INTRODUCTION. 



Bring, Flora, bring thy treasures here, 

 The pride of all the blooming year ; 

 And let me thence a garland frame. 



SlIEN-STONE. 



The interest which flowers have excited in 

 the breast of man, from the earliest ages to 

 the present day, has never been confined to 

 any particular class of society, or quarter of 

 the globe. Nature seems to have scattered 

 them over the world as a medicine to the 

 mind, to give cheerfulness to the earth, and 

 furnish agreeable sensations to its inhabitants. 



The savage of the forests, in the joy of his 

 heart, binds his brow with the native flowers 

 of his woods, whilst their cultivation increases 

 in every country in proportion as the bless- 

 ings of civilization extend. 



From the most humble cottage-garden to 

 the proudest parterre of the palace, nothing 



