122 
GARDENING.-NO. 2. 
proposed; but I do not attribute it to that alto¬ 
gether. It is my opinion that the pear flourishes 
best in a moist soil. What has led me to the con¬ 
clusion is this; the trees which I first planted from 
the nursery above mentioned, were planted in a 
soil mostly composed of loam and water, found in 
digging from 6 to 8 feet deep, while the tree I have 
just described was on a soil composed of sand inter¬ 
mixed with gravel, to the depth of certainly 12 
feet, as found by digging—how much deeper it ran 
I know not. It has been a matter worthy of obser¬ 
vation to me, that, almost invariably, the trees on 
the driest land have been destroyed. One of my 
neighbors has quite a number of trees which are 
planted on loam underlaid with clay. These have 
suffered much from the disease. He is making 
vigorous efforts to restore them, by pruning and 
digging a trench in circular form, about 4 feet from 
the trunk of the tree, and, during the heat of sum¬ 
mer, filling it with water daily. Whether he suc¬ 
ceeds or not, is yet to be known. 
Doctor W,-of this place, who has taken some 
pains and been at some trouble to procure a choice 
selection of the best kinds of fruits, observed to me 
that his pears were going to be destroyed by the 
blight, and wanted to know if I had seen any pro¬ 
posed remedy which I considered efficacious. I 
then related the method as proposed by your cor¬ 
respondent as above alluded to, in connection with 
my own observation on the subject, and gave it as 
my opinion that it would restore the trees to health 
and vigor. He concurred in the opinion, and last 
spring cut off" the affected limbs, shaved off the 
bark, washed with the ley, and is of the opinion 
that he has restored his trees. This summer will 
probably decide the experiment. 
I have found this article so long that I shall omit 
saying anything on the subject of under-draining 
till another time. L. W. Hitchcock. 
Tallmadge, Summit Co , Ohio, Feb. 20 , 1846. 
GARDENING.—No. 2. 
Having thus very briefly contemplated the pro- 
guess of this art, from its introduction to the present 
time, allow me here, to give a few short sketches 
of gardens, garden-like cemeteries, and public 
walks, in various parts of the world, and at various 
times of their history. 
The most celebrated gardens in very ancient times 
were those of the kings of Assyria and Babylon. 
The form of these gardens was square; and, ac¬ 
cording to Diodorus and Strabo, each side was four 
hundred feet in length. They were made to rise 
with terraces, in the form of steps. They were in 
the vicinity of the river Euphrates, from w T hich 
they were supplied with water. These terraces 
contained fountains, parterres, seats, and banquet¬ 
ing rooms, with an almost endless variety of fruit, 
flowers, and plants of ornament ; it was in fact a 
combination of all the splendor and luxury of East¬ 
ern magnificence, with the simple pleasures of 
beautiful and verdant nature. So surprising and 
laborious was this undertaking, that the ancients 
classed it with the various “ Wonders of the World.” 
Many gardens belonging to Jewish princes and 
subjects are mentioned in Holy Writ. The princi¬ 
pal one was King Solomon’s, the form of which 
was quadrangular and surrounded by a high wall. 
Solomon says: “ I made me gardens and paradises, 
and I planted in them all kinds of fruit trees. I 
made me pools of water, to water with them the 
groves flourishing with trees.” ( Eccles . ii. 5.) 
The cemeteries of the Jews may be considered as 
a species of garden. We find that Abraham buried 
Sarah in a field “ bordered with trees.” The se¬ 
pulchre of Jesus was in a garden ; and from various 
other data it is clear, that with all who could afford 
it among the Jews, the place of burial was not only 
sacred, from its use, but interesting or beautiful 
j from being accompanied by some striking or agree¬ 
able natural feature. 
The grove of Orontes is thus described by Gibbon, 
in his Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. “ It 
was composed of laurels and cypress, which formed 
in the most sultry summers a cool and impenetrable 
shade. A thousand streams of the purest water 
issuing from every hill, preserved the verdure of the 
earth, and the temperature of the air; the senses 
w r ere gratified with harmonious sounds and aromatic 
odors; and the peaceful grove was consecrated to 
health and joy, to luxury and love.” 
An account of the gardens of the Emperor Nero 
is thus given by Tacitus in his Annals. “ More¬ 
over Nero turned the ruins of his country to his 
private advantage, and built a house, the ornaments 
of which were, not miracles of gems and gold, now 
usual in vulgar luxuries, but lawns and lakes, and 
after the manner of a desert; here groves, and there 
open spaces and prospects ; the masters and centu¬ 
rions being Severus and Celer, whose genius and 
boldness could attempt by art what nature had de¬ 
nied, and deceive with princely force.” 
In Lombardy, the gardens of Monza and of the 
Isola Bella are the most noted. 
In speaking of the Isola Bella, Wilson says : 
“ Nothing can be so noble as the conversion of a 
barren rock, without an inch of earth on its surface, 
into a palace of fertility and luxury. This rock in 
1640 produced nothing but mosses and lichens: 
when Vitaliano Borromeo conceived the idea of 
turning it into a garden of fruits and flowers. For 
this purpose, he brought earth from the Banks of 
the lake, and built ten terraces on arches, one above 
the other, to the top of the island on which the 
palace is placed. This labor has produced a most 
singular pyramid of exotics and other plants, which 
make a fine show, and constitute the chief ornament 
of this miracle of artificial beauty.” All travellers 
do not, however, agree with Wilson in the above, de¬ 
scription ; for Hazlitt remarks, that he was “ utterly 
disappointed in the Borromean Isles. Isola Bella 
resembles a pyramid of sweetmeats ornamented 
with green festoons and flowers.” 
“ Extensive gardens of pots and boxes are com¬ 
mon on the roofs of the palaces and other houses in 
Naples. Viewed from the streets they have a sin¬ 
gular effect; and, retaining their beauty and fra¬ 
grance from the fresh breezes in these elevated re¬ 
gions, and the comparative absence of that stench 
with which the lower atmosphere of Naples is 
almost continually charged, they are very agreeable 
to the possessors.” (Loudon.) 
M. Seterveldt’s garden, near Utiecht, is a care¬ 
fully preserved specimen of the Ancient Dutch style 
of villa gardens. Here the grand divisions of the 
garden are irjade by tall, thick hedges of beech. 
