184 THE FARMER AT HOME. 



cessities of mankind, have been practised at a very early period, so far 

 at least as herbs and fruits are concerned. It seems not improbable 

 but that it almost immediately succeeded the forming of distinct hab- 

 itations, and the possession of individual property. It must, however, 

 have remained long after its introduction in a very rude and imperfect 

 state, as, notwithstanding the accounts that have been given of the 

 magnificent gardens of early times, the Greeks and Romans seem to 

 have been but little acquainted with them ; for the garden of Alcinous, 

 when divested of the beautiful language of the poet, appears to have 

 been nothing but a sort of orchard and vineyard somewhat adorned 

 with the prevailing works of art ; or those of Lucullus, Cicero, and 

 Pliny, among the Romans, anything more than mere places of retreat, 

 planted with various odoriferous flowers and shrubs, and embellished 

 with a variety of heavy and unnatural works of ornament. 



GARLIC. This is a species of onion, cultivated in Europe since 

 the year 1551. Garlic has a strong, penetrating odor, and pungent, 

 acrid taste. It differs from the onion only by being more powerful in 

 its effects. In warm climates, where garlic is produced with consid- 

 erable less acrimony than in cold ones, it is much used, both as a sea- 

 soning and as a food. When bruised and applied to the skin, it 

 causes inflammation arid raises blisters. In the south of Europe, par- 

 ticularly in Spain, it is very much used, entering into the composition 

 of almost every dish, not only among the common people, but among 

 the higher classes of society ; and it is everywhere prized by epicures. 

 At all times, however, it has experienced much contrariety of opinion, 

 and has been adored by some nations, and detested by others, as by 

 the ancient Greeks. Its cultivation is easy, being a hardy plant, 

 growing in almost every kind of soil ; and it is reproduced by planting 

 the radical or floral bulbs. In the Middle States, it acquires its full 

 size about the latter end of A.ugust. Its medicinal virtues have also 

 been much celebrated. 



GAS. This name is applied by chemists to those fluids that 

 partly resemble common air, yet differ from it in their qualities, and 

 have never been made solid. There are a great variety of these ; 

 but those which, after oxygen, are of the greatest use, and in agricul- 

 ture have the greatest effect, are those of carbon and ammonia. 

 Carbonic gas is composed of carbon and oxygen. Ammonial gas 

 is composed of hydrogen and nitrogen. Carbonic gas furnishes 

 to plants the carbon which constitutes their stems or trunks, 

 and is constantly absorbed and decomposed by the leaves of plants ; 

 the carbon is retained for the use of the plant, while the oxygen is 

 thrown off to restore to the air that which was lost by the respiration 

 of the millions of vitally organized beings that breathe on the surface 

 of the earth. Ammonia is an alkali, volatile, and commonly known 

 in some of its combinations as salts of ammonia, or when combined 

 with a fluid, as spirits of hartshorn. This gas or its salts have a 



