INTRODUCTION. 17 
a 
Culinary, and afterwards medicinal herbs, were objects in 
request by every head of a family; and it became conven- 
ient to have them within reach, without searching for them 
in woods, in-meadows, or on mountains, as they might be 
wanted. Separate inclosures for rearing herbs were soon 
found expedient. ‘Fruits: were in the same predicament ; 
and those most in use, or the cultivation of which required 
particular attention, must early have entered into and ex- 
tended the domestic inclosure.: Such may be deemed the 
leading heads of a conjectural history: of the art; and, in- 
deed, if we would ascend into: remote antiquity, we can 
have recourse only to conjecture; for although, in the 
Sacred Writings, and in the earliest profane authors, allu- 
sions to gardens occur, little is told us either of their pro- 
ductions or their culture. At the close of the Roman com- 
monwealth, the catalogue of fruits had become considerable, 
the principles of grafting and pruning were understood and 
practiced, and shortly afterwards, even artificial heat seems 
to have been partially employed. With the decline of the 
empire, horticulture seems also to have declined, or to have 
become stationary ; but, at’ the revival of learning, it arose 
from the slumber of the Dark: Ages, encumbered, it is true, 
by. the dreams of the alchymist, the restrictions of unlucky 
days, and the imaginary effects of lunar influence.. From 
these fetters it was ere long emancipated: by. the diffusion 
of knowledge, and it has hitherto kept’ pace with the gene- 
ral improvement of society. . Modified by. climate and 
other circumstances in different countries, its advancement 
has been various; but nowhere has it made greater pro- 
gress than amongst ourselves. Introduced’ into England 
at an early period, gardening became conspicuous in the 
reign of Henry VIII, and his immediate successors, and 
met with considerable attention during the reigns of the 
