AGRICULTURE, HORTICULTURE, ETC. 25 



to run before the evening- primrose, the passion flower, 

 and the lobelias of America were to become familiar 

 to European gardeners, ipecacuanha and cinchona to 

 European physicians. 



Agriculture, Horticulture, and Silk-Culture in the 



Sixteenth Century. 



During the darkest parts of the Middle Ages agricul- 

 ture and horticulture were regularly practised. Tyranny, 

 the greed of settlers, the inroads of barbarians, private 

 war, and superstition may destroy all that brightens 

 human life, but they hardly ever exterminate the popu- 

 lation of large districts, 1 and so long as men live they 

 must till the soil. 



The age of Charlemagne was one of cruel hardship 

 to the inhabitants of Western Europe, but the cartu- 

 laries of the great king show that the improvement of 

 horticulture was a matter of much concern with him. 

 The nobles and the religious houses kept trim gardens, 

 which are delineated in mediaeval paintings We know 

 less about the state of the peasantry, but it is clear that 

 they ploughed, sowed, reaped, and dug their little 

 gardens, however uncertain the prospect of enjoying 

 the produce of their labour. 



The progressive Middle Ages (about 1000 to 1500 

 A.D.) greatly increased the comfort of the wealthy and 

 alleviated the miseries of the poor. \Ve now hear of 

 countries (England, the Low Countries, the western 

 half of Germany, the northern half of Italy) where 

 freemen cultivated their own land, or grew rich by 

 trade, and these men were not content barely to support 



1 The extermination of the red man in North America is the 

 most conspicuous case recorded in history. Australia and Tas- 

 mania furnish examples on a smaller scale. 



C 



