OF GARDENING IN 1685 



BY SIR WILLIAM TEMPLE 



IN OUR NORTH-WEST CLIMATES, Coolness 

 our gardens are very different from what they a 

 were in Greece and Italy, and from what they valued 

 are now in those regions in Spain, or the south- 

 ern parts of France. And as most general cus- 

 toms in countries grow from the different nature 

 of climates, soils or situations, and from the 

 necessities or industry they impose, so do these. 

 In the warmer regions, fruits and flowers of 

 the best sorts are so common, and of so easy 

 production, that they grow in fields, and are 

 not worth the cost of enclosing, or the care of 

 more than ordinary cultivating. On the other 

 side, the great pleasures of those climates are 

 coolness of air, and whatever looks cool even 

 to the eyes, and relieves them from the un- 

 pleasant sight of dusty streets, or parched fields. 

 This makes the gardens of those countries to 

 be chiefly valued by largeness of extent (which 

 gives greater play and openness of air) by 

 shades of trees, by frequency of living streams 

 or fountains, by perspectives, by statues, and 

 by pillars and obelisks of stone scattered up 

 and down, which all conspire to make any 

 place look fresh and cool. On the contrary, 

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