84 



must have been sent out from Europe, as is shown by the 

 record of " Our Ancient Pear Trees " (Robert Manning 

 in Proc. Am. Pom. Soc, 1875). 



Some of these phxnts purposely introduced have failed 

 to prove of use, or their time of usefulness has gone by, 

 and they have been sufiered to run wild, and at the same 

 time a hundred others have like "stowaways" come unin- 

 vited. They have been introduced among the seeds of 

 useful plants, in packing material, and as garden flowers. 

 ISIany of the introduced species still remain restricted to 

 certain localities, and others, although more widely dis- 

 seminated, are in such situations as to make their origin 

 self-evident, while others are so distributed as to appear to 

 all intents and purposes as natives. Again, by the clear- 

 ing of the forests, the general cultivation and changes in 

 the condition of the soil, many native plants best able to 

 endure the changes, or those to which the changes have 

 proved beneficial, have been given positions of undue 

 prominence in the flora; while other species, which at the 

 time of the settlement of the country were much more 

 abundant, have now become less numerous, or have entirely 

 disappeared. It is a matter of considerable difficulty to 

 picture to ourselves the country as it appeared two hun- 

 dred and fifty years ago. It is probable that extensive 

 forests reached to the ocean shore and, excepting the river 

 marshes and clearings made l)y the fires of the aborigines, 

 occupied the whole territory. The Indians cultivated 

 corn, pumpkins, beans, tobacco and a few other plants. 

 It is possible that some species of foreign plants had been 

 introduced previous to the settlement by the whites 

 through trade or by adventures, but this is uncertain. 

 The study of the introduced plants is aided by the work 

 of ^Ir, John Josselyn (New England Rarities Discovered) , 

 a reprint of which, with valuable notes by Professor Ed- 



