PREFACE. 



every assistance in his power, for the prosecution of his re- 

 searches at the various interesting places at which it was 

 intended the vessel should touch, on its way out and home- 

 ward. The consent of the Lords of the Admiralty to this pro- 

 posal having been readily obtained, Mr. James M c Rae, a 

 practical gardener of considerable experience, was selected 

 for the service, and sailed in September. 



The advantages resulting from these missions are not con- 

 fined to the increase of the collections of the Society : for by 

 the acquisition of new and rare plants, it obtains the means 

 of conferring such favours upon the cultivators of those objects, 

 both at home and abroad, as to enable the Society to procure, 

 without difficulty, many articles which otherwise would be 

 almost unattainable ; thus not only rendering its own collec- 

 tions more perfect, but extending its reputation and its benefits 

 in every direction. 



But it is not merely to the importation of objects deserv- 

 ing the notice of the horticulturist and botanist, that the 

 attention of the Society has been turned. It has always 

 evinced a becoming liberality in transmitting to various places 

 abroad such seeds and plants as were known to be wanting 

 to the comforts of their inhabitants ; and it has had the grati- 

 fication to find, that, in every quarter of the globe to which 

 its influence has reached, these efforts have been duly appre- 

 ciated, and met by a corresponding feeling. From the East 

 India Company's gardens and possessions, the acquisition of 

 valuable seeds and plant s has been very considerable ; for which 

 we are almost entirely indebted to the liberality and zeal of the 

 Court of Directors. In the northern regions of America, the 

 authority of the Hudson's Bay Company has been exerted 



