INTRODUCTION 



It is written that God placed the first man in a garden to dress 

 and to keep it ; and that woman was there created as a help 

 meet for him. That garden was the primitive paradise ; and to 

 this day, a tastefully planned, judiciously planted, and well-kept 

 garden has, still lingering about it, many of the charms we are 

 wont to attribute to the original Eden. To the true lover of rural 

 life it seems, in the fullness of its summer beauty, to be indeed 

 almost a Paradise Regained. 



Gardens are frequently mentioned in ancient writings, both 

 sacred and profane, but little is told us either of their productions 

 or their cultivation. 



At the close of the Roman commonwealth the catalogue of 

 cultivated fruits had become considerable, and the principles of 

 pruning and grafting were understood and practiced. With the 

 decline of the empire, horticulture, in common with other useful 

 arts, seems to have declined, and to have revived only when 

 learning arose from the slumber of the dark ages. Since that 

 time, it has kept pace with the general improvement of society. 

 England, France, and Belgium have taken the lead in modern 

 horticultural progress. The United States will not long remain 

 behind. 



It would be interesting to trace, at considerable length, the 

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