2 
A HISTORY OF GARDENING IN ENGLAND 
constituted of itself the poor man’s field, and it was from the 
garden that the lower classes procured their daily food.” The 
rich indulged in luxury and extravagance in the garden, and 
vegetables and fruits were raised at great cost for their use, 
which were not enjoyed by the community at large. But most 
of the vegetables which are still in general use were common 
to all classes, and many of these plants were brought by 
the Romans to this country. Some of them took so kindly 
to this soil, and were so firmly established, that they sur¬ 
vived the downfall of the Roman civilization. A curious 
example of this is one species of stinging-nettle, which tradition 
says was introduced by the Romans as an esteemed pot¬ 
herb. 
Tacitus, writing in the first century, says that the climate of 
Britain was suitable for the cultivation of all vegetables and 
fruits, except the olive and the vine. Before long, even the 
vine was grown, apparently with some success. It is generally 
believed that the Emperor Probus, about the year 280 a.d., 
encouraged the planting of vineyards in Britain. Pliny states 
that the cherry was brought here before the middle of the first 
century. Perhaps he alludes to some improved variety, as 
that fruit is indigenous in this country. 
It cannot be supposed that the Roman gardens in Britain 
were as fine as those on the Continent. Gardens on such an 
elaborate scale as that at Pliny’s Villa, or at the Imperial Villas 
near Rome, with their terraces, fountains, and statues, could 
scarcely have been made in this country. But the remains of 
Roman houses and villas which have been found in various 
places in England so closely resemble those found in other 
parts of the Empire, that doubtless the gardens belonging to 
them were laid out as nearly as possible on the same lines as 
those of Italy and Gaul. The South of England could afford 
many a sheltered spot, where figs and mulberries, box and rose¬ 
mary, would grow as well as at “ Villa Laurentina,” seventeen 
miles from Rome. A “ terrace fragrant with the scent of 
violets,” trailing vines and ivy; or enclosures of quaintly-cut 
trees in the forms of animals or letters filled with roses, would 
not there seem out of place. If the Roman gardens in Britain 
were like this—and why should it be doubted when such noble 
