102 A inSTORV OF CARDKXIXC IX EXGLAXD. 



to the reader is si^^ned " thy well-wilier N.F.""^ " One Richard 

 Harris of London, borne in Ireland Fruiterer to King Henry the 

 eight fetched out of Frauncc great store of graftes especially 

 pippins, before which time there were no pippins in England. 

 He fetched also out of the Lowe Countries, cherrie grafts and 

 Peare graftes of diuers sorts : Then tooke a peese of ground 

 belonging to the king in the Parrish of Tenham in Kent being 

 about the quantitie of seaven score acres : whereof he made an 

 orchard, planting therein all those foraigne grafts. Which 

 orchard is and hath been from time to time, the chiefe mother 

 of all other orchards for those kinds of fruit in Kent and diuers 

 other places. And afore that these said grafts were fetched out 

 of Fraunce and the Lowe Countries although that there was some 

 store of fruite in England, yet there wanted both rare fruite 

 and lasting fine fruite. The Dutch and PVench finding it to be 

 so scarce especially in these counties neere London, commonly 

 plyed Billingsgate and diuers other places, with such kinde of 

 fruit, but now (thankes bee to God) diuers gentlemen and others 

 taking delight in grafting . . . have planted many orchards 

 fetching their grafts out of that orchard which Harris planted 

 called the New Garden." 



When Drayton wrote his Polyolbion, in 1619-22, the orchard 

 must still have been flourishing, as he alludes to it thus, 



" Rich Tenham undertakes thy closet to suffice with cherries." — Song XVIII. 



This orchard is supposed to have produced cherries which sold 

 for /"looo in the year 1540!; an immense sum for those days, 

 and it sctms an exaggeration when compared with the ordinarj- 

 prices of cherries, found in the household books about this date; 

 for instance, " Item 9th Juh e 1549, 2 lbs. cherrys at my Ladye's 

 comandemente IVd.," and again, "27th Julye 1549,4 pond of 

 cherr}'S IVd."| It is difficult to arrive at the ordinary prices 

 given for garden produce. They must, of course, have varied 



* Imprinted for Roger Jackson, London. 



f Johnson, Hist. Eiiglisli Gardening, 1829, p. 56. PhiHps' Companion to 

 the Orchard. Ed. 1821, p. 79. 



% Le Stranjre, Household Books. 



