PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. 
AGrIcuLTure, in a broad end legitimate sense, being a : Cong 
owe wok a star paw involving more es ly a practical, 
acquaintance wit useful portion of the Vegetable Creation,— . 
T have ioe ‘dhionght it dts to the Profession, and desirable inevery point — 
of view, that the young Farmers of the United States should acquire ar 
* exact know ledge of the Plants which it immediately concerns them to 
know ; and that f they should be enabled to designate, and treat of the 
y reatise—thoug’ 
couched i in rahe ost familiar dialect—would obviate the objections, or 
conciliate the te oiicbs of such antiquated tillers of the soil. My — 
views, therefore, have not been directed to that unpromising quarter. I 
sadn th myself to the youthful and aspiring rig i ale of our country, 
who seek to elevate their noble Profession to its just rank among human 
ee ts,—and who feel that the exercise "of sntellect, as well as of ace 
indispensa nsable to the accomplishment of their pur 
a have predarod to treat of the Plants, which it more immediatel 
cme of our day, and in the lan nguage of System matic Botany. By 
exept a much of 4 classification, or frame-work of the Science, 
, according to the mos pets S| 
te to present the Genera and Species, here described, in | 
as i pecies, 
their seal and relati tive positions, the Student rs be enabled to com- 
prehend their connection wi ith the other portions of the System, ae te. 
examine them, as the Geologists Fisher = situ. t. that 3 catia : 
resolve ‘upon a more extended acquainin nce with the vege- 
sities eee ceili k aR 
