138 THE FRUIT GARDE?r. 



fruits, in a climate so variable and precarious, can 

 only be recompensed by such pleasure. Those who 

 have no garden, partake of the fruits of another, perr 

 liaps with indifference; but he who has a garden, 

 and much fruit at stake, can never be indifferent to 

 it. He must in some measure live in fear, hope, and 

 pleasure, as the year is bad, favourable, or bountir 

 ful. 



By much the heaviest part of the expense incur- 

 red, in the laying out of a modern garden, goes to 

 the account of obtaining fruits ; for which, walls, 

 rails, and various forcing-houses are reared, in order 

 that they may be had in the greater perfection, and 

 at untimely seasons. The productions of all coun- 

 tries and climates are concentrated, and exhibited in 

 high perfection, perhaps within the compass of a 

 single acre. On the table of a British Peer, or other 

 gentleman of ample fortune, in the months of Au- 

 gust and September, a greater variety of fruit may 

 be seen, than is to be niet with on any other table 

 in the world. From the humble strawberry, to the 

 luscious pine-apple, the finest fruits of all quarters 

 of the earth may here be found. 



But the cultivation of exotic fruits is not confined 

 to the gardens of the great, or the extensive land- 

 proprietor. The merchant, the farmer, and even 

 the mechanic, generally have their walled gardens, 

 and often hot-houses, for this purpose ;— a strik- 

 ing proof of the wealth of the country in the first 

 place, and, in the next place, of the anxiety of all 

 -^ho can afford it, to obtain fruit. Indeed, the cot- 



