1510 



HORTICULTURE 



HORTICULTURE 



differ, so that those Books are not very Useful to us. 

 Besides this, the Terms; of Art made use of are so un- 

 known to us, that a great deal they Write is quite 

 unintelligible to the generality of New England 

 Readers." 



Just at the close of the Revolution, J. Hector St. 

 John's "Letters from an American Farmer" appeared, 

 although "the troubles that convulsed the American 

 colonies had not broken out when . . . some of the 

 . . . letters were written." For a period of twenty- 

 five years following the close of the war the condition 

 of our agriculture, and of all American institutions, was 

 minutely unfolded to the world through the writings 

 of many travelers, English and French, who made 

 inquisitive journeys into the new country. Strickland, 

 an English traveler, wrote in 1801 that "land in America 

 affords little pleasure or profit, and appears in a prog- 

 ress of continually affording less. . . . Land in New 

 York, formerly producing twenty bushels to the acre, 

 now produces only ten. . . . Little profit can be 

 found in the present mode of agriculture of this coun- 

 try, and I apprehend it to be a fact that it affords a 

 bare subsistence. . . . Decline has pervaded all the 

 states." There is abundant evidence, including a pains- 

 taking inquiry made by Washington, to show that 

 agriculture was at a low state at the close of the cen- 

 tury. It was in striking contrast to its status a hundred 

 years later, notwithstanding the pessimistic writings of 

 the later time. 



There was early development of the garden desire in 

 the South as well as in the North. In South Carolina 

 appeared the earliest American horticultural book of 

 which we have any record. This book is no longer 

 extant, and it is known to this generation chiefly or 

 wholly from the following page in Ramsay's "History 

 of South Carolina," 1809: "The planters of Carolina 

 have derived so great profits from the cultivation of 

 rice, indigo [see Indigo] and cotton that they have 

 always too much neglected the culture of gardens. The 

 high price of their staple commodities in every period 

 has tempted them to sacrifice convenience to crops 

 of a marketable quality. There are numbers whose 

 neglected gardens neither afford flowers to regale 

 the senses, nor the vegetables necessary to the comfort 

 of their families, though they annually receive con- 

 siderable sums in money for then 1 crops sent to market. 

 To this there have been some illustrious exceptions of 

 persons who cultivated gardens on a large scale, both 

 for use and pleasure. The first that can be recollected 

 is Mrs. Lamboll, who, before the middle of the eigh- 

 teenth century, improved the southwest extremity of 

 King Street [Charleston], in a garden which was richly 

 stored with flowers and other curiosities of nature, in 

 addition to all the common vegetables for family use. 

 She was followed by Mrs. Logan and Mrs. Hopton, 

 who cultivated extensive gardens hi Meeting, George 

 and King Streets, on lands now covered with houses. 

 The former reduced the knowledge she had acquired by 

 long experience and observation to a regular system, 

 which was published after her death, with the title of 

 'The Gardener's Kalendar;' and to this day regulates 

 the practice of gardens in and near Charlestown." 

 Ramsay records that Mrs. Martha Logan was the 

 daughter of Robert Daniel, one of the last proprietary 

 governors of South Carolina. "Mrs. Logan was a 

 great florist, and uncommonly fond of a garden. She 

 was seventy years old when she wrote her treatise on 

 gardening, and died in 1779, aged seventy-seven years." 



Mrs. Logan's book was perhaps only a pamphlet. 

 The first regular American gardening book, if Mrs. 

 Logan's is excluded, is apparently Robert Squibb's 

 "Gardener's Kalender," published in Charleston, South 

 Carolina, in 1787 (see pp. 1520-1). 



The opening of the nineteenth century may be taken 

 as a convenient starting-point for a narrative of the 

 evolution of American horticulture. At that time hor- 



ticulture began to attain some prominence as distinct 

 from general agriculture, and the establishment of 

 peace after the long and depleting war with England 

 had turned the attention of the best citizens afresh to 

 the occupation of the soil. The example of Washington, 

 in returning to the farm after a long and honorable 

 public career, no doubt exerted great influence. His agri- 

 cultural correspondence was large, and much of it was 

 published at the opening of the century. His correspon- 

 dence with Arthur Young and Sir John Sinclair will be 

 found in volumes published in London in 1800 and 1801, 

 in Alexandria in 1803, and in Washington in 1847. 

 Details respecting the management of his plantations 

 comprise Vol. IV of the "Memoirs of the Long Island 

 Historical Society," 1889. 



Apparently, it was not until 1790 that an indigenous 

 and distinctly general agricultural treatise after 

 Eliot's appeared in America. At that time, the Rev. 

 Samuel Deane, vice-president of Bowdoin College, pub- 

 lished his "New England Farmer, or Georgical Dic- 

 tionary," a cyclopedic work of the state of American 

 agriculture. This passed to a second edition in 1797, 

 and to a third in 1822. As showing both the contents 

 of this important book and the methods of reviewing 

 of that day, the following comment is transcribed 

 from the "Columbian Centinel," for 16th of June, 1790, 

 printed in Boston. It is in the guise of a communi- 

 cation from a correspondent, as was then the. custom. 

 It must be one of the earliest reviews of an agricultural 

 book to appear in this country: 



"Nothing has been more wanting in this Country than a book of 

 Practical Husbandry. The late Dr. Elliot of Connecticut wrote 

 some short essays, which were well received, but it was reserved for 

 Mr. Deane, of Portland, to give the publick a System of Husbandy for 

 New England. This valuable book is now published and on perusal 

 exceeds the expectation which had been formed of it. It is founded 

 on solid principles of natural philosophy and practical experiment. 

 All that is valuable in European books of husbandry is selected and 

 accommodated to the climate and seasons of this country. Many 

 new and curious observations are introduced; and the whole is 

 cast in such a form and expressed in such language as must render 

 it useful to the plain husbandman, while the enlightened naturalist 

 will find it an agreeable entertainment. 



"It not only contains a general system of agriculture, but treats 

 of everything which usually falls under the care of the husband- 

 man and his family, such as cattle, horses, sheep, bees, timber 

 gives the best directions for the care of the garden, the dairy and 

 the cellar and much of what is said may be extremely useful in all 

 families where bees, cyder, fruit, milk and other necessary articles 

 are preserved. In short it is a book which does honor to the ingenu- 

 ity, and industry of its author, and deserves to be read by every 

 person who wishes well to the best interest of this country." 



In the Georgetown, South Carolina, "Gazette," 

 March 13, 1799, is a half-column of proposals for 

 publishing by subscription " 'Notes on Agriculture 

 adapted to the soil, climate, and markets of South 

 Carolina,' by Louis DuPre. To be put to press as 

 soon as 200 copies are subscribed for. Price one dollar 

 specie." (See page 1520.) 



In 1799, J. B. Bordley published in Philadelphia 

 "Essays and Notes on Husbandry." Other early works 

 need not be mentioned here. As early as 1785, Varlo's 

 "New System of Husbandry" was printed in Philadel- 

 phia. It is in many ways a remarkable book, and it was 

 written by a man who had had remarkable experiences. 

 He was not an American, and the work first appeared 

 in the old country; but Varlo had lived in this country, 

 and was in sympathy with the American people. The 

 book contained a "Farmer's and Kitchen 1 Garden Cal- 

 endar." In 1792 there appeared anonymously, from 

 Burlington, New Jersey, the third edition of Arthur 

 Young's "Rural Economy." He argues strongly for 

 experiments and for the establishing of agricultural 

 journals. This book first appeared in London, in 

 1770. 



At the opening of the century (1800), Sir Humphry 

 Davy had not illumined the science of agricultural 

 chemistry, and men were even disputing as to what the 

 food of plants is. The "burn-baking" or "devonshiring" 

 of the land burning the sod and scattering the ashes 



