PaACTlCAL CULTURE OF PLANTS. 



669 



embtllishmeiit of their temples and tlie recrea- 

 tion of their nobles. Daily at sun-rise, according 

 to the Abbe Clavigero, were seen to an-ive at the 

 city of Mexico, innumerable boats loaded with 

 various kinds of flowers and herbs, the produce 

 of these floating islands. The garden is soane- 

 times seen to contain the cottage of the Indian 

 who is employed to guard a contiguous group of 

 gardens ; and on each one there is commonly 

 erected a small hut, under which the cultivator 

 can shelter himself from storms or from the 

 intense heat of the sun. If it is wished to place 

 the garden in a different place, this is easily 

 effected by means of long poles, or by rowers 

 placed in a boat to which the garden is fastened. 

 In the driest seasons the Chinampas are always 

 productive, and it is not diflScult to renew the 

 ])0wers of the soil by means of mud taken from 

 the bottom of the lake, and which is highly fer- 

 tilizing. One of the most agreeable recreations 

 afforded to the citizens of Mexico, is that of pro- 

 ceeding in small boats in the evening among 

 these gardens, the vegetation upon which is al- 

 ways in a state of luxuriance. 



Floating gardens are maintained also on some 

 of the rivers and canals in China, where an ex- 

 cessive population produces the same effect as 

 that just mentioned as liaving i-esulted from the 

 oppression exercised upon the Aztecs by their 

 Tepanecan conquerors ; and the inhabitants are 

 obliged to have recourse to every expedient for 

 increasing the means of subsistence. 



Of those emigrants who under ordinary cir- 

 cumstances take up their permanent residence in 

 distant colonies, a large proportion is drawn from 

 tlie agricultural classes. It is natural that these 

 people should provide for their future comfort 

 by conveying with them seeds of various plants, 

 to the cultivation and use of which they have 

 been accustomed in their native land. Accord- 

 ingly we find, that in almost all places which 

 have been colonized from Europe, the introduc- 

 tion of such vegetables has been attempted, and 

 in this respect the condition of colonies frequently 

 presents a fair evidence of the progress of horti- 

 culture in the parent state. 



The Dutch, who found at the Cape of Good 

 Hope no other fruits than the chestnut, a nut 

 like the wild almond and the wild plum, and no 

 culinary plants but a sort of vetch,* have ren- 

 dered that colonj', as regards its vegetable pro- 

 ductions, one of the most interesting spots with 

 which we are acquainted. Here are to be seen 

 fruits and flowers, beautiful shnibs, and the most 

 magnificent trees, all collected together from 

 every climate and quarter of the globe, and all 

 flourishing in the gi-eatest perfection. 



Our colonists in New South Wales have natu- 

 ralized in that delightful climate nearly all the 



* Loudon's Eticyclopssdia of Gardening, r- 



108. 



culinary vegetables whicli are to be found in this 

 country, and in the market at Sydney some of 

 these are to be seen in a state of greater perfec- 

 tion than can be given to them in this climate. 

 The fruits of the South of Europe are hkewise 

 successfully cultivated, and pine-apples, toge- 

 ther with many other productions of the tro- 

 pics, are raised with as little trouble as attends 

 the rearing of cucumbers and melons in this 

 country. 



There are good reasons for believing that dur- 

 ing the time of their ascendancy in Britain the 

 Romans introduced various vegetable produc- 

 tions, together with the practice of their modo 

 of gardening. Tliis art never, however, attained 

 to any degree of perfection in this country until 

 the latter end of the seventeenth century, and it 

 is probable that the greatest impetus which it 

 ever received was given by the establishment of 

 the Horticultural Society in 1805. By the exer- 

 tions of this association, full advantage has been 

 gained from the researches of travellers, and 

 powerful incentives offered for the experiments 

 of ingenious and scientific men. 



At present, with the exception perhaps of 

 Holland, there is no country where the use of 

 gardens is so general as in our own. The hum- 

 blest cottage is frequently seen to be surrounded 

 by a small spot, whence may be drawn a whole- 

 some and agreeable variety for the frugal board 

 of the inhabitants ; and even in towns, wliere 

 the power of vegetation is scarcely able to witii- 

 stand the effects of the contined and noxious 

 atmosphere, a few yards of soil are often ajjpro- 

 priated to the same purpose. 



"The laborious journeyman mechanic," says 

 Mr Loudon, " whose residence in large cities is 

 often in the air rather than on the earth, decorates 

 his garret window with a garden of pots. The 

 debtor deprived of personal liberty, and tlie pau- 

 per in the work-house, divested of all property 

 in external things, and without any fixed object 

 on which to place their affections, sometimes 

 resort to this symbol of territorial appropriation 

 and enjoyment. So natural it is for all to fancy 

 they have an inherent right in the soil, and so 

 necessary to happiness to exercise the affections 

 by having some object on which to place them." 



The practical objects of the cultivator of vege- 

 table substances, are — 



1. To collect useful and ornamental plants 

 from the domains of nature, and from all quar- 

 ters of the world. 



2. To adapt the soil, moisture, heat, and gene- 

 ral culture suitable to such plants, so that they 

 may vegetate to the full extent of their powers. 



3. By artificial means, such as blanching and 

 other processes, to change the nature and juices 

 of plants, whereby they are rendered more escu- 

 lent. ^ 



i. To produce new sorts or varieties of natural 



