HORTICULTURE. 



143 



they liappcn to be enthusiasts in the subject. Far away in tlie country 

 the ^Triter mot one day near a Pul)lic School a nuniljer of boys ancl 

 girls— quite a string of thora— toiling along under heavy loads. On 

 inquiry it turned out that these loads consisted of bags of vegetables, 

 bottles of honey, &c., &c., the produce of the children's ownludiistry 

 from little plots of ground adjoining the Public School. The land 

 was inferior in quality, being stony and difficult to work, but by tho 

 judicious encouragement of the master these children — boys and girls 

 — had become so interested in their gardening that they had been able 

 to raise considerable quantities of produce after school-lmnrs. Not 

 one of those boys and girls will ever forget the aduiirable lessons 

 thus learnt, which were entirely apart from the ordinary school 

 curriculum. It cannot be expected that every teacher could succeed 

 so well, for probably but few have any practical knowledge of the 

 subject ; but it would be well that all those who are being trained for 

 the work of teaching should have every opportunity afforded them of 

 acquiring some insight into the various branches of horticulture. 



It is somewhat difficult to trace the progress of horticulture in New 

 South Wales, as but little information on the subject is given in the 

 early history of the Colony. The first plants inti-oduced were doubt- 

 less those obtained at Eio de Janeiro and the Cape by Governor Phillip 

 in 1787, when in command of the "First Fleet." Collins, in his History, 

 says : 



As it was earnestly wished to introduce the fruits of the Cape into the new settlement, 

 Captain Phillip was ably assisted iu liis endeavours to procure the rarest and best of 

 every species, both in plant and seed, by Mr. Mason, the King's botanist, as well as by 

 Colonel Gordon, at that time the Commander-in-Chief of the troops at the Cape ; a 

 gentleman whose thirst for knowledge amply qualified liim to be of service to the 

 colonists, not only in procuring a great variety of the best seeds and plants, but in 

 pointing out the culture, the soil, and the j^roper time of introducing them into the 

 ground. The following plants and seeds were procured at the Cape and at Rio de 

 Janeiro. At Rio de Janeiro : Coffee — both seed and plant ; cocoa, in the nut (probably 

 coconut) ; cotton-seed ; banana-plant ; oranges, various sorts, both seed and plant ; 

 lemon-seed and plant ; guava-seed ; tamarind; prickly-pear; plant with cocliincal on it ; 

 Eugenia, or pomme-rose, a plant bearing a fruit like an apple, and having the flavour and 

 odour of a rose ; ipecacuanha, three sorts ; jalap.' At tlie Cape of Good Hoi^e : Tlie fig- 

 tree, bamboo, Spanish-reed, sugar-cane, vines of various sorts, quince, apple, pear, straw- 

 berrj', oak, myrtle. 



In 1791 a supply of " 200 fruit-trees and a quantity of garden seed" 

 were brought by H.M.S. Gorgon from the Cape. It is mentioned in 

 PhiUip's " Voyage to Botany Bay," Chapter XIII, that in 1788 



All the plants and fruit-trees brought from Brazil and the Cape which were not 

 damaged in the passage thrive exceedingly, and vegetables have now become plentiful, 

 both the European sorts and such as are peculiar to this country. In tlie Governor's 

 garden are excellent cauliflowers and melons, very fine of their kinds. The orange-trees 

 flourish, and the fig-trees and \ ines still more rapidly. In a climate so favourable, the 

 cultivation of the vine may be carried to any degree of perfection ; and should not otlier 

 articles of commerce divert the attention of the settlers from tliis point, tiie wines of New 

 South Wales may, perhaps, liereafterbe sought with avidity, and become an indispensable 

 part of European tables. 



In 1792, Collins says : 



The Colony had now been establisiicd within a few weeks of five years, and a review of 

 what had been done iu cultivation under His Excellency's direction in that time cuunot 



