19 



but from Holland, which were dainties for ladies, they 

 came so far, and cost so dear." 



Peaches, nectarines, apricots, plums, pears, cher- 

 ries, strawberries, melons, and grapes were luxuries, 

 but little enjoyed before the time of Charles II. who 

 introduced French gardening at Hampton Court, 

 Carlton, and Marlborough, and built the first hot and 

 ice houses. 



At this period Evelyn, the great apostle of plant- 

 ing, translated " The Complete Gardener," and a 

 Treatise on Orange Trees by Quintinyne, a French 

 author of great merit ; and having devoted the remain- 

 der of his life to the cultivation of his rural seat, at 

 Sayes Court, near Deptford, and in the publication of 

 his Sylva, Kalendarium Hortense, Terra, Pomona 

 and Acetaria, he " first taught gardening to speak 

 proper English." 



The Horticulture of France had hitherto been con- 

 siderably in advance of that of Great-Britain ; it was 

 soon, however, destined to be surpassed by her pow- 

 erful rival in the contest for national grandeur ; but 

 these kingdoms are again approximating towards an 

 equality, in the progress of tillage. 



In the literature and science of Gardening, France 

 has produced numerous authors of celebrity, and sev- 

 eral whose works have not been superseded by those 

 of any other country. The publications of Du Hamel, 

 Thouin, Buffon, Gerardin, D'Argenville, Rosier, Du 

 Petit Thours, and the two Jussieus are agronomic 

 text-books of the highest repute. 



The nursery of the fathers of the Chartreaux,*i 

 established by Louis XIV. near the Luxembourg, long 



