4 



some preceding travelers ? The companions of UIjs- 

 ses, as we are told by Homer, found, somewhere on 

 the coast of Africa, a fruit which he calls the Lotus, 

 the taste of which was so delicious, that those who 

 had once eaten it lost the desire to return to their 

 native country, and remained for life among the 

 Lote-Eaters, who, it seems, derived their ])olitical 

 name from their favorite fruit. Critics and horticul- 

 turists are not agreed as to the precise fruit intended 

 in this passage. Whatever it may have been, it has 

 not been my fortune, in the course of my travels, to 

 taste it ; and I have generally found that the fruits 

 and flowers which pleased me best in other coun- 

 tries, were those which brought most vividly to mind 

 the recollection of my own. 



Horticulture, in its simplest application, proposes 

 to improve the qualities of vegetables, flowers, and 

 fruits. In its higher departments, it assumes the 

 character of one of the elegant arts, and teaches the 

 disposition of grounds and gardens, whether intended 

 for the recreation of individuals, the ornament of 

 cities and palaces, or the repositories of the dead. 

 Permit me to say a few words upon each of these 

 divisions of the subject. 



I. The first in order and in immediate practical 

 importance of the objects of Horticulture, is the im- 

 provement of the qualities of vegetables, fruits, and 

 flowers, including the introduction of new and valua- 

 ble varieties from foreign countries. " I am astonish- 

 ed," says an elegant French writer, " at the indiffer- 

 ence with which we regard the names and memories 

 of those who have naturalized among us the fruits 



