78 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



magic. So it is almost impossible to know much 

 about the state of gardening before the reign of 

 Henry VIII. Harrison, who wrote " A Descrip- 

 tion of England," mentions that " herbs, fruits, and 

 roots, such as yearly grow out of the ground, were 

 very plentiful in the reign of Edward I. and after 

 his days, but in process of time they were neglected ; 

 so that from Henry IV. to the beginning of the 

 reign of Henry VIII. there was little or no use for 

 them in England." But it is most likely in those 

 days the constant wars between the houses of 

 Lancaster and York prevented persons turning their 

 attention to anything like horticulture. 



During the reign of the last-mentioned monarch 

 rapid strides were made in horticulture — the surgeons 

 and apothecaries began to cultivate medicinal herbs ; 

 but Hume the historian says it was not until the 

 end of Henry's reign that any salads, carrots, tur- 

 nips, or other edible roots, were produced in Eng- 

 land : all such vegetables were chiefly imported from 

 the Netherlands, and were very dear ; for it is stated 

 that in 1595 a sum equal to 20s. was paid at the 

 port of Hull for six cabbages and a few carrots. In 

 the sixteenth century a cabbage from Holland was 

 deemed an acceptable present. 



The inhabitants of Elanders and the Low Coun- 

 tries were very industrious God-fearing people, and 

 had long been famous for their horticulture. 



About 1524 a cruel religious persecution drove 

 numbers from their country, and tliey came to Eng- 

 land, where au asylum was offered them. Many 

 settled at Sandwich, and soon discovered the suit- 

 ability of the soil for gardening, wliicb, after a short 

 time, enabled them to supply the country round 

 with plenty of vegetables, and at a more reasonable 

 price. The demand for their produce in London 

 was so great that a body of the exiles were induced 

 to remove nearer the metropolis, and they settled at 

 Battersea, Bermondsey, and Wandsworth, where 

 many of the garden-grounds planted by them flou- 

 rish to the present day. 



Since the reign of Elizabeth horticulture has 

 steadily progressed in all its branches, and those 

 vegetables which were once a luxury confined to 

 the tables of the rich, have now become a necessary 

 with the poor. 



The most important class of roots that first de- 

 mands our attention is the Potato ; and the history 

 of its discovery and culture affords us an interesting 

 example of progress under difficulties, as for some 

 time after its introduction it was undervalued and 

 its cultivation neglected by the scientific and prac- 

 tical gardeners of those days. The discovery of 

 America by Columbus, which had aroused the spirit 

 of maritime adventure and the thirst for foreign 

 dominion in Europe, at last infected our country, 

 and in 158i Queen Elizabeth sent out a fleet " to 

 discover and plant new countries not possessed by 

 Christians," under the auspices of Sir Walter 



Raleigh. Thomas Heriot, the mathematician, was 

 one of these adventurers : he, with the rest, returned 

 home within two years, and it has been supposed 

 that to him we are indebted for the first knowledge 

 of the potato, which he describes, under the article 

 of Roots, as au American plant called openawk. 

 " The roots of this plant," says he, " are round, 

 some as large as a walnut, others much larger ; they 

 grow in damp soils, many hanging together as if 

 fixed on ropes. They are good food either boiled or 

 roasted." 



From numerous passages in the Elizabethan 

 dramatists, it appears that the potato was a great 

 dainty in those days ; but this refers to the sweet 

 potato {Batatus edulis), which was cultivated in 

 Spain and Portugal and imported to this country. 

 It is to this plant that Shakespeare alludes in the 

 " Merry Wives of Windsor" (Act v. Sc. 5), where 

 Palstaff says — 



"Let it rain potatoes, and hail kissing comforts ! " 



Gerarde mentions in his Herbal, published in 1597, 

 the common potato as Battatci Virginiana, having 

 received the roots from Virginia, which he cultivated 

 in his garden, and gives au accurate description of 

 both the plant and flower. He recommends the 

 root to be eaten as a delicate dish, and not as com- 

 mon food. 



The introduction of this root into Ireland by Sir 

 Walter Raleigh is well authenticated, for it is stated 

 in the manuscript minutes of the Royal Society that 

 S. R. Southwell mentioned to the fellows that his 

 grandfather was the first to cultivate the potato in 

 that country, and for this valuable root he was 

 indebted to Sir Walter. Among the anecdotes re- 

 lated of Raleigh is, that on his returning to his estate 

 at Youghal, in the county of Cork, he gave some of 

 the roots of the potato to his gardener, desiring him 

 to plant them in the spring. In August these 

 plants flourished, and in September produced fruit, 

 but so different to the gardener's expectations that 

 in an ill humour he carried the potato-apples or 

 berries to his master. "Is this," said he, "the fine fruit 

 from America you prize so highly ? " Sir Walter 

 either was, or pretended to be, ignorant of the matter, 

 and told the gardener, since that was the case, to 

 dig up the weed and throw it away. The gardener 

 obeyed, and in rooting out the weeds found a bushel 

 of potatoes. 



Dr. Campbell, in his Political Survey, states that 

 this plant was not introduced into Ireland imtil the 

 year 1610, while other writers afi&rm that it was 

 grown there at a much earlier period, and indeed 

 try to make it equally probable that it is a native 

 vegetable of the country. It is known, however, 

 that Captain Hawkins carried the Spanish potato to 

 Ireland in 1565. The claim to its greater antiquity 

 in that country was made by Sir Lucius O'Brien, 

 who stated to Mr. Arthur Young, that the venerable 

 Bede mentioned this plant as being in Ireland about 



