15 



were collected by the Greeks and Romans from Egypt, Asia, and 

 other distant climes, and successively extending over Western 

 Europe, finally reached this country. But so gradual was their 

 progress, " it was not till the reign of Henry VIII, that any 

 salads, carrots, turnips, cabbages, or other edible roots were pro- 

 duced in England. The little of these vegetables that was used, 

 was imported from Holland." Fuller observes, that " Gardening 

 was first brought into England, for profit, about the commence- 

 ment of the seventeenth century, before which we fetched most 

 of our cherries, from Holland, apples from France, and hardly 

 had a mess of rath-ripe peas, but from Holland, which were 

 dainties for ladies, they came so far, and cost so dear." 



Peaches, nectarines, apricots, plums, pears, cherries, straw- 

 berries, melons and grapes were luxuries, but little enjoyed^be- 

 fore the time of Charles II, who introduced French gardening 

 at Hampton Court, Carlton, and Marlborough, and built the first 

 hot and ice houses. 



At this period Evelyn, the great apostle of planting, translated 

 " The complete Gardener," and a treatise on orange trees by 

 Quintinyne, a French author of great merit ; and having devoted 

 the remainder of his life to the cultivation of his rural seat at 

 Sayes Court, near Deptford, and in the publication of his Sylva, 

 Kalendarium Hortense, Terra, Pomona and Acetaria, he " first 

 taught gardening to speak proper English." 



The Horticulture of France had hitherto been considerably in 

 advance of that of Great Britain ; it was soon, however, destined 

 to be surpassed by her powerful rival, in the contest for national 

 grandeur ; but these kingdoms are again approximating towards 

 an equality, in the progress of tillage. 



In the literature and science of gardening, France has pro- 

 duced numerous authors of celebrity, and several whose works 

 have not been superseded by those of any other country. The 

 publications of Du Hamel, Thouin, Buffon, Gerardin, D'Argen- 

 ville, Rosier, Du Petit Thours, and the two Jussieus are agro- 

 nomic text-books of the highest repute. 



