394 Necessity and Advantage of scientific Enquiry 



Art. VII. On the Necessity and Advantage of enquiring scientiji' 

 cally into the Practices and Results of Horticulture. By Joseph 

 Hayward, Esq., Author of The Science of Horticulture, and 

 other Works. 



Sir, 



The grand object of your Magazine, of course, is to diffuse 

 and extend the knowledge of horticulture, and there can be 

 little doubt that, as it affords an excellent channel for the com- 

 munication of new discoveries and improvements, it must, if 

 properly supported, be a more efficient means than any inde- 

 pendent publication. But, as to what is the proper mode of 

 supporting it, perhaps, a difference of opinion may exist. We 

 know, among gardeners, as among all other artists, a high 

 value is placed on what is called practical knowledge, and that 

 theory is held in contempt ; if, however, in the selection of your 

 subjects you are so partially inclined towards your practical 

 friends, as to exclude theory, it is easy to show that this is far 

 from being the best mode of diffusing knowledge. 



It is an axiom, that every operation of art is grounded on, and 

 its effects determined by, some established principles or laws 

 of nature ; and if these are not understood, it cannot be under- 

 taken with any certainty of success. It must follow, then, 

 that the only effectual mode of instructing one person to per- 

 form any operation of art, with a view to produce the same 

 effect that has been produced by others, is to convey a know- 

 ledge of the principles or laws of nature upon which such 

 operation is grounded, and by which the effect is produced and 

 determined ; in other words, to explain the science of the art. 

 That these truths are as applicable to the subject before us, 

 as they are undeniable, is shown by the very general opinion 

 which has always prevailed, that a knowledge of gardening 

 cannot be obtained by books ; for what can be assigned as the 

 grounds of such an opinion, but the ignorance and neglect of 

 science ? And proofs enough may be adduced to show, that 

 so little has science been understood, or attended to, in the 

 common practice of gardening, that many of the most import- 

 ant operations exhibit the absurdity of an artist endeavouring 

 to produce an effect by removing the cause, and of preventing 

 an effect by establishing the cause. The length of time re- 

 quired to prove the stability of any theory ; or that any ob- 

 servations and ideas of the results of the combination of 

 the elements, or of the effect of any control exerted over the 

 action of the laws and principles established by nature, for 

 the continuation and support of the vegetable world, are 

 true and just by practical demonstration (and which is ne- 



