4 



HISTORY OF GARDENING. 



Part L 



the garden he was turned out to till the ground, and paradise was afterwards guarded by 

 a miraculous sword, which turned every way to meet trespassers. (See Genesis ii. 3. ; 

 Bishop Huet on the Situation of Paradise, 1691, 12mo. ; Burnet's Theory of the Earthy 

 book ii. chap. 2. ; Sicklers Geschichte der obst cultur, See. 1801. 1 Band.) 



6. The gardens of Hesperides were situated in Africa, near Mount Atlas, or, accord- 

 ing to some, near Cyrenaica. They are described by Scylax, a geographer of the sixth 

 century, B. C, as lying in a place eighteen fathoms deep, steep on all sides, and two 

 stadia in diameter, covered with trees of various kinds, planted very close together, and 

 interwoven with one another. Among the fruit-trees were golden apples (supposed to be 

 oranges), pomegranates, mulberries, vines, olives, almonds, and walnuts ; and the orna- 

 mental trees included the arbutus, myrtle, bay, ivy, and wild olive. This garden con- 

 tained the golden apples which Juno gave to Jupiter on the day of their nuptials. They 

 were occupied by three celebrated nymphs, daughters of Hesperus, and guarded by a 

 dreadful dragon which never slept. Hercules carried off the apples by stratagem, but 

 they were afterwards returned by Minerva. What finally became of the nymphs of the 

 garden, or of the apples, we are as ignorant as we are of the fate of paradise, or the tree 

 " in the midst thereof," which contained the foi-bidden fruit, and of which, as Lord 

 Walpole observes, " not a slip or a sucker has been left behind." 



7. The pro7nised garden of Mahomet, or the heaven of his religion, is said to abound 

 in umbrageous groves, fountains, and Houri, or black-eyed girls : and the enjoyments, 

 which in such scenes on earth last but for a moment, are to be there prolonged for a 

 thousand years. 



8. Dr. Sicklers ojnnion of these gardens is, that Eden and Hesperides allude to, or are 

 derived from, one original tradition. Paradise, he considers as a sort of figurative 

 description of the finest district of Persia ; and he traces various resemblances between 

 the apples of Eve and of Juno ; the dragon which never slept, and the flaming sword 

 which turned every way. Some very learned and curious speculations on this subject are 

 to be found in the introduction to his Geschichte der obst cultur. With respect to the 

 paradise of Mahomet, it is but of modern date, and may probably have been suggested 

 by the gardens described in " Solomon's Song," and other poems ; though some allege 

 that the rural coflfee-houses which abound in the suburbs of Constantinople gave the first 

 ide^ to the prophet. 



Sect. II. Jewish Gardens. B. C. 1500. 



9. King Solomon'' s garden is the principal one on record ; though many others belong- 

 ing both to Jewish princes and subjects are mentioned in the Bible. Solomon was at 

 once a botanist, a man of learning, of pleasure, and a king. The area of his garden 

 was quadrangular, and surrounded by a high wall ; it contained a variety of plants, 

 curious as objects of-^atural history, as the hyssop, (a moss, as Hasselquist thinks,) 

 " which springeth out of the waU ;" odoriferous and showy flowers, as the rose, and the 

 lily of the valley, the calamus, camphire, spikenard, saffron, and cinnamon; timber-trees, 

 as the cedar, the pine, and the fir ; and the richest fruits, as the fig, grape, apple, palm, 

 and pomegranate. [Curtii Sprengel Historia Rei herbance, lib. i. c. 1.) It contained water 

 in wells, and in living streams, and, agreeably to eastern practices, aviaries and a seraglio. 

 The seraglio Parkhurst supposes was at once a temple of worship and of pleasure, and he 

 quotes the words of Ezekiel (xiii. 20.) in their literal translation: " lam against, saith 

 the Lord, your luxurious cushions, wherewith ye ensnare souls in the flower-gardens." 

 Ashue or Venus was the deity who was worshipped by a company of naked females : Dr. 

 Brown (Antig. of the Jews,) describes the mode of worship ; and concludes by lamenting 

 that depravity in man, which converts the beauties of nature into instruments of sin. 

 The situation of Solomon's garden was in all probability near to the palace, as were those 

 of his successors, Ahasuerus and Ahab. {Esther vii. 8,) 



10. We know little of the horticulture of the Jews ; but like that of the eastern nations 

 in general, it was probably then as it still is in Canaan, directed to the growing of 

 cooling fruits, to allay thirst and moderate heat ; aromatic herbs to give a tone to the 

 stomach, and wdne to refresh and invigorate the spirits. Hence, while their agricultural 

 produce was wheat, barley, rye, millet, vetches, lentils, and beans, their gardens produced 

 cucumbers, melons, gourds, onions, garlic, anise, cummin, coriander, mustard, and various 

 spices. Their vineyards were sometimes extensive : Solomon had one at Baalhamon 

 which he let out at 1000 pieces of silver per annum. {Cant. viii. 11, 12.) 



Sect. III. PhcBacian Gardens. B, C. 900, 



11. The garden of Mcinous, the Phaeacian king, was situated in an island of that 

 name, by some considered Corfu, in the Ionian sea, and by others, and with more reason, 

 an Asiatic island. It is minutely described by Homer in the Odyssey, and may be 

 compared to the garden of an ordinary farm-house in point of extent and fonn ; but in 

 respect to the variety of fruits, vegetables, and flowers cultivated, was far inferior. It 



