86 JVotice of the Garden of Froinont. 



plantations and in the regeneration of our forests, as reason and ob- 

 servation, connected with elevated theories of physics and agricul- 

 ture, already point out. 



The summary ideas, that we have offered to the public on so im- 

 portant a subject, and that were at bottom nothing more than a cor- 

 ollary and application of the principles of cultivation and increase, 

 are now, in some measure, brought forward and experimented upon 

 in our own soil by some preparatory labors, the importance of which 

 has been duly appreciated by enlightened persons, who have honored 

 us with their visits, as well as by our correspondents. Innumerable 

 seeds received from North America have begun to germinate in the 

 soil of Fromont, and will permit observers to judge what great ad- 

 vantages, at the least expense and by repeated trials at different times 

 as well as in different places, the mixture of the best forest species 

 of America with our indigenous species would present in the primi- 

 tive formation of large masses of wood. This inquiry is so import- 

 ant, the grounds, on which it would be interesting to make trials re- 

 specting it, are so extensive, the direction of the public mind in re- 

 gard to plantations is becoming so decided, finally, the number of 

 enlightened men, devoted and liberal, is so great in our beloved coun- 

 try, that, in order to favor and multiply experiments of this kind, 

 our intention is to take as models, in this part of our labors, the grand 

 nurseries of Scotland, which furnish to the kingdoms of Great Brit- 

 ain and the continent of the north the plants of forest trees in mil- 

 lions, at prices, that would seem comparatively trifling, and that per- 

 severing industry in their cultivation can alone explain ; for it is in 

 Great Britain and especially in Scotland that we must look for the 

 finest and most useful examples of most horticultural establishments.. 

 And what interest have we but to doit? The bottom lands in France, 

 whether belonging to individuals or the public, that are susceptible 

 of being plantfed with wood, may be reckoned at millions of acres.^ 

 It is, therefore, bj millions that we must offer to proprietors and put 

 into their hands, with instructions and conditions alike encouraging, 

 the plants of all the trees, that are proper for adorning and making 

 useful the places now wild and unproductive ; sustained by public 

 patronage the garden of Fromont will be able to effect this. We 

 attach to this part of our enterprise an importance proportioned to its 

 high utility, and we are so much the more encouraged in it, as we 

 shall be guided by the talents and experience of our colleague, M. 

 Andre Michaux, whose observations and works we shall often have 



