Evolution of Iborticulture 



the settlement of the Saxons, the intro- 

 duction of Christianity, in due time, had 

 the tendency to mollify the habits of the 

 people, and thus to encourage the pro- 

 gress of the arts. Horticulture served to 

 employ the otherwise unoccupied hours 

 of many, especially of those connected 

 with monasteries and other religious in- 

 stitutions, and also to encourage and foster 

 the use of vegetable in place of animal 

 food, which the rules of fasting forbade. 

 With the vegetable gardens, the ecclesi- 

 astics cultivated orchards and vineyards. 

 The vine, brought to the country by the 

 Romans, was generally successful and by 

 no means despised for the qualities of its 

 fruit, either by the monasteries or by the 

 laity. These vineyards were flourishing 

 in certain parts of Britain, at the com- 

 mencement of the eighth century. Dur- 

 ing the Danish and Norman dynasties, 

 the progress of horticulture continued for 

 the most part unimpaired, until retarded 

 by the introduction of the oppressive 

 Forest I/aws. 



22 



