perhaps served to introduce other fruits, as 

 the Catholic religion, enjoining frequent 

 abstinence from animal food, must have 

 made the possession of fruits more desira- 

 btei 



But it was during the reigns of Henry 

 the Eighth and Elizabeth, that the most 

 valuable fruits were introduced into this 

 country, for at that time the desire of disco- 

 very pervading England, many fruits, plants, 

 and vegetables, hitherto unknown, were 

 brought to this island from the new world. 

 At that period so little does horticulture seem 

 to have advanced, that Elizabeth was obliged 

 to procure her salads from Holland; and, 

 according to Fuller, green pease were seldom 

 seen except from that country. " These," says 

 he, " were dainties for ladies they came so 

 far and cost so dear/' 



About the commencement of the seven- 

 teenth century, Tusser, Gerard, Bacon, and 

 others, turned their attention to natural his- 

 tory and the cultivation of useful and orna- 

 mental plants. After them, Linnreus alter- 

 ing and enlarging the foundation upon which 

 former naturalists had built, raised that sys- 

 tem which will remain as long as science, time, 

 and natural productions shall last. 



Since this, there has been kept up. a con- 



