ON THE STATE OF 



GARDENING JN ENGLAND, 



From the Invasion of the Romans, nntil the accession of 

 Edward the Third. 



B. a 55. A. n. i;327. 



"^'HEN the conquering arms of Rome reached this almost 

 Ultima Tl.'iilc of their Geosraphy, they found the barbarous 

 inhabitants existing chiefly upon the produce of their herds, 

 and of the chase, although not totally inattentive to the culti- 

 vation of the Soil. The irdand inhabitants, descended from 

 the Cimbri, lived in straw thatched Cottages, and a fixed habi- 

 tation is an earnest of the existence of the Agricolan Arts 

 among the settlers. That they were practiced in Britain at 

 this early period is certain, for altho'jgh Tacitus affirms that 

 the inhabitants were without Corn, notwithstanding the soil 

 was favourable to its growth,* yet lh:s could only have been 

 pnrtially the case. The farms of some of (heir neighbours 

 and progenitors, the Gallic husbandmen, were large, f and as 

 wost of the manners and habitij of the Britons were in accord- 

 ance with theirs, we are justified in "nrlu'lir > this among 



♦ Vitta Agricola, 12 t I'l I'T l:.*t. yv ■;. . . o J "JS. 



