150 GARDENING. 



sun, and thus securing to the roots the moisture ne- 

 cessary to their welfare. 



CHAPTER XV. 



THE KITCHEN GARDEN. 



THE first page of history informs us that, imme- 

 diately after the creation, man was placed in a gar- 

 den, " to dress and to keep it." Nor will the wis- 

 dom of this designation be doubted by those who 

 duly consider the effects, moral and physical, of the 

 occupation it enjoins. " Emollit mores, nee sinet 

 esse feros," is an observation of great antiquity and 

 acknowledged truth ; to which might be added oth- 

 ers of equal authority and importance, viz. : that it 

 expands the mind, strengthens the body, tranquil- 

 lizes the spirit,* and begets habits of order, dili- 

 gence, temperance, economy, and observation.! 



Thus recommended (apart from its pecuniary 



* Lord Bacon calls it " the purest of human pleasures, the 

 greatest refreshment to the spirits of man, without which build- 

 ings and palaces are but gross handiworks." 



f Of those among the ancients who may be considered as 

 authorities, Cicero is perhaps alone in regarding the retirement 

 of rural life as tending rather to relax than to invigorate the 

 mental faculties. De Orat., i., 2. Pliny, on the other hand, re 

 marks, " Experieris non Dianam magis montibus, quam Miner- 

 yam inerrare." We need scarcely quote the well-known decis- 

 ions of Horace and Virgil. " Scriptorum chorus omnis amat 

 nemus, et fugit urbes." " Rura mihi et regni placeant," &c. 

 The controversy, after all, is one of words ; for besides that 

 there may have been some peculiarity of mind in Cicero, calling 

 for an uncommon kind or degree of stimulus, it must not be 

 forgotten that his great and distinguishing talent could only 

 receive development and exercise from the presence and agita- 

 tions of a crowd. 



