1520 



HORTICULTURE, LITERATURE OF 



in Buffalo in 1855, and who, in 1872, entered into part- 

 nership with W. A. Burnham, at Irvington, on the Hud- 

 son. Several firms now make greenhouse building and 

 heating a specialty. In very recent years a new impetus 

 has been given to glasshouse building and work by the 

 establishment of the agricultural experiment stations 

 and the extension of horticultural teaching hi the 

 colleges. 



The growing literature. 



An important feature of American horticulture is its 

 living literature. Persons may care nothing for books; 

 yet the literature of any subject is the measure of its 

 ideals. Persons may say that the books are theoretical 

 and beyond them; yet good books are always beyond, 

 else they are not good. There is no reason for literature 

 if it does not inspire and point to better things. We 

 measure the aspirations of any time by its writings. 

 Whether the fact be recognized or not, the literature of 

 our horticulture is an underlying force which slowly 

 dominates the thoughts and ideals of men. A book is a 

 powerful teacher. It states its propositions, and is 

 silent; and in the silence its lessons sink into the mind. 



1866. Interior of a modern commercial greenhouse. Carnations. 



Very many books have enriched American horti- 

 culture. Many of them have been poor, but even these 

 may have challenged controversy and have done good. 

 The early books were largely empirical and dogmatic. 

 Downing, for example., in 1845, says that tillage makes 

 better orchards, and he cites cases; but he does not 

 give reasons. He does not mention nitrogen, potash, 

 soil moisture, chemical activities. He does not even 

 mention plant-food in connection with tillage. The 

 horizon has widened since then. Men do not take up 

 things actively until they know the reasons. The poor 

 farmer, not knowing reasons for anything, has no 

 inspiration and goes fishing. Forty years ago, Colonel 

 Waring was the apostle of deep-plowing; yet one should 

 plow neither deep nor shallow until he knows why. Our 

 literature has been singularly devoid of principles and 

 analysis. The great writer is he who catches the signifi- 

 cant movements and ideas of his time and portrays 

 them to inspire his reader. Henderson first caught the 

 rising commercial spirit of our vegetable-gardening; his 

 "Gardening for Profit" was the greatest American vege- 

 table-gardening book, even if now out of date as a 

 book of practice. American pomology has several 

 strong names amongst its writers. Most of these writers 

 have sacrificed fundamental considerations to varieties. 

 The first sustained effort to write on fruit-growing from 

 the point of view of underlying principles was by Charles 

 R. Baker, who in 1866 published his "Practical and 

 Scientific Fruit Culture." But the time was apparently 

 not yet ready for a solid book of this kind, and much of 



the discussion lacked vital connection with the orchard. 

 The book was suggestive of the study and the com- 

 piler. Coxe, Kenrick, Manning, Downing, Thomas, 

 Warder, Barry, Fuller, are significant names in Ameri- 

 can pomological literature. In floriculture there have 

 been many excellent treatises, but there is not yet a 

 single great or comprehensive book. In recent years, 

 the making of technical horticultural literature is pass- 

 ing more and more from the working horticulturist to 

 the specially trained student and writer, particularly to 

 those who are connected with colleges of agriculture 

 and experiment stations. At the same time, the 

 amateur and strictly popular writings are increasing 

 rapidly, and the modern publisher has made many 

 of the books very attractive in their mechanical 

 execution. 



The periodical literature is not to be overlooked, 

 although we do not now have in America horticultural 

 magazines and journals comparable with those of 

 Europe. These serial writings, however, are volumi- 

 nous and important, and must be taken into account 

 when any complete estimate is made of American horti- 

 cultural literature. On the writing of "gardening litera- 

 ture," Henry Ward Beecher wrote nearly fifty years 

 ago: "We, hi America especially, need men to write 

 who devote time, thought and knowledge to this ele- 

 gant department of knowledge as they do to the 

 sciences of law, of medicine, or theology; and, although 

 we are glad of transient and cursory writing, rather than 

 none, I feel the want, in American horticultural maga- 

 zines, of writing that is the result of long and close 

 observation, and of ripe reflection." L H. B. 



HORTICULTURE, LITERATURE OF. The written 

 record of American horticulture has not yet been care- 

 fully studied, although the collecting of books has 

 lately assumed much interest and importance. There are 

 no full lists of these writings; and it is to make a prelim- 

 inary contribution to such lists that the present compila- 

 tion is presented. The written word persists long after 

 the word of mouth has been lost; and it admits of no 

 doubt as to dates and statements of fact. It is essential 

 that any people arrive at an appreciation of its records 

 in a given subject, that it may have perspective and 

 develop sound judgments. 



In the preceding pages something has been said 

 about the development of writing on horticulture in 

 North America. The early general writings are dis- 

 cussed beginning on page 1509. The fruit-growing 

 literature is reviewed from page 1513. The periodical 

 literature occupies considerable space, beginning page 

 1559. The reports of horticultural societies are recorded 

 from page 1553. In the present discussion, the regularly 

 printed horticultural books are listed in detail, from 

 the first book on horticulture in North America, so 

 far as it may be known, to the current date. In the 

 preceding accounts, some of the early writings on gen- 

 eral agriculture are discussed, as bearing on the history; 

 many other early writers might have been mentioned, 

 if the subject had taken a wider field, as Binns (Fred- 

 erick, Maryland, 1803), Spurrier (Worcester, 1792), 

 Parkinson (Philadelphia, 1799), George Logan (Phila- 

 delphia, 1797), Du Pre ("Culture of Cotton," 1799, per- 

 haps the book mentioned on page 1510), and others. 



North American horticultural books. 



In the introduction to the "History of the Massachu- 

 setts Horticultural Society" (1880) it is said that Mrs. 

 Martha Logan, in South Carolina, "when seventy 

 years old, wrote a treatise on gardening called the 

 'Gardener's Kalendar,' which was published after her 

 death in 1779, and as late as 1808 regulated the prac- 

 tice of gardening in and near Charleston. She was a 

 great florist, and uncommonly fond of a garden" (page 

 1510) . In the Charleston library there is no separate 



