88 JSTotice of the Vegetable Productions of China. 



durability, for ornament, or the preservation of the wood to 

 which they are applied. 



Excellent apples and pears were presented to the gentle- 

 men of Lord Macartney's embassy, in the northern provinces, 

 as they passed down the canal from Pekin to Canton; and as 

 the pear, from the number of kinds, and the length of time 

 they are to be enjoyed, is the most valuable fruit of the largest 

 portion of the United States, should not efforts be made to 

 procure the Chinese varieties, as it is probable some of them 

 may be of a very superior character? 



The Camellia japonica is extensively cultivated in the south- 

 ern provinces of China, for the oil which is obtained from its 

 large seeds. Vast plantations were frequently seen on the 

 hill sides and borders of the rivers and canals. 



Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 



H. A. S. Dearborn. 



Hawthorn Cottage^ Feb. 1, 1841. 



We are highly gratified in being able to lay before our read- 

 ers so interesting a communication as the above, from so able 

 a pen as that of Gen. Dearborn. No individual has done 

 more to create a taste for horticulture, in this country, than 

 Gen. Dearborn; and it is in a great degree owing to his exer- 

 tions, as the first President of the Massachusetts Horticultural 

 Society, that gardening has made such rapid advancement in 

 the vicinity of Boston. 



The flowers, fruits, &c., enumerated by Gen. Dearborn, 

 as natives of the Columbia river, might be soon introduced if 

 exertions were made to do so. The missionaries could easily 

 send home, and would probably willingly do so, if they were 

 requested to by any of their friends, either the seeds or plants 

 of the kinds which have been named: and if they could not 

 be introduced in this way, they could undoubtedly be obtained 

 by the United States' Exploring Expedition. Letters from 

 the officers attached to the Expedition, have been received, 

 dated at the Sandwich Islands, where they have recently ar- 

 rived from a cruise to the Fejee Islands, stating that they 

 would proceed to the Columbia river, where a year or more 

 would be spent, in surveying the coast of the Oregon Terri- 

 tory, before they returned home. Should this be the case, 

 it will aiford a most favorable opportunity to procure all the 

 valuable plants, flowers, and fruits, which grow in that mild 



