172 pFatiC bore, bege'r^b/, and. bijric/. 



ejtismodi scrupulositas. [Columella] . There are indeed some certain 

 seasons and suspecta tempora, which the prudent gard'ner ought 

 carefully (as much as in him lies) to prevent : but as to the rest, 

 let it suffice that he diligently follow the observations which (by 

 great industry) we have collecfted together, and here present him." 

 The opinion of John Evelyn, thus expressed, doubtless shook 

 the faith of gardeners in the efficacy of lunar influence on plants, 

 and, as a rule, we find no mention of the Moon in the instructions 

 contained in the gardening books published after his death. It 

 is true that Charles Evelyn, in ' The Pleasure and Profit of 

 Gardening Improved' (17 17) directs that Stock Gilliflower seeds 

 should be sown at the full of the Moon in April, and makes several 

 other references to the influence of the Moon on these plants ; but 

 this is an exception to the general rule, and in 'The Retired 

 Gardener,' a translation from the French of Louis Liger, printed 

 in 17 17, the ancient belief in the Moon's supremacy in the plant 

 kingdom received its death-blow. The work referred to was 

 published under the direction of London and Wise, Court Nursery- 

 men to Queen Anne, and in the first portion of it, which is arranged 

 in the form of a conversation between a gentleman and his 

 gardener, occurs the following passage : — 



Qgni. — " I have heard several old gardeners say that vigorous trees ought to be 

 prun'd in the Wane, and those that are more sparing of their shoots in the Increase. 

 Their reason is, that the pruning by no means promotes the fruit if it be not done in 

 the Wane. They add that the reason why some trees are so long before they bear 

 fruit is, because they were planted or grafted either in the Increase or Full of the 

 Moon.' 



Card. — " Most of the old gardeners were of that opinion, and there are some 

 who continue still to be misled by the same error. But 'tis certain that they bear no 

 ground for such an imagination, as I have observ'd, having succeeded in my gardening 

 without such a superstitious observation of the Moon. However, I don't urge this 

 upon my own authority, but refer my self to M. de la Quintinie, who deserves more 

 to be believed than my self. These are his words : — 



' I solemnly declare [saith he] that after a diligent observation of the Moon's 

 changes for thirty years together, and an enquiry whether they had any influence on 

 gardening, the affirmation of which has been so long established among us, I per- 

 ceiv'd that it was no weightier than old wives' tales, and that it has been advanc'd by 

 unexperienc'd gardeners.' 



' ' And a little after : ' I have therefore foUow'd what appear'd most reasonable, 

 and rejected what was otherwise. In short, graft in what time of the Moon you 

 please, if your graft be good, and grafted in a proper stock, provided you do it like an 

 artist, you will be sure to succeed .... In the same manner [continues he] sow what 

 sorts of grain you please, and plant as you please, in any Quarter of the Moon, I'll 

 answer for your success ; the first and last day of the Moon being equally favourable.' 

 This is the opinion of a man who must be allow'd to have been the most experienc'd 

 in this age." 



pfanr;^ of tfte Moor^, 



The Germans call Mondveilchen (Violet of the Moon), the 

 Lunaria annua, the Leucoion, also known as the Flower of the Cow, 

 that is to say, of the cow lo, one of the names of the Moon. The 

 old classic legend relates that this daughter of Inachus, because she 



