162 a HISTORY OF GARDENING IN ENGLAND 
be propagated, as for grafting none take that way, and but few 
with inoculating, which I conceive is the reason it is dearest 
of all plants with us.” " The nutmeg and the Newington the 
best peaches ; very large and gallant fruit.” “ I know of but 
one kind of Figs that come to ripeness with us : the great 
Blew-fig, as large as a Catherine Pear. The trees grow in 
divers gardens in Oxford, set against a south wall, and be 
spread up with nayles and Leathers.” Parkinson agreed with 
Austen that this “ blew-figge earely ripe,” of a “ dark purple 
blackish colour, with an eye of blew as it were cast over them, 
and blackish red throughout,” was the best, and says that even 
against a wall the fruit would not ripen until August, “ and 
then will be so mellow and soft and moist that they will fall 
about their fingers that handle them.” He describes also three 
other kinds, the “ wilde Figge,” with small, hard fruit, which 
never came to any good; “ the Ordinary Figge,” of which he 
had seen trees “ great almost and as much spread as an apple- 
tree,” which bore fruit “ white and of a reasonable bignesse ” ; 
and a dwarf blue fig, which was planted in boxes and moved 
“ in stoves for the winter-time, and set abroad in summer like 
our Orenge trees.” 1 
The ruthless hand of man has done more to destroy the old 
gardens of England than the changes of time and seasons. 
But some vestiges of the gardens of each period still remain. 
Although no “ princely ” gardens were being laid out during the 
middle of the seventeenth century, like those of its latter end, 
many an old manor-house garden may date from about this 
time. This is not a history of “ Gardens,” so it is impossible 
to give anything like a complete list of the beautiful old gardens 
that are still to be found throughout the length and breadth 
of England. I must content myself by mentioning a few 
typical examples, to serve as illustrations of the fashions and 
plans of each successive century. 2 The garden of Chilham 
Castle, in Kent, with its terraces, bowling-green, and clipped 
1 Theatrum Botanicum, 1640. 
2 Since these lines were first penned fifteen years ago, several publica¬ 
tions, particularly Co untry Life (begun in 1897), have come into exist¬ 
ence. By reference to these periodicals, or works such as Gardens Old 
and New, collected from them, it is now an easy matter to pick out 
countless examples of each type of garden. 
