tured theory, and the advantages of various and multiplied ex- 

 amples, horticulture becomes the successful rival of her younger, 

 yet more favored sister, and finally usurps her entire domain ; for, 

 "that field is best cultivated, which assumes the appearance of 

 a wide extended garden." It was this learned and skilful til- 

 lage, which, in ancient times, maintained the dense population, 

 that crowded the classic shores of the Mediterranean, the fertile 

 islands of Crete, Cyprus and Rhodes, the emeralds which spangle 

 the ^Egean sea, and realized in Sicily the Hesperides of fabu- 

 lous poetry ; and which, in our age, is so conspicuous in China, 

 Holland, portions of France, Germany, Italy and Switzerland, 

 and has rendered the rural economy of England, the model of 

 all countries. 



When nations first emerge from a state of barbarism, the de- 

 mands for food and clothing offer the most powerful inducements 

 for agricultural industry, and the coarsest products satisfy the 

 general consumption ; but as manufactures and commerce begin 

 to divide the labors of an increasing and more intelligent 

 population, and the accumulated wealth of successful enterprise 

 creates a more refined taste, and furnishes the means of gratifi- 

 cation, the industrious cultivator of the soil is encouraged to in- 

 crease the variety, quantity, delicacy and value of his legumes, 

 esculent vegetables, fruits and flowers, until his rude fields are 

 converted into gardens. It is then that horticulture assumes a 

 station which commands, not only individual interest, but govern- 

 mental consideration, as one of the most important branches of 

 national industry, and is deemed worthy of the patronage of the 

 state. Such is its present elevated character, and while the 

 sovereigns, princes, and nobles of Europe are proud to enroll 

 their names among the members of those institutions, which 

 have been founded for the rational and patriotic purposes of mu- 

 tual instruction, and the diffusion of information on all the 

 branches of rural economy, we must profit by the experience of 

 other nations, and emulate the honorable examples they have pre- 

 sented, for perfecting the tillage of our native land. 



