
          Near Louisville, Ky. Decr. 31/52

My dear Sir,

Your two favours of Decr. 10th & 16th,
with their several inclosures, have reached me,
although both were several days longer on the 
way than usual, in consequence of having been
misdirected by you to Lexington, Ky.  That 
place, or rather its neighbourhood, Woodford County,
was the spot of my nativity, and I have often
regretted leaving if which I did some 15 years
ago. It is emphatically the “Garden of Kentucky”,
and an infinitely preferable place of residence to
this part of [crossed out: Kentucky] [added: it] in regard to fertility of soil,
healthiness of location, beauty of landscape, but
above all in botanical treasures! The calcarious,
mural cliffs of the Kentucky River, which waters
that part of the State, are the richest localites I
have ever seen, and produce many plants which
I have met with no where else. But I did not
take up my pen to eulogize the “land of my nativity”
and only refer to it for the purpose of correcting
my own habitat, in your mind.
        