422 On Improvement in Horticulture. 



its catalogue of 1830 are enumerated, as growing In its garden, 

 three thousand four hundred varieties of hardy edible fruits, and 

 fifty-eight varieties of nuts, exclusive of eighty -nine varieties of 

 the fig, one hundred and eighty-two of the grape, fifty-six of the 

 pine-apple, and one hundred thirty-one of the melon ; nearly all 

 of the four last named being cultivated in houses, with the aid of 

 glass and artificial heat, — making an aggregate of about four thou- 

 sand varieties of fruits, which administer to the sustenance of man, 

 independent of ornamental plants, which exercise a benign influ- 

 ence upon his mental enjoyments. The fruits in this garden, 

 have been classified, as it regards size and quality, — their form, 

 color, use and time of maturity noted, and their catalogue thus 

 affords a guide in the selection of fruits for the climate to which 

 they may be transferred for cultivation. 

 nC^ Enterprise in the acquisition of new fruits, and new plants, has 

 not been confined to the London Horticultural Society. Euro- 

 pean governments, horticultural societies, opulent amateur flor- 

 ists, and professional nurserymen, have sent their agents into re- 

 mote parts of the world; — and the towering mountains of Asia, 

 the isles of the Eastern Archipelago, the burning sands of Afri- 

 ca, the inhospitable regions of Siberia, and the wilds of Ameri- 

 ca, have been alike explored, for valuable and rare plants, to sub- 

 serve our wants, and administer to our pleasures. 



We are particular!)^ indebted to the Flemings, for a great num- 

 ber of excellent new varieties of the pear. To the labors of 

 Dr. Van Mons, of the University of Louvain, an amateur po- 

 mologist, W'e are indebted for about four hundred new and excel- 

 lent varieties of this esteemed fruit, some of which are in eating 

 through the circle of the year. The late Mr. Knight, till his 

 death President of the London Horticultural Society, also pro- 

 duced many new and excellent varieties of fruit, by artificial fe- 

 cundation. — Samples of several of the new fruits thus produced by 

 Mr. Knight and Dr. Van Mons are now exhibited upon your table. 



From the comparatively restricted means of a new country, 

 gardening has with us been limited to the useful, seldom aspiring 

 to taste and elegance. But even in the useful branch we have 

 ample room for improvement. H'SVe have no great central point 

 for collecting and comparing the indigenous fruits of our country, 

 and for disseminating the excellent through our land. Of the ap- 

 ple, plum and peach, it is beHeved we have as fine native varie- 

 ties as are grown in the world, and yet they are but partially 

 known and but partially enjoyed. Individual exertions are too 

 limited and feeble to effect the desired object. It can only be 

 done by the conibined exertions of many, influenced by a com- 

 mon imj)ulse, and directed to a common end. In this age, no 

 great good can be effected in any branch of public improvement, 

 without the concentrated exertions of associate bodies. The 



