THE CULTIVATOR. 
153 
and even pot-herbs, imported from Holland, constituted 
luxuries, found only on the tables of the opulent. Dur¬ 
ing this reign, apricots, melons, herbs and esculent roots, 
were first introduced into the royal gardens. Among 
the new plants of that day is mentioned “ the lilacke 
trees, which bear no fruite, but only a pleasant flowere.” 
Improvement in Horticulture was greatly extended un¬ 
der Elizabeth and Charles the first. During the reign 
of the latter, the first work upon English gardening 
was published by Parkinson, under the title of “A gar¬ 
den of all sorts of pleasante floweres, with a kitchen gar¬ 
den, of all manner of herbs and roots, and an orchard 
of all sorts of fruit-bearing trees,” which is yet quoted 
with high commendation. 
About the middle of the 17th century, several valua¬ 
ble publications upon Horticulture appeared in England 
and France; and in 1734 Philip Miller published his 
celebrated Gardners’ Dictionary, an original work of 
merit, which attracted general notice, and gave a new 
impulse to improvement. British and other foreign 
works upon gardening, have been greatly multiplied; 
and improvement has kept pace, with the increase of 
wealth and refinement, until horticulture has attained to 
a high state of perfection, as a science as well as an art, 
in most of the civilized countries of Europe. No gen¬ 
tleman of opulence or taste there, deems himself fitted 
to enjoy the comforts and luxuries of life, without his 
garden. Horticultural societies have been every where 
established,—princes have been competitors in them, 
for honorary rewards; useful and ornamental plants 
have been sedulously collected from every quarter of 
the globe, and innumerable new varieties have been 
added to the catalogue by the skill and industry of man. 
Within a few years, the splendid Encylopsedia of Gar¬ 
dening, has been added to our horticultural works by 
the indefatigable Loudon, professing to give all that is 
interesting in the history, and all that is useful in the 
science, or in the practice of gardening. The society of 
London established a garden in 1818, and sent agents 
into every quarter of the world, to collect whatever could 
be found useful or ornamental. One of these agents, af¬ 
ter traversing the United States and the Canadas, spent 
four years on the Pacific coast of our continent, explor¬ 
ing the country from California to the mouth of the Co¬ 
lumbia, and thence across the continent to the Hudson 
Bay Factories, in collecting rare plants and seeds. In 
a subsequent voyage to the western border of our con¬ 
tinent, this indefatigable agent was destroyed by a wild 
bull, upon one of the Pacific Islands. Yet the name of 
Douglass will be perpetuated in the cognomen of several 
new plants which he first brought into notice. Some 
idea may be formed of the extent of this society’s labors 
and usefulness from the facts, that in its catalogue of 
1830, are enumerated as growing in its garden, 3,400 
varieties of hardy edible fruits, and 58 varieties of nuts, 
exclusive of 89 varieties of the fig, 182 of the grape, 
56 of the pine apple, and 131 of the melon; nearly all 
of the four last named being cultivated in houses, with 
the aid of glass and artificial heat,—making an aggre¬ 
gate of about 4,000 varieties of fruits, which administer 
to the sustenance of man, independent of ornamental 
plants, which exercise a benign influence upon his men¬ 
tal enjoyments. The fruits in this garden have been 
classified, as it regards size and quality,—their form, 
colour, use and time of maturity noted, and their cata¬ 
logue thus affords a guide in the selection of fruits for 
the climate to which they may be transferred for culti¬ 
vation. 
Enterprise in the acquisition of new fruits, and new 
plants, has not been confined to the London Horticul¬ 
tural Society. European governments, Horticultural 
societies, opulent amateur florists, and professional nur¬ 
serymen, have sent their agents into remote parts of 
the world;—and the towering mountains of Asia, the 
Isles of the Eastern Archipelago, the burning sands of 
Africa, the inhospitable regions of Siberia, and the 
wilds of America, have been alike explored, for valua¬ 
ble and rare plants, to subserve our wants, and adminis¬ 
ter to our pleasures. The fruits of all their laborious re¬ 
searches lie within our reach, and a prominent object 
of this association is to transfer to the valley of the 
Hudson such of them as may found to administer to the 
wants and comforts of its population. 
We are particularly indebted to the Flemings, for a 
great number of excellent new varieties of the pear. To 
the labors of Dr. VanMons, of the University of Louvain, 
an amateur pomologist, we are indebted for about 400 
new and excellent varieties of this esteemed fruit, some 
of which are in eating through the circle of the year. 
The late Mr. Knight, till his death president of the Lon- 
i don Horticultural Society, also produced many new and 
excellent varieties of fruits, by artificial fecundation.— 
1 Samples of several of the new fruits thus produced by 
; Mr. Knight and Dr. Van Mons are now exhibited upon 
; your table. 
From the comparatively restricted means of a new 
country, gardening has with us been limited to the use- 
: ful, seldom aspiring to taste and elegance. But even in 
the useful branch we have ample room for improvement. 
We have no great central point for collecting and com¬ 
paring, the indigenous fruits of our country, and for dis¬ 
seminating the excellent through our land. Of the ap¬ 
ple, plum and peach, it is believed we have as fine na¬ 
tive varieties as are grown in the world, and yet they 
are but partially known and but partially enjoyed. In¬ 
dividual exertions are too limited and feeble to effect 
the desired object. It can only be done by the combined 
exertions of many, influenced by a common impulse, and 
directed to a common end. In this age, no great good 
can be effected in any branch of public improvement, 
without the concentrated exertions of associate bodies. 
The garden culture of fruits and esculent vegetables, has 
hardly yet commenced in many districts of our valley, 
while in other districts the culture is but imperfectly un¬ 
derstood—the relative merits of different varieties are 
not appreciated, and their value, in promoting the health, 
economy and comforts of a family, unknown or disre¬ 
garded. Few of the fine varieties of fruit, or of the 
other choice products of the garden, are seen in passing 
through our country. Yet twenty years has done much 
to improve our Horticulture; and we have abundant rea¬ 
son to anticipate far greater improvements in the twenty 
years to come. 
How few of our garden products, which are now con¬ 
sidered, at least in imagination, indispensable to our 
wants, are the natural products of our country. Hardly 
one in twenty is indigenous in our soil. Our fathers 
have been collecting them, and we have been collecting 
them, through the lapse of centuries; and yet, how com¬ 
paratively small is our stock, compared with what Pro¬ 
vidence has provided for the wants and comforts of man. 
We are strangers to many, very many, that grow natu¬ 
rally in our own country. And as to varieties, nature and 
art are every year multiplying them, under the same laws 
that multiply the breeds of our domestic animals, and 
that are diversifying the human countenance. Did our 
gardens contain only the plants that are indigenous to 
our country, the supply would indeed be scanty. But 
Horticulture has laid almost every clime, and every coun¬ 
try, under contribution, to administer to our wants, and 
to gratify our senses. Most of our grains, and a large 
portion of our fruits, and esculent roots, derive their 
origin from other countries. The greatest part of them 
came to us from Great Britain and Holland, which re¬ 
ceived them from Italy, Italy from Greece, and Greece 
from Asia. Rye and wheat are indigenous in Siberia 
and Little Tartary; rice is the natural product of Ethio¬ 
pia ; buckwheat of Asia; kidney beans of the East In¬ 
dies; the beet and onion, of Spain and Portugal. Peas 
came from the south of Europe, artichokes from Bra¬ 
zil, peppers and cucumbers from India; the egg plant 
from Africa; the tomato from South America; the 
pumpkin from Astracan; the ruta-baga from Sweden ; 
the cauliflower from Cyprus; and the asparagus from 
Asia. Our fruits originated in countries equally remote 
from each other. Without pretending to decide upon the 
disputed questions, whether all the cultivated apples 
have originated from the wild crab, or whether any of 
our good varieties existed here when our shores were 
first visited by Europeans, I can say this much, that we 
have esteemed varieties of this fruit now under culture, 
which originated on the banks of the Po and of the Da¬ 
nube, of the Rhine and the Oder, of the Seine and the 
Thames, and on the shores of the Baltic and Caspian. 
The peach came from Persia; the plum from Syria; the 
cherry from Pontus; the quince from Austria; the al¬ 
mond from Barbary and China, and the pear from Eu¬ 
rope. Our pot-herbs and cultivated medicinal plants, 
are also most of them exotics: parsley is from Sardinia, 
pursley from South America, nasturtium from Peru, 
thyme from Spain, sage from the south of Europe, savory 
from France, marjorum from Sicily, rhubarb from Asia, 
and balm from Switzerland. So also of our flowering 
shrubs and plants; the pink, the daffodil, and narcis¬ 
sus, are from Italy, the dahlia from Mexico, the ranun¬ 
culus and anemonie, from Cappadocia; thehyderange, 
balsam and camelia from China and Japan; the tulip 
and hyacinth from the Levant; the tuberose from Cey¬ 
lon, and our finest peoniesfrom the “ Celestial Empire.” 
And of trees, we are indebted to the north of Asia for 
the ornamental horse-chesnut, and to the Indian islands, 
for the towering ailanthus. These are but a small por¬ 
tion of the contributions which Horticulture has gather¬ 
ed from foreign lands, for our convenience and pleasure; 
and every year adds to the list new genera, species 
and varieties. Providence seems to have apportioned 
its bounties among the different nations, as if to admo¬ 
nish them of their mutual dependence upon each other, 
and to excite in them a spirit of Christian philanthropy 
and benevolence. 
Private gardens of great extent and beauty abound in 
most of the countries of Europe, and they are main¬ 
tained at a princely expense. In these not only hardy 
fruits and vegetables are forced to early maturity, by ar¬ 
tificial means, but most of the tropical fruits are brought 
to perfection, by the aid of hot-houses and walls.— 
Strawberries, in this way, are produced for the table in 
April, melons in May, grapes and peaches in June, and 
pine apples at almost every season. It is assumed, that in 
Britain, a gentlemen may derive from his garden, with 
the aid of glass and artificial heat, a more varied and 
richer dessert, throughout the year, than is to be met 
with on the most luxurious tables in any other country. 
And yet the summers of England are so cool, that the 
peach, grape, melon &c. require the protection of a 
wall or glass, to bring them to maturity; and even our 
fine Spitzenbergh apple does not ripen well there with¬ 
out a wall. Gardens of this description, though gene¬ 
rally on a limited scale, may be found in the vicinage 
of our commercial towns, and will doubtless be multi¬ 
plied as we advance in wealth and horticultural improve¬ 
ment. These cases of high improvement, or rather ex¬ 
travagant refinement, in horticulture, are not mentioned 
as models for general imitation. They indicate an ex¬ 
penditure which few here can prudently indulge in if they 
would. Yet where there is the ability, and a disposition 
to extravagant expenditure, it may be indulged in, in hor¬ 
ticulture, with advantage, rather than prejudice, to pub¬ 
lic morals and public usefulness. The examples to which 
we refer, furnish models of improvement, which we are 
at liberty to adopt on any scale that shall comport with 
our desires and our means. 
Public nurseries, which belong to Horticulture, are 
highly useful to all communities in which they are lo¬ 
cated. They serve to introduce and concentrate the ve¬ 
getable productions of every country, which are likely 
to subserve our wants or administer to our rational gra¬ 
tification. The interchanges which take place between 
those of Europe and America, are now managed with 
such facility, that a new fruit, or a new flowering plant, 
which attracts notice, and acquires value, on one conti¬ 
nent, in a year or two becomes common in the nurseries 
of the other. The numerous horticultural periodicals 
of the two continents, make us early acquainted with 
whatever is new or valuable in either, and a single sea¬ 
son serves to propagate and to disseminate the desira 
ble plant on both. In this way we have been enabled to 
obtain the fine new varieties of Flemish and French 
pears, in many instances before they had fruited in Eng¬ 
land. The dahlia, in its natural single flower, was first 
introduced into France in 1801, and subsequently into 
England. The skill of the horticulturist has since trans¬ 
formed it into a double flower, and imparted to it all the 
colors and tints which are gratifying to the human eye. 
This ornament of the garden, which is now found at all 
our nurseries, is termed by common consent, “The 
King,” as the rose has been called “ The Queen of Flow¬ 
ers.” And as regards fruits—I was instrumental in 
bringing into notice, seven or eight years ago, a fine 
new apple, the Jonathan , grafts of which I forwarded 
to Europe. Five years ago I noticed it in the catalogue 
of the Lon. Hort. Society, with the names of many other 
of our local fruits which I sent, and also in catalogues 
from the Island of Jersey, and from Hamburgh. The 
stroat apple which I sent at the same time had produced 
fruit in 1830, in the Lon. Hort. garden, and was classed, 
as it deserved to be, among the first quality of apples, 
The ailanthus was first brought to our country eight or 
ten years ago, by one of our consuls, from farther In¬ 
dia, and it is now growing, I believe, in almost every state 
of the Union. 
As having particular relation to those who depend up¬ 
on market gardens for horticultural productions, for dai 1 y 
use, I take occasion to remark, that the quality of mar¬ 
ket garden productions depends materially on the judg¬ 
ment and liberality of the buyer. The object of the gar¬ 
dener is profit; and so long as the purchaser regards the 
price rather than the quality, he will continue to raise 
those varieties which give him the greatest products, 
which are generally those of inferior quality. The dif¬ 
ference in the varieties of the same vegetable are mani¬ 
festly great. This exists not only in their flavor, but in 
their nutritious and healthful properties: some varie¬ 
ties, particularly fruits, being absolutely prejudicial, 
while other varieties of the same species, are highly 
conducive to health. In the potato, for instance, the 
difference in nutritive matter amounts to nearly a half in 
different varieties. Some of the coarser kinds yield but 
14 and 16 per cent of nutritive matter; while some of 
the finer kinds have given 28 per cent. And it is worth 
regarding, that good quality is almost inseparably con¬ 
nected with grateful flavor. 
Horticulture, as an employment, is highly conducive 
to the healthful vigor of the body, and to an agreeable 
exercise' of the mind. The labor it demands, is neither 
severe in degree, nor monotonously tiresome in kind.— 
It affords continued change and variety. The interest¬ 
ing objects of which it has cognizance,—as the germi¬ 
nation of the seed, the development of the leaf, the 
growth of the stock and branches, the expansion of the 
flower, the swelling, maturing and gathering of the fruit., 
and the diversity in foliage, flowers and fruit, of the va¬ 
rious vegetable families under its care, present to the 
mind, capable of appreciating and admiring the beau¬ 
ties of the vegetable kingdom, a succession of the most 
agreeable sensations. 
As a recreation, Horticulture offers all the pleasures 
I have enumerated, without the fatigues which accom¬ 
pany its manual operations. What more grateful, to 
the sedentary and the studious, or to him who is habi¬ 
tually involved in the mercenary cares of business, than 
the relaxation afforded by a well kept garden, which ex¬ 
hibits to the senses, the fragrance, the beauty, the order 
and harmony, which Providence has imparted to the ve¬ 
getable kingdom. Here is nothing to awaken jealousy, 
to excite distrust, to beget, envy—or to inflame any of 
the grosser passions; but every object is calculated to 
tranquillize the mind, to soften down the asperities of his 
nature, and to beget, towards his fellow beings, feelings 
of kindness, philanthropy and love. 
As a science, Horticulture is rich in stores of intellec¬ 
tual wealth and usefulness. It embraces glossology, 
which teaches the names of parts of plants; phitogra- 
phy, or the nomenclature and description of plants ; 
taxonomy, or their classification; vegetable organology, 
or the external structure of plants; vegetable anatomy, 
or their internal structure; vegetable chemistry, or 
primary principles of plants; vegetable pathology, or 
the diseases and casualties-of vegetable life; vegetable 
geography and history, or the distribution of vegetables, 
relatively to earth and to man; and the origin of culture, 
derived from the study of vegetables. 
It also embraces the study of the natural agents of ve¬ 
getable growth and culture,—as earths, soils and ma¬ 
nures ; the agency of light, electricity, heat and water, 
in vegetable culture, and of the atmosphere in vegeta- 
table development. 
Whether we regard Horticulture as an art, or a sci¬ 
ence ; whether we consider it as administering to our 
wants, convenience and pleasures, or as promotive of 
