574 FOREST CULTURE AND 
tem in nature ; they are all referable to distinct, spe- 
cific forms, all created by design of an Almighty power 
for special purposes ; they are, moreover, all endowed 
with well-defined qualities, all interesting and beauti- 
ful in themselves, and eligible for our varied wants. 
We may accumulate collections still more extensive 
for our phytologic museums than for our garden dis- 
plays ; but we still need to study, as far as we can, 
the forms of the vegetable empire in their living 
freshness, their natural grace and their vital beauty. 
What can be more instructive than to compare allied 
species, from often widely-distant parts of the globe, 
when placed in culture side by side? Or, what can 
be more impressive tban to watch how, in succession, 
the specifically ever- unalterable forms unfold them- 
selves before our view, or sink again into rest ? To 
accomplish great results in all these respects we have, 
in our climatic zone, enviable facilities ; and thus hor- 
ticultural pursuits for strictly scientific purposes be- 
come also here far more grateful than in the countries 
of colder climates-where most of us spent our youth. 
Remember only how, irrespective of the plants of 
colder latitudes, we can have, under the open sky 
around us, the plants of all the Mediterranean coun- 
tries, Arabia, Persia, the warmer Himalayan regions, 
China and Japan; how we can rear here without 
protection the marvellously rich and varied vegeta- 
tion of South Africa ; how, in our isothermal zone, 
we can bring together the plants of California, New 
Mexico, Florida, and other Southern States of the 
American Union ; and how we need no conservatories 
for most of the plants of Chile, the Argentine States, 
~ and South Brazil. In Australia we require hardly to 
