4 translator's preface. 



Alexander directed, that the victors in the public games should be 

 crowned with the leaves of the peach, in honor of Perseus, who first brought 

 that fruit from Asiaj Pliny has rendered the Consul, Sextus Papinius for- 

 ever memorable, by giving him the credit of acclimating the nectarine of 

 Syria, during the reign of Augustus; while the names of Martius, Manilius 

 and Appius are perpetuated, as practical cultivators of the soil, by being 

 given to the celebrated pears and apples, which they introduced from distant 

 regions J and the delicious figs of Carthage, were made known to the 

 Romans, from being presented by Cato to the assembled Senators, to remind 

 them, that they had not only an implacable but near enemy. The most meri- 

 torious trophies which Lucullus and Prince Potempkin gained, during their 

 Mithridatic and Turkish campaigns, were the supurb varieties of the cherry, 

 which they brought from the shores of the Euxine; and the agricultural 

 work of Mago was deemed the most precious of the spoils, which Scipio 

 transported from the coast of Africa, on the triumphant conclusion of the last 

 panic war. 



The author, of the Monography of the Camellia, pursued the only 

 course, by which any branch of the sceinces or arts can be brought to the 

 highest state of perfection, or proficiency attained in any moral or physical 

 pursuit. He made the Camellia, a special object of investigation and experi- 

 ment, for a great number of years, and thereby became so thoroughly ac- 

 quainted with the character and habits of that plant, as to be eminently quali- 

 fied to give the necessary information for its successful culture; as well as 

 furnishing a methodical mode of classing and naming the rapidly increasing 

 varieties, from their form, color, and manner of growth. 



The work appeared under the sanction of Chevalier Soulange Bodin, 

 who, from the high reputation he has justly acquired, in consequence of 

 the vast extent of theoretical and practical knowledge he has evinced, in all 

 the departments of horticulture; and the exalted positions he has long sus- 

 tained, as proprietor of the celebrated garden of experiment at Fromont, and 

 Secretary of the Royal Horticultural Society of Paris, is a conclusive testi- 

 monial, of the respectful consideration, in which the labors of the Abbe 

 Berlese should be held. 



Although it is but a few years, since the Camellia has been generally 

 known and cultivated, in the United States, we can present several very 

 splendid collections; and that of Colonel Wilder, in Dorchester, is surpassed 

 by but few in Europe, both as to the variety and number, as he has over 1000 

 plants, which include 300 species and varieties. 



Hawthorn Cottage, ^ 



Roxhury, April 26, 1838.;' 



