HORTTCULTUREc |5i 



are the necessary produce of improved culture ; and tLat (he 

 offspring, in a greater or less degree, inherits the character of 

 its parent. The austere crab of our woods has thus been 

 converted into the golden pippin ; and the numerous varieties 

 of the plumb, can boast no other parent than our native sloe. 

 Yet few experiments have been made, the object of which has- still greater 



been new productions of this sort; and almost everv amclior-*"^?'"^^""^"^* 



' ■ ^ _ , mviy lie expec- 



ated variety of friiit appears to have been the offspring of ted" from di- 



accident, or of culture, applied to other purposes, V/e may ^'^'^'' ^"^''"''®* 



(therefore infer, with little danger of error, that an ample- and 



i-iTiexplored field for future discovery and improvement lies 



before us, in which nature does not appear to have formed any 



limits to the success of our labours, if properly applied. 



The physiology of vegetation has deservedly engaged the objects of varf- 



attention of the Royal and Linnean Societies: and much in- ous eminent 



^ . societies. Hor- 



formation has been derived from the exertions of those learned ticultme has 

 bodies. Societies for the improvement of domestic animals, "t^t niiherto 



'■ ' met with pub- 



a.^d of agriculture in all its branches^ have also been establish- lie patronage 



eJ, Vk'itli success, in almost every district of the British empire. ^ research. 



•Hoiti culture alone appears to have been neglected, and left to 



the common gardener, who generally pursues the dull routine 



ot" his predecessor ; and, if he deviates from it, rarely possesses 



a sufficient share of science and information to enable him to 



•leviatvC with success. 



T!\e establishment of a national Society for the improvement Horticultural 

 if liorticulture has therefore long been wanted ; and if such '-°*^'^ y* 

 an. institution meet with a degree of support proportionate to 

 the importance of its object ; if it proceed with cautious cir- 

 cumspection to publish well ascertained facts only, to detect 

 ,the errors of ignorance, and to expose the misrepresentations 

 of fraud; the advantages which the public may ultimately 

 derive from the establishment, will probably exceed the most 

 >apguine hopes of its founders. 



Horticulture, in its present state, may with propriety be di- Horticulture: 

 ided into two distinct branches, the useful, and the ornamcn- "ttl',^*",^*'''^" 

 tal : the first must occupy the principal attention of the mem- 

 bers of the society, but the second wi!) not be neglected ; and 

 it will be their object, wherever it is practicable, to combine 

 both. 



Experi- 



