On Modern Improvements of Horticulture, 263 



where the date, the mango, tamarind, and lime dropped in 

 profusion into the hand ; where the melon tribe upon, and the 

 nutritious yam beneath the surface of the bountiful soil, were 

 all spontaneously suppHed without care, and without toil : — in 

 such circumstances, neither sagacity to contrive, nor ability to 

 perform, were necessary, further than collecting and preserving 

 those spontaneous gifts of nature. ,;. ;,;-; 



But population increased; and when mankind became 

 translocated to regions less favourable to vegetation, and where 

 the spontaneous productions of the earth were insufficient fop 

 their subsistence, then the business of the planter and cultivator 

 became a necessary occupation ; and hence gardening would 

 begin to assume a systematic form. 



As improvements, and the times in which they took place, 

 have descended together in continuous and collateral streams, 

 the narration may be divided into three periods, viz. : — From 

 the] earliest ages to the beginning of the sixteenth cen- 

 tury ; — from the beginning of the sixteenth century to the end 

 of the seventeenth; — and from that period to the present 

 time. 



We have already hinted at what were probably natural, or 

 aboriginal gardens: the account is so far feasible from the 

 fact, that such places and productions may be met with on 

 the peninsula of India, at the present day: true it is, they 

 cultivate rice, and some few inferior plants, where they have 

 opportunity, and use them along with their wild fruits ; but 

 when they cannot procure these cultivated necessaries, (which 

 sometimes happens,) they must rely on the natural productions. 

 It is necessary to add, that some of the castes, from religious 

 principle, abhor the use of almost any kind of animal food; 

 and, therefore, vegetables are their sole support. 



From Egyptian and Jewish history, we learn that gardens 



which is used along with the liquids as an article of food. But another 

 mo!;it pleasant beverage, called toddy, is obtained from this palm, and 

 which constitutes the chief value of the plant. The fruit is sacrificed to 

 procure this : soon as the frond becomes pendent, the extremity is tfut 

 off, and a narrow- necked vessel is slung thereto to receive the streaming 

 sap. This, both before and after being fermented, is an agreeable and 

 refreshing drink. It also yields an ardent spirit b/ distillation, but of 

 which the natives deny themseLves the use, 



