192 



THE PRAISE OF GARDENS 



greatly improve themselves by reading the works of the Ancients, 

 and bringing their several propositions to practice ; and also 

 might bring to light many of the most hidden branches of the 

 art of Gardening, and have the pleasure of producing several 

 effects, as good and useful, perhaps, as most of those that are 

 called modern discoveries. For upon a deliberate perusal of 

 Columella, Varro, and the other gentlemen I am to descant 

 upon in the following work, I find many excellent pieces, which 

 have not hitherto been made common with us ; many more 

 that have not yet been try'd in our fields and gardens. — A Survey 

 of the A?ident Husbandry and Gardening. 



^j\f\/\j^— 



ERASMUS 



DARWIN, 



F.R.S., 



(1731-1802). 



M.D., EdiJi., and practised as Physicia,n at Derby ; grandfather of Charles 

 Darwin ; author of ' Botajiic Garden or Loves of the Plajits, ' and ' Zoonomia' 



npHE beautiful colours of the petals of flowers with their 

 *^ polished surfaces are scarcely rivalled by those of shells, 

 of feathers, or of precious stones. Many of these transient 

 beauties, which give such brilliancy to our gardens, delight at 

 the same time the sense of smell with their odours : yet have 

 they not been extensively used as articles, either of diet, 

 medicine, or the arts. — Fhytologta, or The Philosophy of Agri- 

 culture and Garde?iing, 1800. 



~'A/\Ar^~ 



WILLIAM 

 COWPER 



(1731-1780). 



\A Y green-house is never so pleasant as when we are just upon 

 ^^ *- the point of being turned out of it. The gentleness of the 

 autumnal suns, and the calmness of this latter season, make it 

 a much more agreeable retreat than we ever find it in the 

 summer ; when the winds being generally brisk, we cannot cool 

 it by admitting a sufficient quantity of air, without being at the 

 same time incommoded by it. But now I sit with all the 

 windows and the door wide open, and am regaled with the 

 scent of every flower, in a garden as full of flowers as I have 



