AND ORCHARDS OF ANCIENT GREECE. 
173 
were commonly in vogue. These were gene- 
rally formed of black and white thorns, bram- 
bles, and berberry bushes, and also the Indian 
cactus, which formed an impenetrable fence. 
The cactus grows luxuriantly in Greece, and 
attains a considerable height. On the banks 
of these hedges, springing out from dark 
masses of verdure, flourished, in luxuriant 
abundance, numerous plants — the enchanter's 
night-shade, the euphorbia, the iris tuberosa, 
the red-flowered valerian, the ground ivy, the 
physalis somnifera with its red seeds, the glo- 
bularia, the heliotrope, the pennycress, the 
bright-yellow scorpion flame, the broad-leaved 
cyclamen (or " our lady's seal "), with pink 
flowers and light-green leaves, veined under- 
neath with yellow. Among the ancient Par- 
thians, it -was the custom to surround the gar- 
dens with hedges of a fragrant creeping plant, 
denominated philadelphos, or " love brother," 
which was interlaced so as to form a kind of 
network, forming a sufficient protection against 
the trespasses both of man and beast. It was 
only in mountainous districts, where frequent 
torrents threatened the gardens, that stone 
walls were employed to encircle the orchards. 
One peculiarity there was which impressed 
a landscape in ancient Greece with a character 
of peculiar beauty. It was, that the custom 
was general to plant long rows of olive trees to 
mark the boundaries between separate estates. 
The plains were therefore intersected with 
extended lines of these remarkable trees. In 
the olive grounds they were also planted in 
straight rows, apart from each other, that the 
wind might play freely on all sides. The air 
of the mountains was most favourable to the 
growth of the olive, for it was remarked that 
the oil produced by those which grew on the 
plains was of a far inferior quality to that 
which came from the light dry soil of the hills. 
The apple, the pear, the cherry, (which 
grew sometimes to the height of forty feet,) 
the damascene, and the common plum, the 
quince, the apricot, the peach, the nectarine, 
the walnut, the chestnut, the filbert, the hazel, 
the medlar, and the mulberry, were to be 
found in the Grecian orchards ; as also the 
white, purple, and red figs, the pomegranate 
from the northern shores of Africa, the orange, 
now planted under artificial shade at Lemnos, 
the citron, the lemon, which, together with 
the orange tree, blossomed in June; the date- 
palm, the pistachio, the almond, the service 
and the cornel-tree. 
An orchard in Greece was planted not 
merely with a view to the value of its pro- 
duce, but also to pleasure. The trees were 
disposed so as to form umbrageous avenues, 
which occasionally opened upon broad green 
lawns, and sometimes into the vineyard. 
From the neighbouring garden a constant 
cloud of perfume was wafted in, which lent a 
charm to the place, while, in the proper 
season, the smell of the fruit mingled deli- 
ciously with the fragrance from the corn-fields 
and meadows. Occasionally common foot- 
paths traversed the orchard, and the passers- 
by were permitted to pluck at will such fruit 
as hung within their reach. 
The ancient Greeks attained much celebrity 
in the management of their orchards. The 
practice of grafting was known to them ; we 
extract Mr. St. John's account of the manner 
in which this operation was performed : — 
" Some few of the rules they observed in 
this process may be briefly noticed. Trees 
with a thick rind were grafted in the ordinary 
way, and sometimes by inserting the graft 
between the bark and the wood, which was 
called infoliation. Inoculation also, or intro- 
ducing the bud of one tree into the rind of 
another, was common among Greek gardeners. 
They were extremely particular in their 
choice of stocks. Thus, the fig was grafted 
only on the platane and the mulberry ; the 
mulberry on the chestnut, the beech, the 
apple, the terebinth, the wild pear, the elm, 
and the white poplar (whence white mul- 
berries) ; the pear on the pomegranate, the 
quince, the mulberry, almonds, and the tere- 
binth ; apples on all sorts of wild pears, and 
quinces (whence the finest apples, called by the 
Athenians, Melimela), on damascenes also, and 
vice versa, and on the plantane (whence red 
apples)." 
Another way in which the Greeks were ac- 
customed to impart a blush to the apple, was 
by planting rose bushes round the foot of the 
tree. The walnut was grafted on the straw- 
berry-tree only ; the pomegranate on the 
myrtle and the willow ; the laurel on the 
cherry and the ash ; the white peach on the 
damascene and the almond ; the damascene 
on the wild pear, the quince, and the apple ; 
chestnuts on the walnut, the beech, and the 
ash ; the cherry on the terebinth and the 
peach ; the quince on the oxyacanthus ; the 
myrtle on the willow ; and the apricot on the 
damascene, and the Tharian almond tree. 
The vine was grafted on the cherry and 
myrtle, which produced, first, grapes in spring; 
in the second, mixed fruit between the myrtle 
berry and the grape. To produce black 
citrons, the gardener inserted a citron graft 
into an apple stock. If red were wanted, it 
was inserted into that of a mulberry. 
Though the genial climate of Greece was 
favourable to the early maturity of fruits, 
numerous means were resorted to to force 
them to ripen early. Figs were especially 
forced. To produce early figs it was customary 
to spread about the roots of the tree manure 
composed of doves' dung, with pepper and 
