2 J^otices on the State and Progress 



gardens were beheld by the ancients. Of the gardens of Egypt, 

 Babylon, and Persia, traditions have been preserved, which lead 

 us to believe them to have been of the most splendid descrip- 

 tion: and the classical writers have recorded such accounts of 

 the Greek and Roman gardens, as to leave no doubt of their 

 having been on a scale of magnificence and beauty correspond- 

 ing with the superb edifices which they surrounded. 



In modern times, gardening received a powerful impulse from 

 the princes and nobles of Europe, which has created a general 

 taste for the possession of fine gardens and rural pursuits through- 

 out their respective countries. The magnificent garden of Ver- 

 sailles, on which Louis XIV lavished two hundred millions of 

 francs, the chef cVczuvre of the great Le Notre, in the geometric 

 style, spread the taste for that style throughout France, and, in- 

 deed, for a time, the whole of Europe. Peter the Great, 

 Catherine II and Potemkin, w^ho may justly claim the honor of 

 civilizing Russia, have also exhibited some of the most brilhant 

 specimens of the gardening ai't in that country. In Holland 

 the taste for floriculture in particular has long been national ; and 

 the extent to which the passion for this pleasing pursuit has been, 

 and may be, cai'ried, is sufficiently proved by the tulip-mania, 

 one of the most singular examples of speculation on record, 

 which broke out in that country. Among the Germans, horti- 

 culture is carried to great perfection. The road-sides in many 

 places are hned with fruit trees for miles, and several of the 

 cities are surrounded with highly cuhivated pleasure-grounds for 

 the recreation of the inhabitants. The late emperor, it is well 

 known, spent several hours, daily, in a common gardener's dress, 

 working in his own grounds. The princes of the smaller German 

 provinces throw open their fine parks and ornamented grounds 

 to the public, and the results are a general diflusion of horticul- 

 tural taste throughout the country, and a thrifty, well-disposed 

 population, strongly attached to the soil they cultivate. As sci- 

 entifically practised, hortteultivre probably stands as high in Eng- 

 land, at the present day, as in any other country. This arises 

 both from the great wealth and unlimited means of many of the 

 landed proprietors, and the fine taste for rural pursuits possessed 

 equally by the nobility and all other classes. The fine old 

 parks, of immense extent, the polished and well kept pleasure- 

 grounds, and the elegant glass structures for exotics, in which 

 the cultivation of many tropical fruits is carried to a perfection 

 which rivals, and, in some instances, even surpasses that of their 

 native climes — all attest a high state of the art, as yet unexcelled 

 by any nation. The Horticultural Society of London, number- 

 ing among its members the most distinguished persons of every 

 rank and station, as well as practical men, has exerted an aston- 

 ishing influence for the promotion of horticulture, not only at 



