January, 1919 
WISCONSIN HORTICULTURE 
51 
seed, and it appears probable that 
the Jews knew something of the 
cross-fertilization of varieties, for 
Moses says (Dent., 22, 9) “Thou 
slialt not sow thy field with di- 
verse seeds, lest the fruit of thy 
seed which thou has sown and the 
fruit of thy vineyard be defiled.” 
Moses also gave some useful direc- 
tions to his people on the culture 
of the vine and the olive. 
In Persia, the art of gardening 
appears to have been early devel- 
oped and to have been especially 
fostered by the kings. Plutarch 
tells us that Lysander found the 
younger Cyrus in his garden at 
Sardis, and on its being praised by 
the Spartan general, he avowed 
that he had planned and adjusted 
the whole himself and had planted 
a considerable number of the trees 
with his own hands. Xenophon, 
Diororus, Strabe and Pliny all 
make mention of the parks and 
gardens of Persia, many of which 
appear to have been of great ex- 
tent and beauty. 
The Greeks largely copied the 
gardening of the Persians. That 
fruits and culinary vegetables 
were in general cultivation in this 
country at an early period there 
can be no doubt. The olive, the 
fig, the vine and the seakale are 
mentioned in Solon’s laws. Cab- 
bage and asparagus are frequent- 
ly mentioned among earlier Greek 
authors as well as several kinds of 
pulse and onions. Aristians, of 
Athens, is said to have been the 
first to cultivate the olive. There 
were at Athens, as afterward at 
Rome, florists, whose business it 
was to weave crowns and wreaths 
of flowers, and Theophrastus tells 
us that flowers and fruits were 
cultivated in winter, and that the 
violet was in profusion in the mar- 
ket of Athens, while snow was on 
the ground. Bouquets of flowers 
adorned the tables of the Greeks 
and were worn upon the person 
at various social meetings. Gar- 
lands of flowers were suspended 
from the gates of cities in times of 
rejoicing, and warriors ornament- 
ed their heads with them in days 
of triumph. Ringing and grafting 
were early practiced by the 
Greeks and branches of the wild 
fig were hung in or grafted upon 
the trees of the cultivated fig in 
order to promote fertilization and 
early maturity. 
The Romans, for the most pai*t, 
appear to have copied their gar- 
dening from the Greeks, as the 
latter did from the Persians. The 
first mention of a garden in Ro- 
man history is that of Tarquinius 
Superbus, B. C., 534. This ap- 
pears to have been chiefly a flower 
garden. The next, in the order 
of time, were the magnificent gar- 
dens of Lucullus who flourished in 
the first century B. C., and whose 
extensive pleasure grounds in var- 
ious parts of Italy were famous 
throughout that country. He is 
said to have introduced the 
cherry, the peach and apricot 
from the east. Nearly contem- 
porary with these were the gar- 
dens of Sallust at Rome, that were 
so beautiful that when the city 
fell beneath the sway of her con- 
querors the imperial residence was 
fixed in them. They consisted of 
shady walks, porticoes and par- 
terres of flowers, interspersed with 
masterpieces of sculpture with 
seats for repose and for the en- 
joyment of the ever varying pros- 
pect of the city and country be- 
yond. 
Some idea of the town gardens 
of the Romans about the begin- 
ning of the Christian era may be 
obtained from the paintings res- 
cued from the ruins of Hercula- 
neum and Pompeii. The gardens 
here represented are small square 
plots in front of houses inclosed 
with trellis work, planted with 
espaliers and embellished with 
fountains, urns and other sculp- 
tured ornaments. Plants in pots 
and boxes sometimes appear on 
the walks and set in the windows 
and over the doors may some- 
times be observed climbing plants 
resembling honeysuckles. The 
walls which surround tuese courts 
are still to be seen at Pompeii. 
The orchard trees will appreci- 
ate a dressing of stable manure 
this winter if none has been ap- 
plied for several years. Put on 
the ground as far out from the 
trees as the branches reach. 
We need fewer varieties of all 
horticultural plants and seeds. 
The lists should be cut greatly 
and only the very best kept. Per- 
haps our seedsmen and nursery- 
men will do this some day. 
Fruits supply many elements for 
building up the human body. Now 
is a good time to plan a fruit plan- 
tation and order the plants. Plant 
only what you can take care of 
well. 
America’s Mission 
Millions in hungry lands 
now look to America for 
food. 
In their misery and famine 
they cry to us — 
We must save that we may 
give. 
It is America’s mission, our 
opportunity to serve. 
FOOD WILL WIN THE 
WORLD. 
