756 



HORTICULTURE 



the entire range. It is only tliose who look for piinci- 

 ples who survey the whole field. Practitioners must 

 confine themselves to rather close bounds. Consider 

 that no less than 25,000 species of plants are in cultiva- 

 tion, each having its own requirements. Consider the 

 great number of species which are actually on sale in 

 North America, as registered in this Cyclopedia. The 

 most important species vary immensely, the named and 

 recorded forms often running into the thousands; and 

 each of these forms has particular merits and often par- 

 ticular requirements. Consider that the requirements 

 are liliely to be different in any two places, and th.'vt the 

 plants are profoundly modified by changes in conditions 

 or in treatment. Consider the vagaries of markets, 

 which are ruled by questions of fancy more than by 

 questions of necessity. There is probably no art in which 

 the separate details are so many as in Horticulture. 



Of Horticulture there are two general types, — that 

 which is associated immediately with the home life, 

 and that which is undertaken primarily for the gaining 

 of a livelihood. The former is amateur Horticulture. 

 Those things are grown which appeal to the personal 

 tastes : they are grown for oneself. The latter is com- 

 mercial Horticulture. Those things are grown which 

 the market demands: they are grown for others. In all 

 countries, commercial Horticulture is a relatively late 

 ■development. General agriculture is usually the pri- 

 mary means of earning a living from the soil. For the 

 most part. Horticulture comes only with the demand for 

 the luxuries and refinements of life : it does not deal 

 with what we call the staples. It is not the purpose of 

 this sketch to trace the general history of Horticulture. 

 If one desires such outlines, he should consult the Bohn 

 edition of Pliny's "Natural History;" Loudon's "Ency- 

 olopcedia of Gardening;" G. W. Johnson's "History of 

 EuLClisli (iMrdi-iiing ;" Amliersfs "History of Gardening 

 ill l.iijl.in.l ; >ii \ ,kiiiL;"s "I liird.Ms, Ancient and Mod- 

 .■ni ii ■ I . Miiiikiui^t mid Garten, sonst und 



j,i • ii ,■ -I H'srin.-litr lies (iartenbaues ;" the 



iii^i.ii;,:ii riia|,i. r- of Andn'-'s "L'Art des Jardins." 

 For thr liistoni's of cultivated phiuts, see DeCandoUe's 

 "Origin of Cultivated Plauts;" Hehn & Stallybrass' 

 "Wanilerings of Plants and Animals from their first 

 Home;" Pickering's "Chronological History of Plants." 

 In North America there was little commercial Horti- 

 culture before the opening of the nineteenth century. 

 There were excellent home gardens more than a century 

 ago, in which many exotic plants were growing; yet, in 

 proportion to the whole population, these gardens were 

 Isolated. The status of any modern time is accurately 

 reflected in its writings. It may be well, therefore, to 

 bring in review the leading early horticultural writ4ngs of 

 this country. Few studies have been made of our hor- 

 ticultural history. The best is the introductory sketch, 

 by Robert Manning, in the "History of the Massachu- 

 setts Horticultural'Society," 1880. For its field, Slade's 

 "Evolution of Horticulture in New England," 189,i, is 

 interesting. In a still narrower field, Bo:irdman's "Ag- 

 ricultural Bibliography of Maiiii" i<: critical and inval- 

 uable. The chapter on "Aniiri.aii ll.irti.iilture," by Al- 

 fred Henderson, in Depew's "Om.- Hundred Years of 

 American Commerce," lS!i,"i. i-rt-^rnts the commercial 

 side of the subject, Anoilur fra-nirnt of the history is 

 presented in the wrii.rv "Sk.t.li of the Evolution of 

 our Native Fruits," l>'i^. Ilisim-ii-^ from several points 

 of view are presentt-il in ihr "Florists' Exchange" for 

 March 30, ISg.i; and the writer has incorporated parts 

 of his own contribution to that history in the sketch 

 •which follows. 



The earliest writings on American plants were by 

 physicians and naturalists who desired to exploit the 

 wonders of the newly discovered hemisphere. The 

 earliest separate writing is probably that of Nicolo 

 Monardes on the products of the New World, which was 

 published in Seville in parts, from 1.565 to 1571. The 

 completed treatise was translated into Italian, Latin, 

 English and French. Monardes is now remembered to 

 us in the genus Monarda, one of the mint tribes. He 

 wrote of the medicinal and poisonous plants of the 

 West Indies, and gave pictures, some of them fantasti- 

 cal. His picture of tobacco is not greatly inaccurate, 

 however; and it has the distinction of being probably 

 the first picture extant of the plant, if not of any Ameri- 



HORTICULTURE 



can plant. This picture is here reproduced (Fig. 1077) 

 exact size, to show the style of illustration of three 

 hundred years ago. Jacques Cornutus is generally sup- 

 posed to have been the first writer on American plants. 

 His work, "Canadensium Plantarum," appeared in 1635, 

 and it also had pictures. One of the earliest writers on 

 the general products and conditions of the northern 

 country was John Josselyn, who, in 1672, published a 

 book entitled "New England's Rarities discovered in 

 Birds, Beasts, Fishes, Serpents, and Plants of that 

 Country," and in li;74 a second volume, "An Account of 

 Two Voyages to New England, made during the years 

 1638, 1663." Till •■ l{aiiti.> ■ f,'ives specific accounts of 

 many plants, toi^rtliir with pictures of a few of them, 

 as, for example, tlic- pitiher plant. He mentions the 

 plants which had become naturalized from Europe. 

 There is also a list "Of such Garden Herbs (amongst 

 us) as do thrive there, and of such as do not." This 

 list, the earliest record of the kind, is here transcribed : 



Cabbidge growes there exceeding well. 



Lettice. 



Sorrel. 



Mary gold. 

 French MaUowes. 

 Chervel. 



Winter Savory. 



Summer Savory. 



Time. 



Sage. 



Carrats. 



Parsnips of a prodigious size. 



Bed Beetes. 



Radishes. 



Turnips. 



Purslain. 



Wheat. 



Rye. 



Barley, which commonly degenerates into Oats. 



Pease of all sorts, and the best in the World ; I never heard 

 of. nor did see in eight Years time, one Worm eaten Pea, 



Garden Beans, 



Naked Oats, there called .Silpee, an excellent grain used iii- 

 stceil of O.it Meal, they dry it in an Oven, or in a Pan upon the 

 fire, tlieu beat it small in a Morter. 



Spear Mint. 



Rew. will hardly grow. 



Fetherfew prospereth exceedingly. 



Southern Wood, is no Plant for this Country, Nor 



Rosemary. Nor 



Bayes. 



White .Satten groweth pretty well, so doth 



Lavender Cotton, But 



Lavender is not for the elim,ite. 



Penny Royal, 



Smalledge, 



Ground Ivy, or Ale Hoof, 



Gilly Flowers wili n.uti 



Fennel must In- i:iU.ii ui 



Housleek pro^iKi-. ili n.it;ilil> 



Holly hocks. 



Enula Camijaii.t, in iwi- V.:irs time the Roots rot, 



Comferie, with whit.- Fh.w.rs. 



Coriander, ami 



Dill, and 



.ne Summer, the Roots rot with the 

 lingly, so does 



liar all Winter. 



Bloodworthut "Mil;, liui 

 Patience, aii't 



English Rnsr., x,,-; |-|.;,-M,lly 



Celandin*^ l.\ III. W'.^i t Muntry men called Kenning Wort, 



Mu- 1 ■! , ,. .. in Kiml.-iii.l. 



Dill , ,: I .1 I'. I , I W i. It, ih.urisheth notably, and so doth 



Tan-,. 



Musl-.M.i:..!. :ii. !.. u.r tli.an our English, iind 



Poinpi..ns, tli.n- h,- of several kinds, some proper to the 

 Country, tli.y ar,' dryer then our English Pompions, and bet- 

 ter tastcl; you may eat them green. 



Tuckerman comments as follows on the above lists: 

 "The earliest, almost the only account that we have of 

 the gardens of our fathers, after they had settled them- 

 selves in their Ifew England, and had tamed its rugged 



