466 CHREOTECHNICS. 



horned; the Lancashire, or long horned; the Galloway, or no 

 horned ; and the Kyloe, or Highland breed. Those are preferred 

 which are hardy, which yield the most and best milk, and which 

 fatten well, producing the best beef. Cattle should always have 

 access to a good shelter, especially in winter. Sheep, may be classed 

 as long wooled, and short wooled ; including numerous breeds ; of 

 which the Merino, imported from Spain into England, in 1787, 

 having fine wool, is the most valued. Sheep also do best when pro- 

 perly sheltered, of course with access of fresh air : and they are 

 sheared, for their fleeces, in the spring, when the weather has be- 

 come settled and warm. A preference should be given to those 

 breeds of swine which have the best form, and fatten best; and they 

 should neither be suffered to run at large, nor yet confined too 

 closely. Of the raising of silkworms, poultry, and other animals, 

 we have no room here to speak. 



CHAPTER II. 



HORTICULTURE. 



HORTICULTURE, or Gardening, is the art of preparing and cultivat- 

 ing gardens ; including pleasure grounds, and ornamental shrubbery. 

 The name is from the Latin, hortus, a garden ; and cultus, tillage, 

 or management ; and it is sometimes divided into Horticulture pro- 

 per, or the cultivation of vegetables ; and Landscape Gardening, or 

 the laying out of grounds. Horticulture has so close relations with 

 Agriculture, that it is difficult to draw the line of division between 

 them ; though sufficiently distinct in their principal features. As in- 

 volving principles of taste, and elements of beauty, Horticulture, like 

 Architecture, might be grouped with the Fine Arts, as a branch of 

 Callotechnics : but its connection with the Useful Arts, especially in 

 our own country, we regard as the stronger relation. Whether con- 

 sidered in reference to utility, or ornament, it is an art which de- 

 serves much attention, and exerts a salutary influence on its votaries. 



Horticulture is the most ancient art of which we have any record : 

 for we read that Adam was placed in the garden of Eden, to dress it 

 and to keep it. We read also of the hanging gardens of ancient Ba- 

 bylon, supported on arches, one tier above another : and the gardens 

 of Solomon, are glowingly described in the sacred Canticles. The 

 Academy, or Academian grove at Athens, was an extensive public 

 garden, frequented by orators, poets, and philosophers. The Ro- 

 mans, also, in their days of prosperity and luxury, paid great atten- 

 tion to gardening; as illustrated in the descriptions of their princely 

 villas, and imperial palaces. Many of our choicest fruits, shrubs, 

 and flowers, derived immediately from England, were transplanted 

 thither from the milder climes of the south, and were also the favor- 

 ites of the ancient Greeks and Romans. 



Gardening appears to have been much cultivated in England, by 

 the Romish clergy ; as gardens and orchards are frequently mention- 



