Bacon as a Gardener. 97 



Swiftnesse of their Returnes : For in some Grounds 

 which are strong, you shall have a Raddish, etc., come 

 in a Month ; that in other Grounds will not come in 

 two ; And so make double Returnes." 



These and other similar memoranda have 

 for us a high and enduring interest an in- 

 terest created and sustained by the vast 

 and imperishable fame of the writer. It is 

 excessively likely that we have at the pre- 

 sent moment among us many respectable 

 nurserymen who have never heard the name 

 of Bacon, and who, if this book were placed 

 in their hands, would pronounce his experi- 

 ments empirical and his remarks obsolete. 

 From a commonplace standpoint most 

 assuredly they are, and yet I deem them 

 worth reproducing here, because they illus- 

 trate one of the less familiar aspects of a 

 many-sided intellect. 



The value and bearing of these observa- 

 tions in the eyes of practical or scientific 

 specialists of our day are not a matter, I 

 apprehend, of the smallest consequence. 

 But we have to look at the man and the 

 time. We have to r nember his imperfect 



