11 



divinity. The promised rewards of the Mahomedan 

 religion are the perennial felicities of celestial gar- 

 dens. 



The bards, scholars, and philosophers of the classic 

 ages, have transmitted descriptions of the picturesque 

 plantations of the ancients, from those in which Ho- 

 mer places the regal palace of Alcinous and the rustic 

 dwelling of Laertes, to the magnificent villas of Pliny 

 and Lucullus. 



By numerous works of imagination and instruc- 

 tion, — which have rendered their authors illustrious, 

 and established epochs in the grand cycle of events, 

 since the revival of letters, — we are enabled to ascer- 

 tain the actual state of cultivation, to perceive the 

 relative estimation in which it has been held, and to 

 appreciate the beneficial consequences of progressive 

 ameliorations, from the first humble efforts of the 

 anchorites of St. Basil and St. Benedict, to the 

 splendid developments of individual enterprise and 

 public patronage, which characterize the period in 

 which we live. 



The scientific relations of Horticulture are numer- 

 ous, and require an extensive acquaintance with the 

 various branches of Natural History and Physics. 

 Botany, Mineralogy, Hydraulics, Chemistry, Archi- 

 tecture, and Mechanics are called upon to furnish 

 their several contributions ; and it is the special 

 province of the artist, to render them subservient to 

 his practical operations, by a judicious application of 

 each to its appropriate purpose. 



In this pursuit, as in all others, practice has bee 

 too long estranged from scientific theory. Each has 



.M 



