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PREFACE. 



JL he horticultural tour, an account of which is 

 here presented to the Public, was first proposed, at 

 the anniversary meeting of the Caledonian Horti- 

 cultural Society in September 1815, by the Right 

 Hon. Sir John Sinclair. As the territories un- 

 der the control of France had, for many years, been 

 inaccessible to British travellers, it seemed likely that, 

 in the more fertile districts, several changes, and pos- 

 sibly improvements, both in agriculture and garden- 

 ing, might have taken place, the knowledge of which 

 it would be desirable to introduce into this country. 

 The patriotic individual just named had recently 

 before visited the Netherlands, with the view of in- 

 vestigating the state of Flemish husbandry ; and the 

 minuteness and accuracy of his researches are evinced 

 in the work which he has since published, intituled 

 " Hints regarding the agricultural state of the 

 Netherlands compared with that of Great Britain." 

 He suggested, that a similar inquiry into the state 

 of Horticulture in the Low Countries might be 

 proper ; and his proposal was seconded by a learned 

 and eloquent member (Francis Jeffrey, Esq.), 

 who was pleased to point out Mr Thomas Dick- 



