[Vol. 2 

 186 ANNALS OF THE MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN 



for the cultivation of plants of some definite economic or 



aesthetic value. 



In considering the history of this subject we look back to the 



earliest history of mankind, with which gardening in some 



form is inseparably connected, for, as Francis Bacon reminds 



us: 



"God Almightie first planted a Garden and indeed it is the 

 Purest of Humane Pleasures. It is the greatest refreshment 

 to the spirits of man ; without which Buildings and Palaces are 

 but grosse Handyworkes: and a man shall ever see that when 

 ages grow to civility and elegancie men come to Build stately 

 sooner than to garden finely as if gardening were the greater 

 Perfection." 



We are still exercised to seek out and grow "every tree 

 that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, ' ' and the ' ' tree 

 of life" also in the midst of the garden is ever the object of 

 our inquiries. It would be well indeed if at this present time 

 we could discover that tree whose leaves were to be "for the 

 healing of the Nations." 



The earliest garden of which we have any representation is 

 the Eoyal Garden of Thotmes iii of about the year 1000 B. C, 

 which was planned by Nekht, head gardener of the gardens 

 attached to the Temple of Karnak.^ This Royal Garden, 

 rectangular in outline, with its rows of date and branched 

 doum palms and with its vine pergola and lotus tanks, was 

 probably in the nature of a pleasure garden, while those at- 

 tached to the temples may well have been of more economic 

 importance. The Chinese,^ however, should, as might be 

 supposed, be credited with being the real founders of the idea 

 of botanic gardens, since it is clear that collectors were de- 

 spatched to distant parts and the plants brought back were 

 cultivated for their economic or medicinal value. The semi- 

 mythical Emperor Shen Nung, of the twenty-eighth century 

 B. C, is considered to be the Father of Medicine and Hus- 

 bandry and is said to have tested the medical qualities of 

 herbs and discovered medicines to cure diseases. If this be 



^ See Holmes, E. M. Horticulture in relation to medicine. Roy. Hort. Soc, 

 Jour. 31: pp. 44^5. f. 11. 1906. 



" Bretsehneider, E. Botanicon sinicum. China Branch Roy. Asiatic Soc., 

 Jour. N. S. 25: p. 24. 189.-i. 



