iv 



introduction; 



would collect plants in vain, unless lie could keep them in safety till lie had an oppor- 

 tunity of dispatching them co the place he wished; and seeds, bulbs, and other roots,, 

 would soon perish unless they could be sown or planted so as to furnish him with a 

 stock when he had an opportunity of sending them to Europe. But to obviate these* 

 and many other inconveniences, Botanical Gardens in our foreign possessions offer 

 an easy remedy. 



This, however, is not the only advantage arising from these institutions : timber 

 trees, however valuable and important, can scareely be propagated to advantage in 

 countries differing much in temperature from those where they are indigenous: the 

 Quercus robur will not grow in an Indian forest ; nor can the Tectona grand is be 

 brought to perfection in an English stove. Yet the cultivation of timber is in every 

 country an object of the first importance. Here, then, is another instance of the 

 utility of public gardens where these trees may be introduced and cultivated ; their 

 seeds perfected, and their plants multiplied, and where experiments may be made 

 upon the soil most congenial to their nature, and the mode of culture which suits 

 them best, and, also, upon the diseases and other causes of miscarriage to which they 

 are incident. 



The same reasoning will apply to fruit trees, and indeed to grain of every de- 

 scription. Grain, it is true, is only sown as an article of botanical curiosity in 

 countries unfriendly to its growth; but where particular grains are cultivated, they 

 are articles of the first importance, not only supplying nutriment for man and beasts 

 but frequently furnishing a superabundance sufficient to ward off entirely, or great- 

 ly to alleviate, the miseries of other" countries, and at all times furnishing a very im~ 

 portant article of export trade. 



It is readily granted, that Agricultural Societies would more effectually accom- 

 plish the object of improving the culture of grain, and that the premiums bestow- 

 ed by them upon successful candidates in the various branches of husbandry, would 

 operate with greater success, where these operations must necessarily be carried for- 

 ward on a large scale, and a comparative view made of the advantage attending dif- 

 ferent modes of culture, and of the produce of different kinds of soil. This is, how- 

 ever, impracticable in many of our foreign possessions, and must necessarily be at- 



