THE MAGAZINE 



HORTICULTURE 



JANUARY, 1837. 



ORIGINAL COMMUiNICATIONS. 



Art. I. J^'^otices on the State and Progress of Horticulture in 

 the United States. By A. J. Downing, Botanic Garden 

 and Nursery, Newburgh, N. Y. 



If agriculture, as is generally conceded, has strong claims to 

 be considered the first of the arts, horticulture must undoubt- 

 edly have been one of the first pleasures and recreations of the 

 human family. The earliest care of man, in a primitive state, 

 would probably be to rear and gather for himself a sufficiency 

 of the necessaries of life, doubtless first recognised in the shape 

 of vegetable food. Afterwards, attracted and gratified by the 

 pleasant flavor of fruits, and the gay hues of blossoming plants, 

 he would transfer them to the neighborhood of his own habita- 

 tion, and, enclosing them, to protect them from wild animals, he 

 would find himself in possession of a garden. What were the 

 first flowers thus appropriated to the embellishment of the gar- 

 den, tradition unfortunately does not inform us; but the ingenious 

 speculations of early writers have, we beheve, ended by naming 

 the ^^^ as the first fruit submitted to the cares of culture. 



The possession of fine gardens appears to have been highly ap- 

 preciated by all nations who have exhibited the least trace of civili- 

 zation, from the earliest ages. Indeed, in oriental countries the 

 very name is synonymous with enjoyment and happiness — the 

 ny, edeuy of the Jews, signifying a place of pleasure and de- 

 light — the Hesperides., or garden of fruits, of mythology, being 

 the habitation of the heathen gods, and the heaven or paradise 

 of Mahomet, abounding with crystal fountains and shady groves, 

 in which he promised to his disciples a thousand years of enjoy- 

 ment — all show with what feelings of enthusiasm and admiration 



VOL. III. NO. I. 1 



