ii INTRODUCTION. 



The ingenuity of the horticulturist, and the industry 

 of the cultivator may be said to have brought the south 

 ten degrees nearer to our shores, within these last three 

 centuries : a fact which, although imperceptible to us 

 who have moved with the current, would be instantly ac- 

 knowledged by our ancestors of the sixteenth century, 

 could they, be recalled to witness our gardens blushing 

 with the fruits of Persia, our trees purpling with the 

 drupes of Damascus, our hills ornamented with the ce- 

 dars of Libanus, our valleys embellished by the spiral 

 blossoms of the Asiatic chesnut, our cottages covered 

 with the roses of China, and even some of our woods 

 beautified by the violet blossoms of the American rhodo- 

 dendron, to say nothing of our numerous 



" Ambrosial gardens, in which art supplies 

 The fervour and the force of Indian skies." 



That the British nation has carried commercial enter- 

 prises to an unparalleled extent and success, all countries 

 allow ; that it excels in manufactures and arts, our works 

 prove to all the admiring world : but that this northern 

 island is beautified by plantations that surpass Italian 

 scenery, 'and blessed with fruits that rival those of China, 

 none will believe until they visit this land 



" where mortals dare 



To vanquish nature and correct the air/' 



Wars and dissensions are indigenous to barbarous soils ; 

 commerce and agriculture are natives of civilized lands ; 

 but horticulture is only to be found in countries where a 

 high degree of refinement is cultivated. It was intro- 

 duced to us by commerce, and flourished on the banks 

 of the Thames when trade seated herself in our capital. 

 They have journeyed together through every part of these 

 realms, and where one has smiled, the other has prosr 



