118 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. ' 



were cultivated for binding the vines to the trees that supported 

 them and for making baskets, and they were grown on moist 

 ground as they are today. It was a doctrine held by Pliny, that 

 any scion might be grafted on any stock, and that the scion, 

 partaking of the nature of the stock, had its fruit changed in 

 flavor accordingly. Pliny mentions the grafting of the vine on 

 the elm, and drawing a vine through the trunk of a chestnut, but 

 modern experiments prove the absurdity of the idea that any 

 union can be effected in such cases, even though some of these 

 authors affirm they have seen what they describe. Notwithstand- 

 ing the ignorance and inaccuracy which these statements betray, 

 the Romans were aware of all our common methods and some of 

 our uncommon ones. They propagated plants as we do ; pruned, 

 thinned, watered, forced, and retarded fruits and flowers, and 

 even made incisions and ringed trees to make them more fruitful. 

 One cultivator, C. Furius Cresinus, was so successful as a culti- 

 vator of fruits, flowers, and vegetables, that he was accused before 

 the Senate of practising magic, and was obliged to justify himself 

 by showing them his tools. "These," said he, "are the imple- 

 ments of magic which I use ; but I cannot show you the care and 

 toil, or the anxious thoughts that occupy me day and night." It 

 is even so today ; those who make gardening in any department a 

 success must spend many hours in anxious thought, besides the 

 physical labor. 



During the Dark Ages, but for the monks, the art of gardening 

 would have been lost to the greater part of Europe ; and many 

 provinces of Europe, which at present are covered with numerous 

 orchards and cultivated fields, nourishing thousands of inhabitants, 

 would have remained a desert or wilderness to this day. 



The Greek Geoponica (that is, Horticulturist) was compiled 

 from various ancient authors, both Greek and Roman, more than 

 a thousand years ago. The compiler is commonly supposed to 

 have been one Cassianus Bassus. It contains many useful obser- 

 vations on the cultivation of plants, fruits, and vegetables ; but 

 at the same time it is full of absurdities and superstitions. The 

 following extracts about propagation, grafting, and growing of 

 fruits and fruit trees may be interesting at this time: "Grafting 

 can be done in autumn or spring ; budding in spring and summer. 

 Grafting is more successful in wet weather, and budding in dry. 

 In dry weather water the grafts every evening. In budding, if 



