134 STATE BOAKl) OF AGRICULTURE. 



system of liorticulturc was ]-)vacticcfl thousaiuls of years a^^o by the Egyptians 

 is evidetit iiom the })aintiiic,'s on their ruined temples, and also from tiie fact 

 that it \va< necessary, in order to sust:ain the densely peo[)led valley of the Nile. 

 From this wondrous land of fruits and flowers, the art was carried into Greece, 

 and there received the greatest attention. From Greece, or Asia Minor, it was 

 carried to Eome, where it was the chief reliance of the people. Of the Koman 

 jrardens we have full accounts; the branches of horticulture then known to 

 them seem to have been carried to a high degree of perfection. The gardens 

 of the ancient Asiatics, however, in no way resembled those of the present day, 

 the chief object in all Oriental enclosures being to produce such vegetables, 

 whether decorative or edible, as were necessary for either public or private 

 purposes, their idea of a pleasure garden being a grove of trees for the purpose 

 of shade; and probably this idea of planting for shade first suggested planta- 

 tions of trees. The ancient patriarchs subsisted chiefly by their flocks, and 

 the 6im})le fruits and vegetables that flourished at that time, and as population 

 increased in numbers they colonized for their better protection against those 

 more powerful than themselves, at the same time directing their attention to 

 the cultivation of the soil and the practice of the mechanic arts. But for cen- 

 turies after this, so common was the practice of war and depredation that 

 people dared not live in other than fortified places cultivating an enclosed 

 patch of ground to serve their most pressing wants. It would seem as though 

 the various fruits of the earth would entice the attention of those people to 

 their improvement; but so dominant seemed the bent of humanity on the 

 acquisition of power and its direct promotion as to exclude all else save the 

 arts of architecture, sculpture, and painting, the pursuit of the latter being 

 due, perhaps, to the peo))le living in cities. During the dark ages horticulture, 

 like other peaceful pursuits, languished, and it remained for the Saracens to 

 revive and carry it into France, Spain, and Sicily, and in later times every mon- 

 astery had its well-kept garden. From Spain the science spread all over Europe, 

 England being among the latest to receive it. Many of the ancients wrote 

 treatises on gardening, but through lack of scientific knowledge, and the prev- 

 alence of popular superstition, error, and prejudice abounded in all their writ- 

 ings, and I am sorry to say that many of those souvenirs of a gone past prevail 

 to-day. But with the spread of civilization the mind expanded, experiments 

 were instituted, and inquiry began in relation to the principles of vegetable 

 life, and improved husbandry. Accident, also, contributed not a little to help 

 produce the splendid achievements of the present day. Horticulture is now a 

 science which has, and is now receiving the closest attention from many of the 

 able scientific men of our time; and as we look at the vast field of nature we 

 are struck with awe and admiration, and things as common as the air we 

 breathe, when examined by the light of science unfold such pleasing features 

 as to make us wonder at our previous lack of appreciation. Horticulture 

 belongs to civilized life; when the home becomes a permanent abode, it is 

 then that the necessity of sustenance demands the cultivution of the soil, con- 

 sequently it has always received the greatest attention from overcrowded 

 nations. Thus it is with China, France, Belgium, England, and many others, 

 and in time it must become so with us, as under our laws and form of govern- 

 ment we shall increase so in population as to be as overcrowded as any nation 

 on earth. All over Europe to-day, governments and individuals are looking 

 to horticulture to supply the necessaries of life, rendered more immediately 

 imperative by a variety of causes in diflerent countries. 



Mr. Gladstone, in a recent address on horticulture among farmers, said that 



