anc
sedges were preserved, which the Pro
fessor could not stop to identify. L