GARDENING.-NO. 2. 
123 
hornbeam, and oak, and the lesser by yew and box. 
There are avenue walks and ber§eau walks, verdant 
houses, rustic seats, canals, ponds, grottoes, statues, 
and other devices; and everything has its exact 
counterpart, and the often quoted couplet of Pope, 
“ Grove nods at grove,” &c., is nowhere better 
exemplified. 
The gardens round Rotterdam are generally many 
feet below the level of the canal. On the Cingle, a 
public road which surrounds the city, are a con¬ 
tinued series of garden-houses, nearly a mile in ex¬ 
tent; these miniature villas being separated from 
each other only by wooden partitions, which are 
generally neatly painted “ To these the citizens 
with their wives retire on Sunday, to smoke and 
take coffee.” (Neill.) 
Notices of gardens in France previous to the 16th 
century, are rare; but at the end of this century, 
Francis I. built the palace of Fontainbleau, and in¬ 
troduced there some traits of the Italian gardening. 
In the beginning of the 17th century, Hirschfeld 
observes, that the gardens of France consisted only 
of a few trees and flowers, some plots of turf and 
pieces of water; and the whole totally devoid of 
taste, and completely wild and neglected. 
The gardens of Versailles, the grand effort of Le 
Notre, and the model of excellence in the geometric 
school, are thus noticed by different writers. “ Not 
as models of taste, but as models of a particular 
class or character of gardening.” (Hirschfeld.) “ The 
sum of everything that has been done in garden¬ 
ing.” (Bradley.) “ When I reflect on Versailles 
only, and what I have seen there, I cannot but 
think that I had a foretaste of Paradise : all my 
senses were struck with astonishment; and though 
I have the whole represented in fine prints, it is 
only a shadow of what was so naturally figured 
there.” (G. A. Agricola.) “ Such symmetry is not 
for solitude.” (Lord Byron.) 
The gardens of St. Cloud are less celebrated than 
those of Versailles, but at the present day are con¬ 
sidered more beautiful. At St. Cloud, nature and 
art are struggling for the mastery; whereas, at 
Versailles, art is everything. “ The fountain at 
St. Cloud, which is called the Grand Jet, from its 
amazing elevation, and from its delightfully retired 
situation, is one of the most beautiful of the kind in 
Europe. It is formed of a single jet , which shoots 
up from the centre of a quadrangular reservoir, to 
the height of one hundred feet. The gardens of St. 
Cloud abound in fountains ; but this simple^ can¬ 
not fail to be preferred before all the fantastical de¬ 
signs of the grand cascade.” (Batty.) 
i There are numerous small town-gardens in Paris, 
and many houses, as in Italy, have gardens of pots 
on their roofs. The public gardens and promenades 
of France are very numerous, and well arranged. 
The mildness of the climate makes the people enjoy 
passing much of their time in the open air, and 
their social disposition inclines them to congregate 
together. Public gardens and promenades thus be¬ 
come necessary appendages to every town in 
France. 
Garden cemeteries are not uncommon in France, 
the most celebrated of which is called the Cemetery 
of Fere la Chaise. It contains about 70 acres of 
land, and was originally owned by a Jesuit, named 
Pere la Chaise, who was the confessor of Louis 
XIV., and from whom the cemetery takes its name. 
It was first used as a burial-place in the year 1804 ; 
between that time and 1832, it is said that nearly 
30,000 monuments have been erected in it. 
In Granville’s Travels in Russia, we find the 
following: “ The Strelna road lies to the north of 
the capital; and an uninterrupted line of sumptuous 
palaces, built in every variety of chaste, fanciful, 
and imitative architecture, flanks the right side of 
it; while, on the left, fields, with many clumps of 
trees and brushwood, separate it from the gulf. 
Most of the country residences belonging to the 
nobility and gentry of St. Petersburgh, have gardens 
and pleasure grounds in front of and around them. 
In front of the gardens, and immediately on the 
border of the road, a lofty post bears inscribed on a 
small square board the name and rank of the pro¬ 
prietors.” 
In general, extent, exotics, and magnificent arti¬ 
ficial decorations, are more the objects of gardening 
in Russia, than scenes merely of picturesque beauty. 
This is accounted for, partly from the general want 
of refinement of taste in that country, and partly 
from its inaptitude for the natural style. The 
nobles of Russia, rendered aware of being distanced 
in point of civilisation by those of most other 
European countries, are resolved not only to imi¬ 
tate, but even to surpass them in the display of 
wealth. The most obvious marks of distinction, in 
refined countries, are necessarily first singled out 
by rude and ambitious minds, and large magnificent 
houses and gardens are desired, rather than com¬ 
fortable and elegant apartments, and beautiful or 
picturesque scenes; since, as every one knows, it 
is much more easy to display riches than to possess 
taste ; to strike by what is grand, than to charm by 
what is beautiful. 
The first private botanic garden in Russia was 
that of General Demidof, begun during Peter the 
Great’s reign. In order to fill this garden, two 
botanists were sent to travel over the whole of 
Asiatic Russia. “ One single anecdote will prove 
how eager Demidof was to enrich his garden. 
Being at Rome in 1773, he found in the garden of 
the Petits Augustins del Corso, the handsomest 
orange tree he had ever seen. The monks did not 
wish to part with it, and he was obliged to employ 
a great deal of money and influence to overcome 
their scruples. Having succeeded, he caused the 
tree, which was planted in the open air, to be taken 
up with an immense ball, put in a large box, set on 
a carriage made on purpose, and transported to 
Moscow.” (Deleuze.) 
In Spain, horticulture, although now practised 
with very little attention to art, is of the highest 
antiquity. The study of plants was introduced 
into Spain and Portugal by th? Arabs; and there 
was a considerable collection of plants at Seville 
early in the 11th century. The succeeding seven 
centuries present a blank, and the taste shown for 
botany in Spain and Portugal declined with the 
sciences; and that country where they had been 
cultivated, when the rest of Europe was in a state 
of barbarism, appeared to sink into apathy, after 
having shone with the greatest splendor under 
Charles the Fifth of Spain and Emanuel of Portugal. 
The oldest garden in Spain is said to be that of 
the Moorish palace of Alcazar, near Seville. “ The 
