State, or in the four great sections of the Union, we doubt not, 

 that our nation would rejoice at the benign results. We have a 

 soil, which, like the heritage of ancient Israel, is " the glory of 

 all lands." Within the limits of our four and twenty States 

 may be discovered an appropriate residence, for almost every 

 plant in all the four and twenty Classes of the Botanist. 



And to the Members of the New- York Horticultural Society 

 are offered powerful inducements, to be the channel of our na- 

 tion's intercourse with other countries, in regard to plants. In 

 the Mythology of Ancient Rome it was ingeniously fabled,* that 

 Pomona could not be induced to shed a smile on any of her 

 suitors, until her heart was touched by the devout breathings of 

 Vertumnus ; and in the tendercst of bonds were joined the god 

 of merchandise and the divinity of gardens. The ingenious 

 fable is instructive; for our Art 



thrives most 



" Where Commerce lias enriched the busy coast : 



" He catches all improvements in his flight, 



" Spreads foreign wonders in his country's sight.' ; 



2. Another object, far more interesting, invites your care. It. 

 .is the preservation and the culture of plants indigenous to our soil. 



They are confided to your guardianship. But look around 

 you ; see them perishing in multitudes beneath the ploughs-hare 

 and the axe. Certain species and varieties, which in old time 

 adorned the verdant mantle of the earth, are to be found no 

 longer;! but their memorial, transmitted to us in floetz rocks, 

 is a demonstration of their original existence. And shall it ever 

 be recorded of any valuable varieties of our native plants, their 

 sweetness has expired on " the desert air?" Your active mea- 



* Ovid has given the story with all its embellishment*. 

 t See Decandolle and Spreng-el, P. II. Sect. 143. 



