xxii 



RISE AND PROGRESS 



they could pick up by accident. Dio Cassius informs us, that 

 they had ready, on all occasions, a certain kind of food, of 

 which, if they took but the size of a bean, they were not 

 troubled with either hunger or thirst for a considerable time : 

 this is supposed to have been the roots of the Orobis tuberosus, 

 the Carmeil of the ancient Gauls and modern Highlanders. 

 History informs us, that the soldiers of Caesar were often re- 

 duced to the necessity of subsisting upon the same roots for 

 food. 



From the remains of Roman villas discovered in many parts 

 of Britain, we are left to conclude, that the system of gar- 

 dening practised by the Romans, was adopted, both for orna- 

 ment and use, by the generals and others of the Roman nobles, 

 who accompanied the several expeditions into this country. 

 Pliny expressly says, that cherries were introduced by the 

 Romans about the middle of the first century ; and that the 

 vine was also introduced is evident, for Tacitus says, that wine 

 was made on Britain towards the end of the third century, 

 under the Emperor Probus. It is also probable that they 

 introduced some of the onion tribe, and likely some of the 

 brassica, in their then cultivated state ; and that they rendered, 

 by cultivation, the brassica oleracia of our shores an article 

 of food, as, in some of the oldest records, both kale and leeks 

 are mentioned. 



When the Romans abandoned this country to support the 

 tottering fabric of their own empire, it is probable that gar- 

 dening was quite neglected; as the Saxons, who succeeded 

 them, had little time or taste for rural affairs. It is evident, 

 from historical documents, that horticulture met with some 

 encouragement under William the Conqueror, who may be 

 supposed to have attained to some partial knowledge of it on 

 the continent, where it had flourished under the patronage of 

 Charlemagne. 



It is generally supposed that the majority of our fruits, par- 

 ticularly apples and pears, were introduced into this country 

 by the monks, in the days of their greatest luxury and splen- 

 dor, and it is probable that the indigenous fi'uits of this island 

 were cultivated in the monastic gardens. Vineyards and 

 orchards were phinted by them, in every place in which they 



