SACRED AND CLASSICAL PLANTING. 



Theopompos, that it was the inhabitants of Chios, an island in the ^gean sea, who first 

 found it, and cultivated it, transmitting it to the other Greeks. This point must forever 

 remain in uncertainty, for as Homer refers to the vineyards of his heroes, the natural con- 

 clusion is, that it was plentiful in Greece before the historical era. Throughout that coun- 

 try, sandy swells or eminences facing the morning sun, were fixed upon as the best sites 

 for this plant, and to this day, south-eastern declivities are preferred to any other aspect. 

 It is worthy of remembrance, perhaps, that the first instructions in the art of pruning the 

 vine, so as to induce it to bear more plentifully, was borrowed from an ass browsing upon 

 it, and for this hint a marble statue was erected in honor of this quadruped in the mari- 

 time town of Nauplia. The vine was sacred to Bacchus, and throughout Greece, when 

 the labors of the vintage were concluded, scenes of Bacchic enthusiasm and excess were 

 yearljr enjoyed bj'- the youthful rustics engaged in that glorious harvest. The references 

 to the vine in the classics, are endless; and he who has the leisure and inclination to search 

 for them, will not long look in vain. I have seen the vine planted in England near to Elm 

 trees, on which it found a suitable space to spread its branches; and I recollect in the gar- 

 den of the late Mr. Loudon, at Bayswater, several vines were so planted, which bore re- 

 markably well. It is necessary that the branches of the elm should be thinned sufficient- 

 ly to admit light and air, otherwise the grapes will not ripen. In this form it had better 

 be introduced in a collection of sacred and classical plants, choosing the English elm, 

 ( Ulmus campcstris,^ as its support, as that tree was also known to the Greeks. 



The Juniper is twice mentioned in the Holy Scriptures. Commentators are in great 

 doubt and uncertainty regarding the tree to which the inspired writers allude, arising from 

 the somewhat absurd idea of keeping the English juniper continually before their eyes. It 

 would, indeed, be hard to fancy that the prophet Elijah found a refreshing shade under 

 a shrub a few feet in height, without any pretensions whatever to the character of being 

 umbrageous. The difficulty, however, is quite uncalled for; and the fact that our divines 

 are so much divided concerning this tree, proves how necessary it is that those who pro- 

 fess to illustrate the Scriptures, should have an intimate acquaintance with natural history, 

 or at least the aid of those who know something of that subject. In all probability, the 

 juniper of the Bible is the Jimiperwi drupacea, a native of Mount Casius, in Syria, and 

 identical with those seen by Bellonius on Mount Taurus — trees which reach the height of 

 a cypress, with a broader head, and therefore more likely to be chosen for shade and shel- 

 ter. It appears the juniper was resorted to in the days of Job for food; and it is so far 

 corroborative of the supposition hazarded, to know, that at the present day, the inhabi- 

 tants of the mountains above referred to, eat the fruit of the J. drupacea, which is of the 

 size and shape of an Olive. Be this as it may, there is not the slightest occasion to seek a 

 substitute for the juniper of Holy Writ, in the Genista, or Spanish broom. 



The Myrtle has a clearer genealogy, and comes down to us as pure and odoriferous as 

 it grew in the gardens of Cimon, Pericles, and Epicurus. Those were the chief patrons of 

 Flora; they had the myrtle planted in great profusion on mounds, freely exposed to the 

 breeze, so that when the plants were in flower, the winds came laden with an odor rival- 

 ling that of the rose. This shrub is Grecian all over; whether we look at its form, the 

 size, shape, and color of its leaf, its exquisite fragrance, or the form, color, and scent of its 

 flowers, the classic stamp is upon it. This favorite denizen of Hellenic lands, was dearly 

 loved by the Greek; in his eye it was instinct with divinity, and wherever he saw it, his 

 fancy represented to him a most beautiful maiden of Attica, fairer than all her country- 

 women. The tree was peculiarly sacred to Venus; her temples were invariably si- 

 with it; and under the favorite name of Myrtilla, she was adorned throughout G 



