102 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



bowling greens, plantations, flower gardens, hot-houses, orchards, 

 vegetable gardens, and in fact, with all the beauties and gifts of 

 Nature, so useful and necessary to mankind. 



From these different objects have arisen the different branches 

 of gardening ; and as communication extended over the world, 

 new plants were introduced from every quarter of the globe ; 

 fruits and vegetables were improved by selection and various pro- 

 cesses of culture. Books were written ; societies were established 

 with prizes for individual merit, so that today a vast and volumi- 

 nous mass of knowledge has been accumulated on the subject of 

 Gardening. 



Among these several branches I shall touch upon only one, 

 namely, that of ornamental gardening. 



Three important factors have influenced gardens to a marked 

 degree. First, the different nations which have successively 

 flourished in different parts of the world ; second, the different 

 forms of government which have prevailed from time to time ; 

 and third, the different climates and situations. 



Of the gardens of antiquity the first one we hear mention of is 

 that of Genesis, Eden, an enclosed garden or Paradise, in 

 which, according to Scripture, our first parents were placed. 

 The oldest historians represent it as a place of remarkable beauty — 

 each according to his own light and all unreliable. In the same 

 doubtful state is the site of this beautiful garden. The inhabit- 

 ants of Ceylon, however, seem to have settled it to suit their 

 minds, as they to this day point out Adam's bridge and Abel's 

 tomb ; also the tree which bore the forbidden fruit (the Tabernce- 

 montana alternifoUa) ^ noted for its sweet-scented flowers and the 

 beauty of its fruit, the shape of which gives the idea of a piece 

 having been bitten out of it. The inhabitants say that it was 

 delicious before Eve ate of it, but now it is poisonous. 



The Gardens of the Hesperides have been described by a 

 geographer of the sixth century B. C., as situated in a deep 

 basin, with steep sides. They were closely planted with various 

 kinds of trees, among which were the tree of the golden apple — 

 supposed to be the orange — pomegranates, mulberries, olives, 

 almonds, together with arbutus, myrtle, bay, and ivy. But the 

 wonders of these gardens somewliat diminish when facts show 

 that they were nothing more than old stone quarries, whicli still 

 remain; their bottoms covered with excellent soil in which are 

 planted various shrubs and luxuriant fruit trees. 



